I rode my bicycle past a battered RV with a makeshift plywood roof and doors. Most of the windows, including the windshield, were covered by pieces of plywood. How can you drive an RV with a plywood windshield? Someone did because the rig wasn't where it was a week ago.
When I was a student of literature & then a cub reporter, I thought that if I summed up the gist, I'd done my job. The best advice I ever got from an editor was to "write longer." You should too. You barely scratch the surface. This piece, as well as others, reads like an introduction. (I understand & appreciate that you're cranking these out, but even so, you stop too soon.) You're among friends. Take the risk.
Also, I bet a lot of those you observe would love to tell you their stories and have their stories told. I'm jealous that you have the "Oregon angle." Homelessness there seems to be different than elsewhere. Encampments seem such a luxury here.
Who sees these comments anyway? I see no others. Are they private or can we build a community here?
Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I have always believed less is more in a piece and let readers work though thoughts and ideas about an observation. Also, it is impossible at times to go farther than I go in these pieces because the moment is so fleeting. I did go much longer in other pieces like the Old Crow Book Club. Who knows what the right approach is. As I have written here, I don't really know what I am doing. I might be fishing for a format.
Comments can only be made by paid subscribers. Keep reading. Some interesting material yet to come, including fiction.
When I was a student of literature & then a cub reporter, I thought that if I summed up the gist, I'd done my job. The best advice I ever got from an editor was to "write longer." You should too. You barely scratch the surface. This piece, as well as others, reads like an introduction. (I understand & appreciate that you're cranking these out, but even so, you stop too soon.) You're among friends. Take the risk.
Also, I bet a lot of those you observe would love to tell you their stories and have their stories told. I'm jealous that you have the "Oregon angle." Homelessness there seems to be different than elsewhere. Encampments seem such a luxury here.
Who sees these comments anyway? I see no others. Are they private or can we build a community here?
Thanks for this thoughtful comment. I have always believed less is more in a piece and let readers work though thoughts and ideas about an observation. Also, it is impossible at times to go farther than I go in these pieces because the moment is so fleeting. I did go much longer in other pieces like the Old Crow Book Club. Who knows what the right approach is. As I have written here, I don't really know what I am doing. I might be fishing for a format.
Comments can only be made by paid subscribers. Keep reading. Some interesting material yet to come, including fiction.