Description

In Chapter 10 of 15, “The Art of Eating In” author Cathy Erway traces her ongoing inspirations from graduating Emerson College with a creative writing degree until present times. Erway highlights how Harper's Magazine showcases a thoughtful news approach that inspires her to incorporate a more research-driven journalism approach to her writing. Specifically Harper's writer and 'Nickel and Dimed' author Barbara Ehrenreich influences Erway's plans for what comes next in her writing career.

Transcript

00:04 to 00:12 Erik: How was your viewpoint on creative writing and the style you’re developing through writing change since you graduated from Emerson College? 00:12 to 00:40 Cathy: Oh, I was focused on fiction at that time. I did little creative non-fiction essays, but now I never say journalism, so that’s my growing pains right now. I do want to have a really wide range of research behind any points that I’d be making, so that’s something I’m really working on. 00:40 to 00:43 Erik: Yeah? And how are you approaching developing your style? 00:43 to 00:48 Cathy: Just read, read, read. And read a lot of really good journalism too. 00:48 to 58 Erik: Can you give a few examples of what good journalism has taught you and lessons as you’ve evolved your style? 00:59 to 02:21 Cathy: Yeah, if you’re going to tackle a topic that is sensitive, or current events that are political or politically charged, you just need to be as careful as you can but you should also be engaging and give every piece of your writing some flare. Not just have it look like an AP, you know? One of my favorite is… I love reading Harpers which shows just a really great mix of groundbreaking news coverage, as well as good style, good thinking. Actually one of my favorite books is by a writer who has written for Harpers a bit. Her name is Barbara Ehrenreich, it’s called Nickel and Dimed and she goes to various states and tries to make it living off of all these various entry-level, minimal wage type of jobs. She goes undercover, this was part of an experiment, so it was a bit of a risky thing, pretending to be someone she was not. It was just a fascinating document about how hard it is to get by.