Ray, Chapter 6: The organized Inquiry
Mostly, this is going to be about questions to ask when reading like a writer, and why to ask them. I’m not going to bother with page numbers, but chap 6 is pages 115-137. I’m paraphrasing almost all of this, rewording it to be about you, the writer, and not about teaching writers.
Begin each inquiry with:
-What do you notice in the writing you would like to think about?
Making it predictable will help you start thinking about reading like a writer purposely, and eventually reflexively, while reading.
First, read it like a reader. Get to know the text as a reader, reflecting on how it affects you as a reader. Maybe have a discussion about it with someone, or write a journal entry on it. This could be on the same day as the inquiry, or weeks before the inquiry. The point is to know the story really well and make your natural response as a reader before starting the inquiry.
Read through it again, making a list of things you notice. Divide the insights into those that relate to structure and those that relate to “ways-with-words�. “structural crafts are ways in which parts of the text work together, ways-with-words crafts are instances of crafting that stand alone� (pg 119). Almost always the second one will be longer than the first. Structure will probably only have one or two things under it, may even have nothing if the structure is not obvious.
“
The Five Parts to Reading Like a Writer1.
Notice something about the craft of the text.
2.
Talk about it and
make a theory about why a writer might use this craft.
3. Give the craft a
name.
4. Think of
other texts you know. Have you seen this craft before?
5. Try and
envision using this crafting in your own writing.� (pg 120)
Notice:
-keep in mind, you’re trying to notice “writerly� things, not “readerly� things. Noticing “readerly� things is not a bad thing, it’s just not what you are trying for right now. It is often possible to reword it, to see the craft behind what you notice as a reader.
Pg 122- list of “readerly� things might notice, and questions to turn it into writerly thing
He writes it so it has a lot of action in it The whole thing is just action.
(How is this “action feel� accomplished?)
The text just flows. It flows so beautifully from one part to the next.
(What does “flow� mean?)
The text is very descriptive. Everything is described well.
(Where, exactly, is a great descriptive place?)
The ending is so perfect. It just brings everything together.
(What words accomplish this perfection?)
I would probably add in “How does it ‘flow’?�, but she was just using one for each of the question words.
Talk/make a theory
It is important to make a theory about why the author wrote it this way. First, you get “right on top� of it, dissecting the what, where, and possibly how much. Then, move on to the why. Make it a general question, “Why would an author use this craft in this place?� so that it’s easier to see the craft as a thing that can be used by others, unlike the ideas other authors have. The goal is not to find the real reason the author used it that way, but to see the possibilities for why it could be used.
Name
Name it. This talks about the importance of having a name when talking about it in the general community, but then it also says it’s important to help you notice it as a writer when you are reading in the future. If it already has an official name, use that.
Other texts
Again, this is about seeing how it is used in other texts, and seeing that it IS used in other texts. Goes back to her whole notion that the craft does not belong to any one writer, that writer’s styles are individual, not unique.
Envision
This is where you look at the technique outside the text. Write out a sentence about it: “If I am writing, and I want to ____, I use (insert craft- description or name- here).� Must be general, so you can use this craft in any piece.
She points out that studying craft through this inquiry process is time-consuming, so it’s best done under two circumstances. 1- for those who are just beginning to read like writers, doing this often is a good way to get into that habit. In that case, it’s not a matter of finding all the techniques at first, but of learning to think about the ones you can find. 2- To study a specific technique further, where you want examples of writing that definitely feature that technique (guess what chapter 7 is about? Her library. That one is pretty well going to be verbatim.)
Summary of critical points (page 136)
“-Use criteria related to excellence in craft in writing to select a text for study.
-Spend time becoming comfortable with the text and responding to it first as readers.�
Focus attention on the words
Follow the predictable way of thinking to read like writers and study the text (relists the five points)
Watch balance of time. Need to have a chance to try out the crafts studied in your own writing.