There were quite a few quotes I found while reading Narrative Inquiry that really stuck me. Here I have offered the quotes and provided my own feelings towards them underneath.
"The answer to the question, Why narrative? is, Because experience."
I think that this simply phrased statement explains the entire writing process. I know in my experience I need to write after big occurances or thoughts to sort myself out. I cannot process everything that has happened to me in such an experience without writing. When you think about it, almost all good writing is prompted from experience because it is in these instances where you can sympathize with the character. Where you can feel what they feel and truly be a part of the story. When you are distanced from the experience, you might find it fascinating, but you can only wish to be a part of it. Our narratives tell the audience everything they need to know about our experiences.
Ming Fang's long-ago China stories and present-day Canadian ones help us, as Blaise (1993) suggests, "live in their countries, speak their language, negotiate their streets on their buses and turn our keys in their locks" (p.201). .
I really loved the way this was phrased. "Live in their countries, speak their language, negotiate their streets on their buses and turn our keys in their locks..." This is everything we can hope for from a story. As I touched on above, the stories we tend to crave are the ones we can be a part of. If you can be in that moment, if you can be on their buses, the author has achieved the upmost form of success from their writing. It is the kind that everyone should strive to as they construct their stories. Most likely, it is one that the author has already lived. If they can allow the reader to do the same, they have done their job.
"Sometimes, this means that our own unnamed, perhaps secret, stories come to light as much as do those of our participants. This confronting of ourselves in our narrative past makes us vulnerable as inquirers because it makes secret stories public."
This quote exactly captures how I feel about my Twitterive. Though I did not have to research to do my project or conduct studies and interviews, it was an examination of myself, one that was very much unintentional. The story I told is one that I hold away from some of my closest friends because in my mind, it is almost as if everytime I share it with someone, I am getting judged. My secrets are out on the table and my world is no longer as safe. My relationship is no longer as safe. And yet for the sake of what will hopefully become great writing and a better understanding, I left my Twitterive up. I continued through with it even once I realized what it was about to become. I think that happens to every writer at some point. A bit of yourself, intentionally or not, is reflected through your writing for the word to see. Even if you are not writing your own story, it will find you, which is exactly what this quote tries to tell you.
"The answer to the question, Why narrative? is, Because experience."
I think that this simply phrased statement explains the entire writing process. I know in my experience I need to write after big occurances or thoughts to sort myself out. I cannot process everything that has happened to me in such an experience without writing. When you think about it, almost all good writing is prompted from experience because it is in these instances where you can sympathize with the character. Where you can feel what they feel and truly be a part of the story. When you are distanced from the experience, you might find it fascinating, but you can only wish to be a part of it. Our narratives tell the audience everything they need to know about our experiences.
Ming Fang's long-ago China stories and present-day Canadian ones help us, as Blaise (1993) suggests, "live in their countries, speak their language, negotiate their streets on their buses and turn our keys in their locks" (p.201). .
I really loved the way this was phrased. "Live in their countries, speak their language, negotiate their streets on their buses and turn our keys in their locks..." This is everything we can hope for from a story. As I touched on above, the stories we tend to crave are the ones we can be a part of. If you can be in that moment, if you can be on their buses, the author has achieved the upmost form of success from their writing. It is the kind that everyone should strive to as they construct their stories. Most likely, it is one that the author has already lived. If they can allow the reader to do the same, they have done their job.
"Sometimes, this means that our own unnamed, perhaps secret, stories come to light as much as do those of our participants. This confronting of ourselves in our narrative past makes us vulnerable as inquirers because it makes secret stories public."
This quote exactly captures how I feel about my Twitterive. Though I did not have to research to do my project or conduct studies and interviews, it was an examination of myself, one that was very much unintentional. The story I told is one that I hold away from some of my closest friends because in my mind, it is almost as if everytime I share it with someone, I am getting judged. My secrets are out on the table and my world is no longer as safe. My relationship is no longer as safe. And yet for the sake of what will hopefully become great writing and a better understanding, I left my Twitterive up. I continued through with it even once I realized what it was about to become. I think that happens to every writer at some point. A bit of yourself, intentionally or not, is reflected through your writing for the word to see. Even if you are not writing your own story, it will find you, which is exactly what this quote tries to tell you.
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