The Writer-Editor relationship

Poor editors are notorious for being hopelessly vague when critiquing writers. They want something different, but what exactly? Well, they can't quite say or don't quite know.

This drives writers crazy.

The following video of of this BBC sketch comedy That Mitchell and Webb Look does a pretty good job of capturing what it's like.



Yes, in this sketch they're talking fiction, but this can happen just as often with nonfiction writing. For example, I've had an editor say something like this... we need a really great anecdote here, you know, something shows how the main character feels about his mother or something like that, but not necessarily that. And even though the story may have nothing to do with the character's mother, you, the writer, go back and observe your main subject patiently or even ask leading questions, searching in vain for something "like that but not necessarily that."

Pre's Rock Pilgrimage

In the hills above Eugene, Ore. there's a roadside memorial that draws hundreds of people each year from around the country, people who pay homage to a long-distance runner that went by the name Pre.

Steve Prefontaine died in 1975, but the track star's legend continues to flourish.

During the 2008 Olympic Trials, which were held in runner's mecca of Eugene, more than 3,000 people visited the rock -- Pre's Rock -- which commemorates the location of the car crash that caused his death. These pilgrims brought offerings of sorts: old running shoes, jerseys, socks, flowers, letters, track metals. Some treated the memorial almost like a sepulcher.

A team of graduate students from the University of Oregon Folklore Department documented this pilgrimage, gathering more than 10 hours of raw video.

It was my job (at Cascade magazine) to decide how to tell a story with the footage.

Here's what I came up with ...




I got the idea to do time lapse on split screens from a multimedia piece I saw a this spring in the New Yorker. Check it out.

I remember thinking, gee what a simple yet perfect use of raw video to tell a story. Ever since I came across it, I've been watching for an opportunity to use that technique.

What do you think? Does it work?