PB2B

Every author writes in a way that sets him or her apart from other writers. Every writer has a distinct writing style. Whether it is frequent use of dashes or anecdotes, there is always something that makes the writing different. These unique features are sometimes referred to as “moves”. Moves can be anything from miniscule things like never using the oxford comma, to very noticeable features such as only writing in a checklist format or capitalizing every first letter of every word. Whether we notice these things or not, they are there, and they make the piece of writing what it is – distinctive.

To further facilitate our understanding of moves, let’s compare two readings we have reviewed this quarter. More specifically, lets look at Shitty First Drafts by Anne Lamott and Navigating Genres by Kerry Dirk.

In Navigating Genres, Dirk discusses genres and what makes a genre a genre. He used the examples of country songs and satiric news articles to show us what distinguishes them from each other. He addresses his audience in first person and uses “I” quite a lot. He starts his essay off with an example of a joke, which effectively introduces what he will be discussing for the rest of the paper. Some prominent moves that I noticed Dirk use were the frequent use of bullet points to present more examples to the reader. For instance, he listed five bullet points just to provide several samples of country music conventions. Another move that I noticed Dirk used quite often was the use of citations from academic sources as an attempt to further help readers/writers understand genres. He cited Lloyd Bitzer on the topic of rhetorical devices, and said, “When something new happens that requires a response, someone must create that first response”. This is something that Shitty First Drafts does not do. Yet another move we see in Dirk’s work but not in Lamott’s is the use of example scenarios, such as in the case of the ransom note. Dirk gives us a potential situation, and then makes us decide which version of a ransom note would be most effective.

Just like Navigating Genres, Shitty First Drafts is written to motivate writers and help them make their work better. It is also written in a fairly informal matter. I mean, the title alone should get that point across. Lamott also addresses her audience directly, using “you” and “I”, and makes her writing seem as if she is speaking to us. She writes about her process of producing a food review and the drafts that came along with the process. In her writing, she uses quite a bit of humor, as well as anecdotes. “I used to write food reviews for California magazine before it folded.

(My writing food reviews had nothing to do with the magazine folding, although every single review did cause a couple of canceled subscriptions. Some readers took umbrage at my comparing mounds of vegetable puree with various ex-presidents' brains)”

 is a perfect example of Lamott’s moves regarding humor and informality. There is another move Lamott makes that concerns writing style. The way she wrote her work appears to be in an instruction-like format, making it easy for the reader to understand. Lamott’s Shitty First Drafts is more like short story that includes instructions, while Dirk’s is more like an explanation.

I’d say that both works have moves that make them pretty successful. Both writers wrote clearly enough for me to understand and pick out specific moves. But even though it was hard for me to choose the better one out of the two, I would have to go with Dirk’s Navigating Genres because I understood the essay and what he was trying to teach me the very first time I read it. Although Lamott’s moves did prove to be successful as well, Dirk’s use of frequent citations, bullet points, and example scenarios really did it for me.