For those who are interested, here's my Sunday story in The New York Times. (It's not required reading!)
If you've read any of my other writing—architecture reviews for the P-I or Crosscut.com, or The Year of the Boat, you'll instantly see that the voice here is very different. In keeping with the tone of the Times, it's pretty formal. Okay, stiff. Not my natural or preferred voice, for sure. But freelance writers have to learn to shift among different voices without feeling constrained or oppressed, because different assignments require it. Think of it as dressing differently, depending on whether you're hiking in the Cascades or going to a business meeting.
My first piece for the Times, a year ago, was an essay instead of a news story, and they let me use something closer to my natural voice. But I used the phrase "...for damn sure..." which was just too much for them; the copy editor took it out. Such strong language!
If you read today's piece, note that I use an anecdote from one of the architects to get into the story. If you're writing about an issue or a trend like this, use a person (or people) as an avenue into the story. Readers identify with a person's experience or feelings much more closely than with the broad outline of a trend.
I see it's already on the "most e-mailed" list - congrats!
ReplyDeleteAs Feng Shui is so engrained in Chinese culture and so well-known in the U.S., I found it interesting that the U.S. architects didn't consider Feng Shui or ask about it before starting the design process and that the Chinese clients never mentioned it until a design created a Feng Shui problem.
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