Talk:Augusten Burroughs on addiction, writing, his family and his new book

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OR[edit]

Interview conducted in person with Augusten Burroughs on October 4, 2007. --David Shankbone 23:47, 11 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Shouldn't the intro be in the third person? The rest of your interviews seem to be third person introduced. -- 99.228.47.168 17:08, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Typically they are, and I don't usually deviate from the third person. This interview was a little special to me; it had an impact on me, so I broke from my third person narration. I don't know if interviews "should" be in the third person (many interviews done at other publications and websites are not), but I, personally, prefer doing third person introductions. But, this one was a unique experience, so I broke the mold a little. --David Shankbone 18:54, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

suggestions[edit]

1. sorry to be nitpicky, but "I removed half of the interview; the half that focused on me" should have a colon instead of semi-colon. semi-colons are used when the part before the semi is a complete sentence and so is the part after. in this case, the part after isn't a complete sentence.

2. when reading the intro, i was very confused when you jumped from talking about talese to burroughs, with no explanation why. granted, i know nothing about the two men. but still, perhaps some logical connector would be helpful?

cheers Wikisoup 18:59, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't mind nit-picky stuff, especially if it corrects grammar/punctuation issues. I included the Talese to Burroughs transition because Talese raised an issue that was pertinent to Burroughs: what do you ask someone who has been asked everything? There are arguments that a new venue can use recycled questions because new readers will find information in that forum; but as someone who wants to be a bit innovative in the discussion, no matter how foolish that attempt is, it can be difficult. I opened the interview up with the "Talese Question" so I thought I would start the published piece with it as well. I thought the transition was clear in the intro the way that I wrote it, but maybe not. --David Shankbone 21:33, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I understood the connection after re-reading, and I like the way you parallel the two. There was just something that seemed a little abrupt in the transition to talking about Burroughs. Even a simple addition to your "With Gay Talese I had little interest in talking about Frank Sinatra Has a Cold and with Augusten Burroughs I had little interest in..." sentence, like, "With Gay Talese I had little interest in talking about Frank Sinatra Has a Cold and with Augusten Burroughs, in my recent interview, I had little interest in..." might help? I don't know ... you're the writer ... I'm just the dumb reader you have to communicate with. Wikisoup 22:01, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]
(i should have put a smily face or something at the end there to show that was my attempt at humour) :p
I'm just glad you read it :-) (there's a smiley face for you). --David Shankbone 22:53, 12 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

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