“The Paper”
3rd Draft
As I walked down the halls to interviewers office I ask myself, I know Dave fairly well, but how should I conduct this interview? Should I be friendly? Or should I be more professional? Its to late I have arrived at Dave’s office and my nerves begin to go frantic on me. I have the questions I'm going to ask him so why am I so nervous? My mind races as I am greeted by Dave and I sit down. The great thing about Dave is that he is easy going and makes you feel comfortable, so after a while my rhetoric changes from professional to a more relaxed but professional feel. Once I was in the room we immediately started talking about stories and what he believes makes a good story. Whoa wait, how do I believe you? Why should I listen to anything this guy is say? Without asking the question I already knew the answer but I asked it any ways. “One-second Dave. Can I ask about your experience and achievements as a writer?” Dave said “ Sorry I guess I got a little ahead of myself there. Well, I went to grad school in Iowa and attended the best writing program in the country (Iowa’s Writers Workshop). Later I became a successful screen writer, I have sold many scripts to Hollywood studios and have made a feature film based off one of my screenplays and currently working on my second feature film. I am also working on my screenplay writing book which is a satire on the ever famous “Save the Cat” mine is called “Screw The Pooch” He then finished with a laugh and confesses “I think its pretty clever”. Ok wow, now I have set up some credibility this guy is believable and a reliable source, the first part of my job is done.
Dave and I talked about a long list of things from stories all the way to avant Agard writings and films in Europe. During this paper I struggled with what kind of argument I wanted to make about writing, but after analyzing Dave’s interview some more I realized a few things that are essential, not only to storytelling but to all writing. There are two things that are essential to writing and good writing cannot skip any of these steps, Rhetoric and genre.
Genre, before you ever start writing you need to know what the subject is and what genre you are writing about, this also helps the process out with rhetoric but I will get to that in a minute. So what is “genre”? Well, dictionary.com defines it as, “A class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique or the like of”. Ok, so what does that mean? Lets go back to the interview and see if Dave can explain it into a way we understand. “Dave, what is genre and how do you go about choosing what genre to write?” Dave replies “ Genre is the type of story you are going to tell. A genre is something that tells you what the movie is about before even seeing or reading what the story is.” I think of it like this, Genre is like a flavor of ice cream, you see the color and the flavor name through the window before you even purchase it right? So you see the sign and it says watermelon, black cherry. Ok, so now you have an idea of what it taste like because you have tasted watermelon and you have tasted black cherry but you have never tasted them together but you have an idea of what its going to taste like. That is like genre in a story or at the movie theater, you see horror story on the billboard, you have never seen the movie but you have some idea of what the story is about, you know that some people are going to die and there is a possibility of some sort of monster or supernatural being at work. That might be might be a weird way of explaining it but its easy for me.
So, how do you go about choosing your genre? It was a simple question for Dave, Dave states “ Its easy for me to choose my genre because I don't really stray to far from what I always do. I really enjoy dramas so I write dramas and usually ones with a female lead.”(You could also say these are his “Moves”) So this part of the process is easy for people like Dave but you don't have to be constrained by one genre. Fierce Dolan says this “ I write across several genres. I’m a slut for words. I can't keep it in my literary pants” - Fierce Dolan, goodread.com. The genre doesn't matter just as long as you pick one. Weather it's an article, story, or student essay you have to choose your genre, preferably one that helps get your point across. Genre is very important and it helps when targeting your audience, the more the genre reaches to the reader or viewer the more relatable it feels. Choosing the genre eventually leads me to my next point, rhetoric.
Rhetoric could be the most important part of you're writing and to some people say it's the only thing you need to worry about in you're writing. Aristotle pleads “It is absurd to hold that a man should be ashamed of an inability to defend himself with his limbs, but not ashamed of an inability to defend himself with speech and reason; for the use of rational speech is more distinctive of a human being than the use of his limbs.” The Poetics by Aristotle, Translated by Gerald F. Else. He also has another quote “Anyone can become angry - that is easy, but to be angry with the right person at the right time, and for the right purpose and in the right way - that is not within everyones power and that is not easy.” - Aristotle. I really think this explains a lot about rhetoric and if we don't take it literal we can translate it to our writing or stories. What this quote says to me is that once you find your genre that is that first step to choosing and knowing your audience (rhetoric). Again why is this important to think about your rhetoric? Because before you start writing you have to know who your audience is, not like what they had for dinner or what kind of car they prefer those are arbitrary characteristics about your audience but rather what kind of genre your audience is. Is your audience old? Are they young? Are they intelligent? Dave has been writing to the same audience for years and he know his audience so his rhetoric is the same from writing to writing. I have read two of Dave’s screenplays and because Dave know his audience already, he know he doesn't have to spell everything out or use dumbed down language. He gives his audience some credit and know that they are smart and the audience appreciates that he does that. If Dave wrote “On the nose dialog” or explained to them every detail about the scene or story for them they would be inclined to never see or read his work again. For example, this essay here, my target audience is a Phd student and college professor. So, now I know a little about my audience, now how do I appeal to them, how do I want to connect to them? My audience is obviously well educated so I know they will want to see intelligent language, good quoting and most likely would like to see some of the material he has been teaching translated back into the students writing. A writer who doesn't believe in rhetoric or doesn't know their audience is flirting with disaster. Imagine if a Washington Post columnist is writing to a group of 4th graders but she is conducting it as if she was writing to her editor. This would never work, the children would never understand and you have miss your objective because you didn't know your audience. That is why rhetoric is just as important as genre.
In conclusion, rhetoric and genre are the foundation to every writing. From stories to articles, every writer must first be masters in genre and rhetoric. Kerry Dirk explains that “ It is more important to understand the word genre than just be a master of one” Navigating Genres. I also believe you can paraphrase this about rhetoric as well. My argument is that before you ever sit down to start writing you have to first understand what you are writing about. Like, is this a persuasive paper, is it a fairy tale, a student essay or an article going into times magazine? This is the most important thing you do in you're writing process. The second question you have to ask yourself is who is my audience, who will I be speaking to? Are they old, are they from a different generation? Is my audience politicians or construction workers? This question is so important and some might say it is the most important thing you asks yourself before writing. Weather you believe genre or rhetoric comes first, it doesn't matter as long as you sit down and take the time to go over them before you write. If you don’t go through this process before writing, weather it is a narrative story or a lecture, the results could be catastrophic, Genre and rhetoric the foundation to all outstanding writing.
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