Profile Process Writing

Writing a profile piece in narrative form is a new endeavor for me and writing this piece was, in many ways, harder for me than the personal essay. I had previously written profiles in a features context and I am not sure what the exact differences are between the two genres. My biggest concern is that my story comes off too much like a feature and that I did not paint enough of a picture with my words. When I sat down to write the story, I found that I had ample material, but I did not know exactly what direction to go in. I think a lot of this stems from my subject's context as a prominent figure in the local community. From the beginning, I knew that my target publication was going to be the Kalamazoo Gazette, because the story would have more of an impact for local readers than it would for someone in Colorado, for example.

Lillie was awesome from the start in complying with me for this project. Although she has a busy schedule, she let me in and I was able to get a view of a few different aspects of her life. The day I first approached her, she invited me that same night to ride with her to an event that she was doing out in South Haven. I jumped on the opportunity and I am so glad that I did because I got to truly observe her in her element. Later, I was able to go to her home and conduct a sit-down interview and I was able to get much of the background information on her as a person. She was fascinating to talk to and, as we learned in class, I saw that she was eager to tell a particular story, so I let go and I listened. From the beginning, I imagined the story being about her social justice leadership in the community, but the conversation took a turn towards her Alopecia hair loss condition and provided for a sense of depth that I had not previously counted on. I want to be able to frame her involvement in the community as deeply involved with her empathy towards those who are looked down upon for their appearance. I hope I am accomplishing this and I especially want my title to reflect this. I am currently still looking for a title that suits the piece and I am hoping to get a few more suggestions in class.

In the case of this story, the interviewing definitely came more easily than the story writing. I am excited to see the direction that this story continues to move in and I am looking forward to the workshop in class. I want to be able to polish my piece and write something that does accurate justice to Lillie and her work.