Still Life

What does it take to be a good writer? After reading Still Life by Skip Hollandsworth in the May 2009 edition of Texas Monthly, not only are my eyes filled with tears, but I am inspired to write good stories. What does it take to move an audience after reading a feature story? I think it takes several things.

Personality. In order to get to know the people you are writing about, you must prove yourself personable. I think it'd be amazing to sit down with interesting people and hear their complete life stories. To really paint a true picture of the family in "Still Life", Skip must have spent hours upon hours with the family. A touchy subject, yes. But when dealing with such a bittersweet story, I'm sure the brother Henry was thankful to see the good side of journalism. To show the rest of the world that this man, John McClamrock, and his mother will always be remembered for their perseverance.

Originality. The story wouldn't be compelling and I wouldn't have just read through 5 pages of a feature story if it wasn't original and creative. What Skip does is transforms a "small story" in the newspapers from 30+ years ago into a lifelong story that touches the hearts of any and every human being that reads it. He allows the readers to truly get to know John and the mother. Dealing with heartbreak after heartbreak, he pulls through time after time. And we fall in love with these characters, per se, and he even places an underlying moral in there. What I got from the story? Keep fighting, never give up. Your family loves you more than you know. Keep a positive attitude no matter the circumstances. Love one another as if there's no tomorrow. The list goes on...

Empathy. If you didn't have this, you wouldn't be able to write such a passionate story. This story deals with death, cancer, family, and other topics that wouldn't be reachable if you couldn't even relate to the people you are talking to. To write such an explicit story about someone's life, you wouldn't really be able to dig very deep if you just nodded your head and kept writing in your little journalism notebook. It takes a conversation. Tears probably. Heck, I felt like I was a part of the family after I just read the story. I can't imagine what it was like learning all the small details about the McClamrock family and compiling everything into a beautiful narrative.

So...I applaud Skip for this story and I applaud Henry McClamrock who probably offered a lot of the details. Skip proves that just one story about a paralyzed child can still be a "sensation" over 30 years later.

John McClamrock