Friday, September 12, 2008

SpeakWrite.

SpeakWrite.

Margaret and I were discussing what makes for good pop cultural critic writing, and we both agreed that folks who write in such a way that you can actually hear them speaking are the best. Many writers adopt a more staid approach and think they have to adhere to one style or another -- I notice this a lot when combing through submissions to Chicagoist -- and they write the way they think they're supposed to. If you read my stuff, it flows the way I actually speak, and if you think about it that's actually harder to accomplish than it seems. I was thinking of other local critics and realized many of them do the same thing. DeRo, Kot, Ebert, SuperBird, and Hopper are all local critics I enjoy reading and all of them write the way they speak.

I'm certainly not saying that the ONLY way to write is like that, and Lord knows I've written in about a bajillion different styles when the occasion calls for it, but when it comes to pop culture I think a distinctive voice is crucial.

O.K., class dismissed for the day.

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