As you read these words today, I’ll be putting the finishing touches on my book manuscript—an 84,000-word tale of a young couple that pulled off an amazing heist many moons ago, then went roaming about the world. Tough to believe I’ve reached this point in the process; I started working on this project nearly three years ago, and there have been many moments when I’ve been tempted to chuck it all. Still a long way to go, but I can at least glimpse the shape of the finished product now.
One reason I’ve kept chugging along is a compulsion eloquently encapsulated by Chinese photographer Song Chao, so well-known for his portraits of coal miners. A former miner himself, Song was recently asked why he had turned his lens on subjects who most people rarely give a second thought to. His answer says a lot about the challenges and the allure of bringing characters to life in any artistic medium:
In people’s minds miners are ‘black’ people, leading a dull, mysterious and hard life. But this has nothing to do with reality, we often go out have drinks, grab something to eat, speak about our security, about women, and so forth. After six years of work in the mines, I spent more time with my colleagues than my family. In my mind, all their faces changed into unique characters. When I close my eyes I can perfectly imagine them in detail, I can even describe their personality, their opinion, the way they work. For me, these portraits embrace all the above-mentioned ideas.
We all know on some innate level that every human being is unique. But we often need to hear their stories to be reminded of that fact.
Jordan // May 4, 2012 at 11:22 am
Ira Glass gave a talk at my alma mater a number of years ago. One of his biggest points was that in terms of how engaging it is, the way that you tell a story is often more important than its content. I think that’s the key to why they’ve been able to tell such a wide array of stories, often of very obscure and seemingly mundane people and situations.
Bobby // May 7, 2012 at 11:17 am
Congrats on finishing the ms, Brendan! Look forward to the book…
Brendan I. Koerner // May 7, 2012 at 12:45 pm
@Bobby: Many thanks. Pub date should be spring/summer of 2013. Keep checking this space–lots and lots of updates to come, for sure.
@Jordan: Exactly. I think it’s far more rewarding to tell stories about obscure figures, because you get to build the narrative from the ground up. When you tackle well-known subjects, part of your challenge is just making the case for why your take matters. But when you’re the only person telling a tale, you “own” the material and have a lot more creative freedom.