Something that I haven't fully appreciated, and didn't appreciate when I took this class last spring, is the importance of the story. He writes, "Seeing stories is like any other marketable skill: It requires effort and practice. If it didn't, people wouldn't pay you for doing it" (74). The more journalism classes I take and Index meetings I go to, I recognize that the idea is often the most important element to a good narrative. But I still think that a good writer can turn even the most uninteresting, mundane thing into a worthwhile read, especially narrative journalists who rely so much on fiction writing techniques.
Franklin has had a pretty profound impact on my writing over the last year. He reflects on personal rejections, confronts lazy reporting and thinks back on his biases in his earliest works. Everything he writes about craftsmanship, simplicity, polishing, outlining, really stuck. The best part of this book is that he forces you to examine your own writing process, and tells you quite bluntly not to do certain things--like begin your story right where the story begins or use flashbacks because you'll sound like an amateur (which still surprised me)--because they don't work.
My favorite part of "Writing for Story" is still his chapter on the outline and I still think in terms of that structure when starting the writing process. I'm curious to hear how the rest of the class received Franklin, and this section in particular--and how easily they jumped on his bandwagon (or maybe didn't jump on it....).
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