The Remains of the Night

The first thing that pops out at me about Elizabeth Royte’s post is the use of visuals to explain her points about her surroundings. Seeing the area that she is describing or something like it helps the reader envision themselves in the space as well, to relate easier to the story. Also the images of trash, not necessarily from Midwood Park but things that could’ve easily been found there, is a good way to convey the severity of the things that Royte saw. Just saying “trash” is more vague and allows the viewer to imagine just about anything. But pictures included along with her first hand accounts make the story that much more riveting. The side panels are full of statistics and numbers that readers can actually understand, making for a clearer understanding between reader and writer. Her tone also strikes me as someone who doesn’t take themselves that seriously, but takes their work incredibly seriously. She talks about the multiple books she’s written in the past that are well respected in her field, but then refers to them as her “garbage book”, which I find humorous. I think Royte has a good idea of who her audience is meant to be and who will actually find her works interesting and entertaining. She allows for people to create brand new stories out of highlights from her article, and Medium makes it very easy to go back to passages that the reader has chosen to be important to them. The documentary style images of found objects really speaks to me as well. I feel as a photographer, even the grittiest images are important when you’re trying to convey an idea. When making an article like this, Medium allows you to integrate all types of images, videos, and audio to make your point come across in a more fluid way. I know from personal experience, having that option greatly deepens and propels an idea into fruition, allowing readers a better understanding of what you are trying to say. Royte’s interactions with people who frequent the park, and those who are also helping clean it up also lend a hand in making it a more relatable topic of discussion. First hand accounts and interviews always make a story or article that much easier to relate to. I feel like when I have personal experience with something and someone else shares that, it’s that much more meaningful to me. Utilizing a platform such as Medium makes a story more accesible to a larger audience and makes for a more pleasurable reading experience. Something that’s easy on the eyes and easy on the brain to comprehend. I think I’ll be taking away a lot of good strategies from Royte, some that will make me a better writer, and some that will make interacting with my audience that much easier to do.