tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post3416885398452627093..comments2023-08-27T04:22:55.468-07:00Comments on The Literary Lab: Revisions and the Writerly EyeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-48984612408197492722010-10-08T23:46:01.855-07:002010-10-08T23:46:01.855-07:00Like Davin, I'm constantly trying to figure ou...Like Davin, I'm constantly trying to figure out intentions because I feel like that's a more objective way to read works. <br /><br />That said, I can usually turn off my inner editor while I read other works for pleasure. Usually...<br /><br />I love revising much, much, much more than writing a first draft. Writing a first draft is like pushing a boulder up a mountain. I don't know why I keep pushing that boulder...maybe I like how it looks falling down on the other side each time I get it up there?Michelle D. Argylehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09696465137285587646noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-64267241363861385032010-10-08T16:47:32.789-07:002010-10-08T16:47:32.789-07:00I like your wading metaphor, Scott. I don't fe...I like your wading metaphor, Scott. I don't feel like that at all, but I still like it. <br /><br />These days when I read, I think I'm constantly trying to figure out a writer's intentions. I try to understand what they were trying to do because I guess I think that will help me understand the book better. For the writers that really inspire me, the ones that I feel are writing similar things to what I write, then I'll often compare my decision making process with theirs.Davin Malasarnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09385823575081492949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-76447793071424509712010-10-08T16:07:40.205-07:002010-10-08T16:07:40.205-07:00I miss Paddington Bear. I should re-read those.
...I miss <i>Paddington Bear</i>. I should re-read those. <br /><br />And <i>Stuart Little</i> too. Love E.B. White's books.Jamie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05486427517423813962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-48339796119936950082010-10-08T11:43:34.737-07:002010-10-08T11:43:34.737-07:00Secret Garden is on my re-visit list for later thi...<i>Secret Garden</i> is on my re-visit list for later this year. And eventually I need to buck up and read <i>Anne of Green Gables</i>.<br /><br />I can't deal with the Wilder books.C. N. Nevetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375714948653196993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-72790212351502110722010-10-08T11:39:10.560-07:002010-10-08T11:39:10.560-07:00@Alex - Funny you should say that about non-fictio...@Alex - Funny you should say that about non-fiction. That's one thing I miss about grad school. The texts were a rest for my brain from all this fiction stuff, which is pure work.<br /><br />hahaha So messed up.C. N. Nevetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375714948653196993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-45009056517057847232010-10-08T11:33:30.571-07:002010-10-08T11:33:30.571-07:00I had a great time working with my editor last yea...I had a great time working with my editor last year on "strengthening" the novel, as she called it. What I discovered is that the book had been with me for so long that I could no longer see it clearly, or see a way to improve it. Having an expert outsider came to it fresh was wonderful -- her insights, suggestions, and ideas got me excited about the work again, and made me *want* to make the revisions. I find this a lot harder to do all on my own.<br /><br />As for reading, I tend to let a lot slide for the sake of entertainment, though I will throw a novel across the room for factual inaccuracies and/or logic lapses. I'm more forgiving of word choice/grammar errors, though not to excess or egregiousness. Right now I'm reading a novella which has had a few glaring ones, but the author was 16 when she wrote it, so I'm cutting her more slack than I might otherwise.<br /><br />About 50-75% of my reading matter is nonfiction, which doesn't usually have such issues. <br /><br />I do like your river metaphor.<br /><br />-Alex MacKenzieAlex MacKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14121919349442258779noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-25521690892150003782010-10-08T10:39:22.288-07:002010-10-08T10:39:22.288-07:00I also bow and scrape at the feet of whoever inven...I also bow and scrape at the feet of whoever invented written language.lotusgirlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06663641163048764869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-70240954920262510482010-10-08T10:09:08.809-07:002010-10-08T10:09:08.809-07:00Nevets: I'm also working my way through Michae...Nevets: I'm also working my way through Michael Bond's <i>Paddington Bear</i> books. One ought not be afraid of the classics.