Surviving Bullies Project Blog
Monday, April 17, 2006
How to Tell Our Story?
ello hello!
For the past few days I have been writing an article to submit to newspapers, magazines and other media outlets for the purpose of telling the story of the Surviving Bullies Project and increasing awareness of our campaign. With this story, I hope to educate and engage as many people as possible about who we are and what we are trying to do by spreading the word about our mission.
I have found writing about a project tough on many levels…one has to find the right way to begin the story, one has to figure out what tone they are trying to achieve, one has to determine the structure of the article, the narrative voice, the perspective, the overall message. All of these components come into play. And then there is the huge challenge of how to come across to those reading about us, as powerful and purposeful, not sensational and dismissive.
My goal is to write an article that will draw people in, one that will have the reader’s full attention through to the end. My goal is that when readers do finish the article, they are inspired to get up and do something about what they’ve read, not to forget about it when they rise from their seats. My goal is to make individuals understand how imperative it is that peer cruelty and other bullying behaviors be addressed immediately. My goal is to demonstrate to readers the ways in which these behaviors are hurting our youth and the climate of our schools.
It was not so long ago, last May to be exact, that I was in college writing papers for my English professors. One would think that writing an article for newspapers and magazines about our project would not be such a difficult endeavor—not unlike writing another English paper. And yet, this has been one of the most arduous “papers” I have ever written. William Faulkner once said, “If the story is in you, it has got to come out.” The story is certainly in me, but teasing it out is a process in itself. It has forced me to ask myself what responsibility a writer has to society, and how these responsibilities can be achieved through the written word. I think one of the biggest responsibilities of writers is to speak truth, and to communicate in a clear way and make my message the community’s message. And when troubles are on the horizon, I think a writer’s responsibility is to identify the issues, to shed light on them, so that they can then be addressed (or at the very least acknowledged by society).
Which begs the question: what do you think a writer’s responsibility is to society? I would be most interested to hear from you on this subject. In the meantime, wish me luck telling the story of the SBPeeps! :-)
More later.
~Rebecca
Posted by Dickon on 04/17/06 at 04:17 PM
Next entry: Radio Interviews
Previous entry: Website and Project Promotion II
Avapro | Hyzaar | Relafen | Glyburide | Tricor
Posted by on 11/02/07 at 11:18 PM