Interpretive Writing Intensive
The Workshop for Interpreters Who Write

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The willingness to risk abuse for the sake of truth is one of the writer's obligatory chores.

 --Edward Abbey


In This Issue
Interp Writing Intensive coming to South Carolina
50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice
Thankful for Balloon Boy
Hopes for Healing (and a little help)
Book Review: Get Out!

The pen is mightier than the sword, and considerably easier to write with.
 
--Marty Feldman

Mark Your Calendars!
The Interpretive Writing Intensive
is coming to South Carolina!
Greenfire Creative Logo
The next Interpretive Writing Intensive, the four-day workshop for interpreters who write, will be April 19-24, 2010, at historic Penn Center,
St. Helena Island, South Carolina.
More details soon!

50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice
by Geoffrey K. Pullum

Pullum's article is an enjoyable and informative read on the shortcomings of the old classic, The Elements of Style. He brings up some of the same issues concerning passive and active voice mentioned in the last Interp Writing Intensive newsletter ("In Honor of Academia...or Not") and plenty more besides. (Hmmm...Strunk and White would likely take issue with my use of "besides"; that's probably a good thing....)

Thanks to Raymond Novotny, Ford Nature Center, Mill Creek MetroParks, Youngstown, Ohio for sending the link.
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Grateful for the Balloon Boy
or
The True Purpose of Interpretation


I am thankful for the Balloon Boy.

For those of you who have managed to escape this particular news story: "Balloon Boy" is the media-given moniker of a Fort Collins, Colorado youngster whose father called authorities to say his 6-year-old son was in a basket suspended from an experimental weather balloon floating over the Colorado prairie. The story broke during the October Interpretive Writing Intensive at Oregon House--one of the attendees Weather Ballooncaught the news while she was checking email--and, like many others, we waited and worried while rescue workers searched, and we breathed grateful sighs of relief when we heard the boy was discovered hiding in the attic, not in danger after all. By the time I returned home to Fort Collins, accusations that the entire thing had been a hoax were surfacing, and by Thanksgiving, our local sheriff had filed charges against the boy's parents.

Why am I grateful for such a hullabaloo?

Because as seems to happen every winter, national media attention is again focused on Fort Collins, but this time, thankfully, the attention has nothing to do with what color the lights are (FN1FN 1), whether or not a menorah should be part of the City's holiday display (twofnFN 2), or what to do about our sheriff (threefnFN 3) and his "apparently annual politically incorrect" tree trimming party on the front lawn of the county's law enforcement building. Because of the Balloon Boy, my neighbors are not embroiled in arguments over whose religion is the right flavor, or which holiday tradition is the "true" tradition, or what our founding fathers really meant when they said all good Americans should (or should not) have multicolored light strings on public property.

Lights in Old Town Fort CollinsThese stories might have made regional headlines because they happened on otherwise slow news days, but they achieved national prominence because they provoked a strong response. The Balloon Boy and, in years past, the Fort Collins Christmas Chaos stories are provocative.

Provocative: that's one of the goals of great interpretive writing, isn't it?

But did these stories provoke the response we wanted?

It isn't enough to simply provoke our readers. We have to tell the story in a way that provokes the response we want in the reader.

So how do you know what response you want to get from your reader? Look to that other "P" word in interpretation, Purpose. Why this particular story? Why this format or medium? What goal are you striving toward? There's always a reason to write the interpretive story you're working on; if there weren't, you wouldn't be writing it.

There's another purpose--one that I would argue is the most important purpose--above and beyond those assigned to a particular site or exhibit.

That purpose is to create a space within which the reader can learn, absorb, contemplate, and question.

The most powerful interpretive stories hold that space open like welcoming arms. They make it safe for people to consider new ideas and different beliefs. Instead of feeling chastised or threatened by the new and different (emotions that trigger the defensive reactions of anger and fear), the reader opens to the possibilities of a larger world. It's in this space where true discovery and honest discourse arise.

The Christmas Chaos stories drew unflattering attention to my mid-sized community, but worse, they provoked dissension, not discussion. These stories were all hard, unyielding surfaces. Instead of creating a space where people could absorb, contemplate, and question, they pushed people to become more polarized and rigid. As a result, there was a lot of self-righteous bloviating and some outright nastiness.

Whether I'm writing an interpretive program about the conflict between religions and the way we celebrate them or the dangers of the unfettered pursuit of celebrity status, I have a responsibility to my readers.

If I want to create a powerful interpretive story, I have to do more than write news reports that push buttons triggering people's fears. I have to do more than create catchy alliterative phrases. I have to do more than select strident quotes to season my text.

