This week I participated in a writing exercise for my church. We are writing a letter to the people who will be leading our congregation 100 years from now, placing the letter in a time capsule along with other important artifacts.
We decided the letter needs a cadence, and while we're not sure of the wording, we've started working with the idea of Call/Response. As in, "The American political landscape changed forever in 2004, with bitter division taking over for civil political and religious discourse, and our church leaders felt called to change that. Together with Dr. M. Scott Peck, First Community Church created the pioneering Faith & American Politics program."
Now, I don't claim that I've got the wording just right, or that this is the "right" structure for our letter. But it has gotten me thinking about the rhythm of writing and how we set a pace for our readers when we choose our words.
All of that has gotten me thinking about Barack Obama's speechwriters. Did you hear that the Inaugural Addresswas written in a D.C.-area Starbucks? Can you imagine sitting there, amid the baristas and the hissing cappuccino machines and a long line of people on their Blackberries, and coming up with the wonderful flow and pulse of that speech?
I am not sure if writing for readers is different than writing for listeners. It really shouldn't be, as I've been taught over and over to "write for the ear" and "write like you talk." It should flow, it should sound natural, it should seem real.
And the only way I know to do that, my friends, is to practice. So thanks for reading my practice sessions here at Becoming Write-Handed and wish me luck with that letter!
Marti!
So good to click on and see you are once again writing!
Am here to thank you for sharing you talents with the world and I always feel like you are writing just for me. And, of course, the best of luck!- Dad
Posted by: Luke Bledsoe | May 14, 2009 at 09:59 AM