Katie's Writing Notes

Because readers love to read and learn from stories, using examples in your writing can only enhance your writing efforts.  And examples, though not always a story or narrative, satisfies this need to read about a specific use or experience relating to your point being made.

EXAMPLE DEFINED

An example, which can include an illustration or narrative, gives the reader a specific description of that point, a particular incident or event that illustrates the point.  Often these examples come in narrative form, as in personal anecdotes, case studies, or simply examples.  These examples help the reader understand the point being made by being able to relate to something real, as opposed to theoretical.

Examples can vary in length from a few words to a few paragraphs to taking up an entire chapter.  Some books even use a series of case histories or transcripts of interviews to illustrate their points about the problem being discussed or how solutions work to solve the problem.  Studs Terkel made a career out of presenting interviews with ordinary people about particular topics.  I recommend reading his books if you are interested in this method of storytelling.  They are really entertaining and illuminating.

WHEN TO USE EXAMPLES

Use examples anywhere and everywhere you think they will help the reader understand and enjoy your discussion of the topic.  Decide the appropriate length necessary for the word or idea, find the right example to use, and write it up.

TWO EXAMPLES

Using Studs Terkel as an example, his books are simply a series of transcripts of interviews he conducted with ordinary people.  He asked people about their worklife and about their experiences in the Great Depression, which are topics for two of his books.

Suppose you are writing about training a dog.  For each step in the process, you might use examples or experiences you have had in training dogs.  These experiences might be funny, telling all that went wrong with the training, or they might show successful training results.  Either way, writing about Fido and how you taught him to fetch the stick has more of an impact than talking generically about the stick catch.

QUESTIONS FOR DETERMINING USE OF EXAMPLES

1. Think in broad terms about the topic you are writing about.  Identify those ideas or concepts that really do need an example to allow the reader to understand your discussion.  Then move down the level of generality, picking more specific topics and finding those that could use an example.

2. Is the example a direct hit with your point, or is the example only marginally appropriate?  It should be a direct hit.  Figure out the traits or experiences you need to relate in your example and then find one that hits the mark.

3. Determine the best length of example to use for each point chosen for this method of writing.  Some short examples, interspersed with longer ones, will break up the monotony of paragraph after paragraph of discussion.

4. Do you need to get permission from anyone in order to use the example?  If the example is based on someone else’s life story, you need to obtain life rights permission to use their experiences.  Research the proper legal forms and take care of this or suffer the consequences.

5. Can you use your own experiences (no life rights permission required) in your writing? This is always the best first choice, if you have experiences relevant to your writing, which you should if you are writing about the topic.

Examples are a wonderful way of adding to your explanations about your topic.  They add color and vitality to the writing and enabling to reader to better understand your points.