This does not mean losing the conflict or denying the hard questions--conflict and questions are the heart of drama, and a good story must have drama. It does mean that I must be factual and specific. It means I must be respectful--of my topic, of my sources, and of my reader.

Being factual, specific, and respectful doesn't mean avoiding humor or skillful, creative writing--I'm convinced that the Balloon Boy story had such staying power because of its lovely alliteration--but that's a topic for a different day.

Until then, may your holidays (endfn4FN 4)  be bright, joyful, warm, and surrounded by love.

All the holidays at Fort Collins Museum


Footnotes
1. onegotofnThe lights in Old Town Fort Collins are sparkly white, which caused an unbelievable uproar the first year the City decided to switch from multicolored bulbs. They're also LEDs, and they're beautiful.back to article
2. twogotofnThe city council thought adding a menorah next to the tree and other decorations would make the display look "too cluttered"; a nearby brew pub provided space for a couple of years. This year, the menorah and a variety of other religious and secular seasonal decorations glow peacefully on city property in front of the Fort Collins Museum.back to article
3. threegotofnYes, the same sheriff who charged the Balloon Boy's parents with fraud.
back to article

4.fourgotofnI celebrate all of them---life is hard enough without arguing over the validity of a party!Happy Holidays!
Credits
Weather balloon photo courtesy of Science and Technology Facilities Council.


Have a comment or question? email me
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Hopes for Healing
(and a little help)
for
Lynda Luzader

The Luzader Clan: Jenn, John, Lynda, Heather

Many of you know John Luzader, one of the top living history interpretive specialists, favorite speaker at conferences, and long-time volunteer, officer, and board member in multiple organizations, including the National Association for Interpretation. In October, John's wife Lynda was diagnosed with Stage 3 Inflammatory Breast Cancer. IBC is the rarest and most aggressive form of breast cancer. As I am putting the finishing touches on this e-newsletter, Lynda is finishing her first stage of chemotherapy and will be starting the next round in two weeks. John and Lynda's daughters have posted a web page with more information and are also selling handmade bags and hats to raise money to cover Lynda's medical expenses. For more information and to make a donation, please visit Lynda' web site.

Photo: Jenn, John, Lynda, and Heather Luzader

 
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Book Review

GET OUT!
150 Easy Ways for Kids and Grown-Ups to Get Into Nature and Build a Greener Future
by Judy Molland, published by Free Spirit Publishing, 2009, $10.99

This handy little volume includes 60 ideas for activities that help kids reconnect with nature, another 40 actions and ideas Get Out! book coveron how to be a "green" consumer, and 50 more on ways to get involved in conservation and environmental causes.

The writing style is friendly and enthusiastic and, for the most part, well-organized. The first section, "Getting Started," has lots of easy-to-implement ideas that should work well for beginners (parents, teachers, and other caregivers) as well as those more experienced, and the ideas can be adapted to a wide range of ages and interests. The sequence of ideas--number one, two, three, and so on--is random within a section; one activity doesn't necessarily build on the ones preceding it. Occasionally, an item isn't really an activity, and so seems out of place. For example, item number 5, "Be prepared," includes the good advice to take water, a first aid kit, sunblock, and bug spray on your outings--not an outside activity per se, and the information would be better placed up-front.

Each item includes a brief description, and many also have web site urls. The descriptions are streamlined and technical content is simplified. In most entries, this works quite well. In a few, Molland has simplified to the point where the information isn't accurate. (Item #65, discussing the higher cost of recycled products, says in part, "...in the long term, it will increase demand and thus lower prices"; in fact, increasing demand will raise prices--unless the increasing demand results in increasing the supply which, especially when combined with more efficient manufacturing processes, will lower prices.) The descriptions assume the reader has ready access to the internet.

Many--but not all--of the ideas Molland presents will be familiar to interpreters who work with kids, but she enhances those descriptions with links to web sites for more information and a decent resources section at the back listing useful books and web sites. The book's friendly, easy to take along design, quick-read style, and excellent variety of suggestions make it a keeper.

--Judy Fort Brenneman
 
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Mark Your Calendars!
The Interpretive Writing Intensive
is coming to South Carolina!
Greenfire Creative Logo
The next Interpretive Writing Intensive, the four-day workshop for interpreters who write, will be April 19-24, 2010, at historic Penn Center,
St. Helena Island, South Carolina.
More details soon!
.
Contents copyright � Judy Fort Brenneman. Request reprint permission through Greenfire Creative, LLC.