March 27, 2008
Writing Tips
During my deep dive into Southern writers this spring, I’ve often been struck by the juxtapositions they make between the grotesque and the ordinary, the cosmic and the insignificant. It’s an important reminder to stay alert in your reporting to disparate elements that play off one another to create a dramatic effect.
Consider this passage in Willie Morris’ autobiography, “North toward Home,’’ in which he recounts seeing a tragic train accident that killed a little boy in the Bronx as Morris commuted from his New York editor’s job to his summer home north of the city:
In the orange glow of late afternoon the policemen, the crowd, the corpse of the boy were for a brief moment immobile, motionless, a small tableau to violence and death in the city. Behind me, in the next row of seats, there was a game of bridge. I heard one of the four men say as he looked out at the sight, “God, that’s horrible.” Another said in a whisper, “Terrible, terrible.” There was a momentary silence, punctuated only by the clicking of the wheels on the track. Then, after a pause, I heard the first man say: ‘Two hearts.