<br /><br />Last year I tried to read Laura Ingalls-Wilder's <i>The Long Winter</i> but I just kept thinking, "Wow, Pa is a real asshat" and I had to put it down.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-44615642677192899112010-10-08T10:02:58.021-07:002010-10-08T10:02:58.021-07:00I've only had Mr. Popper's Penguins read o...I've only had Mr. Popper's Penguins read out loud to me, which seems to help my writerly eye not play as much of a part. Not sure what would happen if I actually read it.<br /><br />Fun story, though.C. N. Nevetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375714948653196993noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-89352844026289786322010-10-08T09:39:51.719-07:002010-10-08T09:39:51.719-07:00I am coming, more and more, to love revisions. I t...I am coming, more and more, to love revisions. I think I enjoy the process of re-writing more than the process of drafting. It feels more creative, the results are more immediate and satisfying and I get most of my best ideas during rewrites.<br /><br />You know what sort of stuff doesn't get my inner editor's attention? Kids' books. Last night I read a 1938 book called "Mr. Popper's Penguins" and it was not the loveliest of prose nor the most fabulous stories, but not once was I tempted to put it down. So I think that the more what I'm reading is like what I'm trying to write, the more critical I'll be.scott g.f.baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05726743149139510832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-22102265755523503462010-10-08T09:18:05.693-07:002010-10-08T09:18:05.693-07:00I'm inherently lazy. So turning off the intern...I'm inherently lazy. So turning off the internal editor just to read a book is pretty easy for me - someone has to make either very large, noticeable errors or have a running string of them before I'll put a book down. It's happened (and most of the time I can tell from the first page if a work will be readable), but for the most part if the work's been edited, I'll skim over the errors. Head-hopping has been really bugging me lately in a lot of self-pub stuff I've read. I don't like it - makes the reading "jerk-y". <br /><br />With my own work, my need to have it read smoothly and make good, logical sense wins over laziness, so I work hard at making the prose itself seamless (or as much as I can). Because I'm lazy but can't ignore my own standards, I compromise by whining about my revisions nearly the whole time I'm doing them. ;-)<br /><br />I dearly hate revisions - nearly as much as I love drafting. The point at which I finally get to send my work off to the editor? Bliss.Jamie D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/05486427517423813962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-37765622904661737042010-10-08T06:54:16.990-07:002010-10-08T06:54:16.990-07:00Loving the last paragraph...sentence...ramble. Hah...Loving the last paragraph...sentence...ramble. Hah.<br /><br />Seriously, I did a post about this recently. Reading with a writerly eye can be time consuming, and for me it can suck the enjoyment out of it. But how does one make it stop? How do we really shut up that internal editor?<br /><br />Not quite sure. I have started making a firm commitment before I begin reading to read for one reason or the other. I'm always up for learning something new within the craft, but sometimes one must shut everything else off and just enjoy.<br /><br />Nice post.S.A. Larsenッhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06241633272588383935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2092805684169371138.post-11363026598612966572010-10-08T06:35:46.047-07:002010-10-08T06:35:46.047-07:00You said Linear B again, dang you.
The one thing ...You said Linear B again, dang you.<br /><br />The one thing I didn't say before is that I appreciate your emphasis on a book being the product of an author's decisions.<br /><br />When I finally realized that, it was very empowering as a writer. For a long time I felt trapped without knowing. I wrote the things I wanted to say, and that's how they had to be said. That's why I hated revisions and criticism so much.<br /><br />As soon as I realized that I was actually making a choice with everything I wrote, that there were a dozen other ways to say and accomplish what I wanted to say and accomplish, I was suddenly free to enjoy revisions, editing, and criticism. They didn't mean my writing was bad. They meant that I might have been better off with another choice.<br /><br />It also meant that when I got a critique or an edit, there was often yet another alternative, that I could now see would make both me and the editor happy.<br /><br />Long live choices!C. N. Nevetshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00375714948653196993noreply@blogger.com