Writing About "Ordinary" People

Writers Secrets, #3

In this volume, my goal is to show you how to write about so-called "ordinary people"... but I'll tell you a secret... I hate that word "ordinary". Anyone who is worth writing about is, by definition, extraordinary. Not prosaic, dull, or boring.
Your job is to take the life of one of these so-called "ordinary" people, and make it rhumba. At the end of the day when you write an article about an "ordinary" person, you've got a piece of work that will sing, and make people worldwide sit up, pay
attention, and be grateful that you took the time to write the splendid article you did.
Now in this volume, I'm going to talk about vignettes... That is to say a brief evocative description, account, or episode. It is an event which may seem small and insignificant; however it is anything but. Vignettes are an aperture into a story. Telltale vignettes give you just the opening you need to create a story that looked improbable at its inception, but which is now totally captivating and important. Let me show you what I mean.
This volume focuses on five of these so-called "ordinary people", and how I review the information about them to turn what might have been bland and insignificant, into something that soars.
The five people in question are Adam B. Wheeler, Holly Hickler, Marty Burke, Dr. Harry Coover and Milton Levine.
These are people you may pass on the street and entirely overlook. Your job is to make them immortal... a thing of writing beauty, a joy forever.
Being able to find the story amidst all the data you may accumulate is the true essence of a successful writer, for we need to eschew mere words and verbiage, and capture and use just the right words to drive home the significant point.
Now dive in and let us begin...