Tag Archives: Writing and Editing

In Defense Of Doing It Right The First Time | mishaburnett

Posted by David Emeron on

To Misha Burnett:

I may not have given this impression upon our first meeting, however it is true that I am a rather shy person, all things considered. I confess that, for that reason, among others, I have not been following along. With that in mind, I should say that my surmise is that this post may be in response to comments on your second book.

First, let me here state that I found it most brilliant. Thoroughly enjoyable. I have read it once and am now reading it a second time aloud for my dear Mrs. Emeron’s enjoyment. I have given your name to several of my colleagues, directing them quite enthusiastically to buy your books. One gentleman in particular I think will greatly enjoy it; and I will, in particular, hound him when next I see him if I find he has not yet purchased it. I have helped to bring him into the 21st century this last year, so he is already well-versed in these matters and should easily be able to manage the two or three clicks necessary to do so.

As far as go the minor editing mistakes, I believe it is very true that one cannot find them all on ones own. This is a function of the way our brains work. As an author, I know what is–or rather, what should be–there; this being the case, I may not be able to “see” a missing or repeated word. But truly, there are editors who specialise in this kind of work and I hear they are quite affordable.

Although this is not my profession–no, quite the contrary; I deal daily in abstract symbols and concepts–I might have helped with these minor points, had I been one of your so named “beta-readers.” But alas I am far too shy, and therefore reticent to ask for such an honoured position.

Being, as I am, possessed of a neuro-atypical brain I do tend to see small errors others will not see; but on the other hand, I will not see such errors as are seen easily by others as well, so in any case, I would never be able to compete in the editing market as a paid editor even if it were my desire to do so.

I am no stranger to pain at my age, so I do realise how ones mood and condition may colour ones perspective and, as a result, ones comments. Even given that, certainly you are correct: Everyone writes differently; I myself use a variety of techniques whether writing sonnets or fiction. Sometimes, I write in layers and sometimes I outline. Quite often, I do none of these things, preferring to write from start to finish without pausing at all for reflection.

Since you are now a published author, I would not presume to give you advice–nor would I if the case were otherwise, as I have noticed writers invariably give other writers poor advice and would not want to contribute negatively in this way. I will here state just this one thing: Keep writing. Do not stop. No matter what anyone may suggest. Keep writing.

via In Defense Of Doing It Right The First Time | mishaburnett.

Networking, Moderation, Lucasing, Creativity and other stories| David Emeron: Sonnets

Posted by David Emeron on

To lucas or not. To moderate or not. To unrestrict or not.

This is a very strange topic. I would not have expected you to take note. Very true regarding creating/over editing. Still it is a rather strange and immediate medium we have here. In the 1800s, one might spend a year or so reworking and otherwise going over a book of poetry before even submitting it to a publisher (for even more re-edits.) I see this current process as a way to watch a work evolve–if anyone might be interested.

You may find this hard to believe, but I do not do that much lucasing–not nearly as much as you might guess. I am not obsessive with it. But when I find an error while reading something aloud (usually to Mrs. Emeron) I take advantage of my notice. There is something about a change in modalities that brings to light things one may have missed. For example, I can go over and over and over a new piece in the editing mode (black print on white) and then look at the published post–even just a glance (white print on black) and I will find things I will have missed before. Reading aloud has a similar effect. Even reading either to myself, or to Mrs. Emeron or to a colleague–all three of these are like different modalities and cause me to see things I did not see before.

I do change things when I notice them, or when the light goes on above my head and I exclaim “Eureka! Why did I not see this before!!”

I do feel a bit lonely for writing as I have been working on other things and using that hiatus to reformat what I already have written. It does please me to fix my excessive punctuation and give my works titles and streamline and fix my “sequences.” But very true, apart from some edits that I perform it is mostly digital grunt work. It is a way I can keep my hand in with what is now very limited time.

Still, I hear that appeals attorney Dr. Alan Dershowitz writes TWO sonnets every day and has for many years–even given his very full schedule. However, Google, Bing, &c. find no mention of it. When looking around to see if any are published, either in book form or web form somewhere, I find nothing, so perhaps the individual who told me this made it all up. One would think one might find at least a few hits on it or a mention of it in wikipedia, but I can find nothing.

If I were, for example, a marxist operative I might tell a poet something like this if I wanted to stop him from writing in the hopes that it would dishearten his attempts. Still I find it hard to believe that anyone, marxist or otherwise would notice, let alone care about, my four hits a day–which is what I receive if I am not actively engaged in the back and forth of the blogosphere.

In any case, my point is that one may write one sonnet every day–or two–no matter what one is doing. One might have to resort to a trick or two–speed writing techniques, I mean. I have, in fact, experimented with these. They do work. I can write a well-formed sonnet in under 10 minutes. But even though they read nicely and one might not be able to tell that they were that quickly written, still, there is no substitute for the type of sonnet that takes days of research and meditation and revision and experimentation to write. Both can be nice to read, but one can generally tell one from the other.

Partly, that is what the “Etudes” series is about: namely concentrating on types of writing and types of sound without worrying too much about what is being written. It is an interesting process because one sees in such cases what simply pops out of ones subconscious.

So in essence, I may spend 10 minutes when that is all I have and longer when I have more time to spend. Still, I admit I have been enjoying the re-editing process, most of which is cosmetic and functional rather than content modifying.

If I had my site hosted elsewhere, I could fix some things more quickly by writing shell scripts. I despair whenever I think that now that I have merged all three sites into one, all the internal links mentioned in posts or comments need to be fixed. There is no way I can do this easily. I simply fix deal links when I notice them, or if someone else brings them to my attention.

Ye Gods! But I do go on!! I think I should repost this as a regular entry.  And in fact, I just did so.

via Networking and selfish acts(free advertising tips) | Thoughts From a Mind Full of Dreams | David Emeron: Sonnets.

Intro 5: Strange Days

Posted by David Emeron on

I fell upon, particularly strange
These shores wherein I found myself marooned
Instead of somewhere infinitely light.

My voyage, it began capriciously.
And, though within it lives embedded form,
Possesses also an embedded soul.

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