You could fill a book – or several – on what writers could learn from the brilliant Joan Didion. Sara Davidson picks her top 10 in an article for Lit Hub.
Didion was among the journalists who pioneered the use of first-person in magazine articles. “The most radical aspect of her voice when she started writing for magazines in the 1960s was that she, Joan, spoke to you, the reader, as if grabbing you by the lapels,” Davidson writes. “This was at a time when, at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where I was studying, it was drummed into us that we must never use the word ‘I.’ We must be ‘objective.’ The closest a journalist could come to expressing a personal impression was to refer to oneself as ‘this reporter.'”
Davidson also notes Didion’s use of repetition, including her habit of repeating certain phrases or details to anchor them in her readers’ minds. “When I once asked Didion why she repeats such phrases, she said, ‘I do it to remind the reader to make certain connections. Technically it’s almost a chant. You could read it as an attempt to cast a spell,'” Davidson explains.
Read 8 more compelling attributes of Joan Didion’s writing and life at the link.
