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My current writing challenge is to recount a brand new chapter in the history of polio eradication. In the last two weeks of April, 155 countries around the world switched to a different kind of polio vaccine. An additional vaccine is being introduced in the 126 countries that weren’t yet using it. This is a very big deal. It is technically and logistically complicated. My first draft is long on explanation and short on storytelling. How do you tell a technical story in human terms?
Journalists and documentary filmmakers deal with this all the time. I hope to learn from them. Ideally, they show people profoundly affected by the development. For polio that’s a future negative: children who won’t be paralyzed. Another approach is to feature people behind the development: researchers, decision makers, or (for polio) Rotarians raising money. Finally, quotes or talking heads give impersonal content a human voice. I’d like to learn from you, too. What holds your attention in a show or article on a technical topic? Do you find related challenges in your own creative work, and how do you address them?
4 Comments
Carol Steen
5/14/2016 06:50:22 pm
A dozen years ago I moved across the country and found that a social issue was just taking hold in my new home. I was asked to give a workshop to a group of law enforcement officers. I chose to make my presentation very personal, telling stories of students. Judging by the comments, this approach was effective, but it was certainly difficult to deliver. Carol, it's good to hear of your success in carrying out this approach. Many people seem to relate to an issue more clearly when they hear it in human terms. On the polio front, since posting this blog entry I've received some wonderful stories from Ukraine and elsewhere, putting the vaccines in a personal context.
Matthew
5/29/2016 04:16:18 pm
Journalists often fail to convey the technical details, while documentary film makers often succeed. There are also some books (like Longitude) that tell a technical story to a general audience. What all of the above seem to focus on, to keep the reader's attention, is a story of the key players involved -- their emotions, aspirations, and motives, to make their setbacks and successes more meaningful to the reader. Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI'm a historian who writes novels and literary nonfiction. My home base is Madison, Wisconsin. Archives
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