June 18, 2004

By Dave Astor
Editor & Publisher
Published on 6/18/2004



One speaker, the Poynter Institute’s Roy Peter Clark, talked about the connections between music and writing while skillfully playing several tunes on the piano.


“You can listen to music in preparation for writing, while writing, and after writing as a kind of reward,” said Clark. He also noted that music and writing both elicit memories and other feelings, and both “open doors to cultures different than our own.” The two crafts even share terminology, such as “setting a tone” in a column and making words “sound” right.


Clark said more columnists should read their work out loud to make sure they “capture the music” in their prose. “We usually appeal to readers through the eyes,” he observed. “We need to appeal to readers through the ears.”


More of this article…
Search Google News for more quotes by Roy Peter Clark…

Support high-integrity, independent journalism that serves democracy. Make a gift to Poynter today. The Poynter Institute is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, and your gift helps us make good journalism better.
Donate
I serve as an Editorial Product Manager at NPR, where I work with member stations to develop niche websites. Before coming to NPR, I worked…
Matt Thompson

More News

Back to News