In the past I have contended that even the most quantitative, traditional scholarly articles are "all about the story." Having been studying creative nonfiction (aka, narrative nonfiction, literary nonfiction, or even call it "Fred" if you wish) intensively during my sabbatical, my belief in the importance of story has been strengthened.
In fact, there is a wonderful video that describes a project that matched scientists and nonfiction writers to help them create more powerful works together. Watch this inspirational and thought- provoking video by Lee Gutkind, who has been referred to as the "godfather of creative nonfiction.
Thinking of our work in terms of stories is not, however, only for when we write for lay audiences. Thinking of our work in terms of narratives allows us to consider writing our work in ways that are evocative and moving, or at least does not induce sleep. I will explore this notion more in a subsequent post but for now, watch the video and think of how it may apply to your work.
Who knows, perhaps you will also think about writing for other discourse communities (fancy professorial talk for "audience") as well. As long as we take care of our "T an P writing needs," writing for the public is some of the best service we can do.
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