Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Process Writing: Profile of Kim Russell

I'm not sure there's a story here. My initial idea fell through, which was the interview the collage artists in Kalamazoo, so I needed to find a subject that I felt more secure with. I knew I'd be able to get access to Kim and see her work (she is the custodian in Hicks), which was important. Although I never got the chance to interview Kim at her home in Otsego, where she might have been more comfortable, I still felt like I caught her in her element. I woke up at 7am on various days to shadow her while she cleaned around Hicks.

I didn't know what the angle of my story would be when I went into it, and that was definitely a problem. There really wasn't a story there, but following Kim around shed a lot of light on her complexities. I think that was the angle I was going into this piece with: here is this woman who, on the most superficial level, seems to be quite simple and lead a simple life. But the more I dug, the more layers I saw. Observing her during her lunch break with other FacMan employees illuminated a lot of those complexities. I wanted to highlight her interactions with these people because that's when I was able to see a different, very vulnerable side of her.

I was afraid this would turn into one of those profiles we're supposed to avoid--a story about nice people doing nice things--especially after watching those first few interactions with other people, like the Security guards. People really adore her. But like I said, spending more time with her changed this initial impressions.

But does all of this translate on the page and actually make for a story? I don't know. You tell me!

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