 | | Jamelle’s home workstation.Jamelle Bouie |
|
For this week’s newsletter, I thought I would share a little about my writing process and walk you through the construction of a column, from concept to completion. |
Let’s use my Friday essay, on the history of the census, as an example. |
I write two columns a week, and I generally like them to cover similar thematic ground. If I’m writing about New Deal-style policies in one piece, then perhaps I’ll try to write about the actual New Deal era in another. On Tuesday, I wrote about the Republican Party’s embrace of minoritarian politics, so from the jump, on Wednesday, I knew I wanted to write something on that subject. |
My first thought was to go deeper on this question of what the American majority actually looks like, by way of demographic analysis of the suburbs. But I also had a passage from George William Van Cleve’s “A Slaveholders’ Union” in the front of my mind. Here it is: |
| However, the slave states’ strenuous insistence on making slave representation permanent to protect slavery against a popular antislavery majority in northern states did have the unintended consequence that it introduced an element of modern dynamic republican representation theory into the Constitution, separating popular representation from interest representation. The creation of the mandatory census and reapportionment insisted upon by the slave states meant acceptance of James Wilson’s idea that the political majority (as the Constitution defined it) should be continuously represented in government, no matter where that majority was found within the nation’s expanding boundaries. |
I thought this was fascinatingly counterintuitive. It also lined up with what I had read in several other books on the founding and the Constitutional Convention. I pitched the idea to my editor, and he approved. Now it was time to write. |
A thing I have long realized about myself is that I’m bad at brainstorming and diagraming. I find it tedious. What I tend to do instead is free write. I use pen and paper (a Pilot G2 0.38mm black-ink pen and a grid-lined 8.5 x 11-inch Moleskine notebook) to write out an argument — usually by trying to imagine what I would say if I were talking to a stranger at a bar — and then I type it up. I take this extremely rough draft and try to extract the essential points and ideas. This becomes the basis for the column. |
While I’m doing all of this, I’m also researching, either flipping through books and academic papers or, when necessary, talking to a subject-matter expert to make sure I am on the right track. |
At some point, I take this edited rough draft and research and reporting and sit down to write the copy that I’ll actually send to my editor, Aaron (who wrote about the work he does here). Sometimes I can do this in a single sitting; sometimes it takes a day or two. I wrote the bulk of my Friday column on Wednesday night, starting about 9 p.m. and finishing at 3 a.m. I had what was essentially a burst of writing energy and I didn’t want to waste the opportunity, even if it meant a rough Thursday morning. If you’re wondering, I do nearly all of my work on a 2018 13.9-inch iPad Pro with the Magic Keyboard accessory and using the Ulysses app. |
I don’t normally write another draft after that second one, but I almost always do a final edit. And like the rough draft, this edit is pen on paper as well. I print out the column and read it aloud to catch any awkward language and to make sure it fits the rhythms of my voice. I make changes in red ink and then transfer them to the document I’m working in. |
Once I’m satisfied, I send this final draft to Aaron, who does his own fairly intensive edit, making rhetorical suggestions, noting points where the argument could be stronger and occasionally offering structural changes (rearranging paragraphs or moving a particular idea from one place in the column to another). There’s also a fact check. I tackle these edits, and once finished, I send the piece back. It gets a copy-edit and a headline, and then it goes out for publication. It gets another edit if it is going to be published in the paper itself, this time so that it fits on the physical page. |
Not every column is as absolutely strong as it could be, but I think all of them represent real rigor and serious effort. Even when you disagree with me, I hope you know I’m not just dashing off hot takes. |
My Tuesday column deals with what I think is the most dangerous development in American politics: a political party that rejects the call to build political majorities and secure the support of most Americans. |
| Instead, President Trump and his allies embraced this plainly anti-democratic feature of our political system to liberate themselves from majoritarian politics and coalition building. It’s not just that they can win with a plurality, but that they intend to, with no interest in persuading the majority of American voters and no concern for the consequences of that choice. |
And my Friday column deals with the circumstances that led the framers to put a mandatory census in the Constitution and how the consequences weren’t what anyone anticipated. |
| It is ironic, then, that the origin of the census lies less in principles of democratic representation, and more in the interests of slaveholders, who wanted political recognition of their slave wealth, with constitutional assurance that this peculiar interest would always weigh on future apportionment. But in a perfect example of unintended consequences, the slaveholders’ push for a census would help lay the groundwork for the end of the institution itself. |
I did another Twitter live chat! You can watch it here. |
Sunil Khilnani on Isabel Wilkerson’s new book, “Caste,” in The New Yorker. |
Joel Anderson on race and athletics at Liberty University in Slate magazine. |
John Edwin Mason on the Eastside Speedway in Waynesboro, Va., in The Bitter Southerner. (This, I should say, is my favorite thing I’ve read all week.) |
If you’re enjoying what you’re reading, please consider recommending it to friends. They can sign up here. If you want to share your thoughts on an item in this week’s newsletter or on the newsletter in general, please email me at jamelle-newsletter@nytimes.com. |
 | | A motorcycle enthusiast in Charlottesville, Va.Jamelle Bouie |
|
A month or two ago, a large group of African-American bikers came through town for a fund-raiser. They parked at a nearby church, so I went over with my camera to photograph. Everyone was very receptive and super chill. Here is one of the portraits I took. |
Now Eating: Atlantic Beach Pie |
It is absolutely not beach weather here in Charlottesville, but nonetheless I am making this pie today, because I am in the mood for something salty and sweet and cool and citrusy. It’s very easy to put together, and in my experience, a big hit. The recipe comes from the Food52 website. |
- 1½ sleeves of saltine crackers (about 6 ounces or 60 crackers)
- ½ cup softened unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons sugar
|
- 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
- 4 egg yolks
- ½ cup lemon or lime juice or a mix of the two
- Fresh whipped cream, for garnish
- Coarse sea salt, for garnish
|
Crush the crackers finely, but not to dust. You can use a food processor or your hands. Add the sugar, then knead in the butter until the crumbs hold together like dough. Press into an 8-inch pie pan. Chill for 15 minutes, then bake for 18 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. |
While the crust is cooling (it doesn’t need to be cold), beat the egg yolks into the milk, then beat in the citrus juice. It is important to completely combine these ingredients. Pour into the shell and bake for 16 minutes until the filling has set. The pie needs to be completely cold to be sliced. Serve with fresh whipped cream and a sprinkling of sea salt. |
|
