What's Your Story? Hamilton and other Musings...

Dear Real Academics,

Have you watched Hamilton, the broadway production? At the time of this blog post, a video version of Hamilton is currently on Disney Plus...for just 7.99/month (and you can cancel anytime), you can watch the play with the writer and creator, Lin Manuel-Miranda (the writer) playing the lead role. And no, Disney Plus is not sponsoring this post!

I ask if you've seen the production because Hamilton includes a strongly woven theme of writing. Here, I don't intend to critically unpack this theme (or give away spoilers if you have not viewed it), but simply to encourage you to watch this breathtaking (in my opinion) production. And if you've already watched it, watch it again, paying attention to the thematic role of writing so beautifully interwoven throughout the play.

With that said, allow me to muse on the question: "Is all writing a narrative"? As I watched Hamilton for the third time (in awe... and certainly not my last time), I concluded that writing is -- or should be -- about telling a story. Sure, some stories are more intriguing than others. A work of fiction (which, by the way, sell more copies than non-fiction: https://epjdatascience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1140/epjds/s13688-018-0135-y), may be more intriguing than a textbook or a funding report or a research article. 

But, in essence, all writing is a narrative, a story. Even a textbook reveals something about the author and the story they want to tell. I have a book review for a textbook due soon and the authors are undoubtedly telling a story from their point of view both theoretically and politically. What about technical writing? Arguably, even technical writing is telling us a story about some product or process or procedure.

So where I am I going with this? As Real Academics, I encourage you to think about what story you are telling. Whether you are writing a novel, a dissertation, a research article, or book review or a blog post: How are you communicating and why? Who are you communicating to and in what format? Then, reflect: Is the way you are communicating telling an effective/intriguing story? And, probably most importantly: What is your story? What is the story you want to tell and why?

Until next time,

Maggie

www.therealacademics.com

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