You are a brave woman. I am so happy for you to find editors that guide and help you clarify your own thinking; they are truly a gift. For me, your words do everything you hope they will. They dance off the page with every emotion imaginable in the most magical of ways. They are masterpieces awaiting the canvas. xx
Deborah, thank you. I often wonder if I am leaving a trail of ungrammaticals here. But then I think: It's my Substack, and I can err in my own ways here. Here is the unbuffed version of me.
Absolutely! I love seeing your "unbuffed version". I also like that Substack is a place we can experiment with words and share them without the finality or permanence of book publishing. Although...as I just wrote that, I'm not sure our words on here will not be in a permanent record, as all one has to do is google their name and your whole past arrives in a mere moments' time. I wonder about that sometimes in this technology obsessed world. I am an old school girl, I love the smell of books, a fresh handmade notebook and a newly sharpened pencil as it glides across the page, capturing our thoughts before we do at times. Your writing and art constantly brings these thoughts as my senses come alive and I remember. That is truly a gift you give to your readers. xx
I love this. "Perhaps, and have you considered, and look again." Happy you have such people, such encouragers, such heart-full and eagle-eyed editors, in your tent.
You teach us how to write without even meaning to! (Or...you probably meant to). I often think what would happen to my words if an editor got ahold of them. It's a negative feeling. Ha! Love to see your mixed media work. It's beautiful.
Oh, Linda, thank you. There are so many different ways to be a copy editor (heaven knows, I've been ... uncomfortable ... with some in the past). But in this case, and ... thank you, about the art. It means as much to me as the words do.
Beth, each book (or mostly) has had its own journey. In this case, my book is Philadelphia centric, and Tursulowe is deeply engaged in Philadelphia with its words and books. I knew that, and so I wrote a letter, was invited to meet with Jessie, and so this project and this friendship became what it is today.
'I endanger myself, writing as I do. I risk privileging my own process over clarity, or soundness.' Oh, yes. This is how it feels when I write, the feeling inside me searching to find form on the page, often only recognisable in the moment of creating it. Learning to give more definition, more connection, more constraint to the thoughts before offering them to a reader is my journey.
When the meaning finds a form that is willing to be shared, that's the joyous part. I write across multiple forms and genres and that's helped me to borrow a step here, a twirl there, sometimes a kick and flip. My 'natural' writing voice is intense and insular, difficult for readers to access. Using techniques I've learned in academic writing and military history, I think I've been able to create more meaningful work in more of my work. But only the reader can tell me if that's true... if the dance is rhythmic, flowing, satisfying.
You are a brave woman. I am so happy for you to find editors that guide and help you clarify your own thinking; they are truly a gift. For me, your words do everything you hope they will. They dance off the page with every emotion imaginable in the most magical of ways. They are masterpieces awaiting the canvas. xx
Deborah, thank you. I often wonder if I am leaving a trail of ungrammaticals here. But then I think: It's my Substack, and I can err in my own ways here. Here is the unbuffed version of me.
Absolutely! I love seeing your "unbuffed version". I also like that Substack is a place we can experiment with words and share them without the finality or permanence of book publishing. Although...as I just wrote that, I'm not sure our words on here will not be in a permanent record, as all one has to do is google their name and your whole past arrives in a mere moments' time. I wonder about that sometimes in this technology obsessed world. I am an old school girl, I love the smell of books, a fresh handmade notebook and a newly sharpened pencil as it glides across the page, capturing our thoughts before we do at times. Your writing and art constantly brings these thoughts as my senses come alive and I remember. That is truly a gift you give to your readers. xx
The Horn & Hardart in Philadelphia, one of the best. Memories.
Oh yes. So very much so!
love the phrase, "liquid novel." Yes, exactly that.
How well you understand this term! And congratulations, again, on Short Reads! So cool to wake up and read that.
thank you for sharing it on FB. Even though it's somber piece, it was a bit of encouragement for me in these trying days.
I love this. "Perhaps, and have you considered, and look again." Happy you have such people, such encouragers, such heart-full and eagle-eyed editors, in your tent.
We have both been blessed!
How fortunate to have them.
AE, you know this well, have been on this path. It's a privilege, it's a rare thing, to be so beheld by editors.
You teach us how to write without even meaning to! (Or...you probably meant to). I often think what would happen to my words if an editor got ahold of them. It's a negative feeling. Ha! Love to see your mixed media work. It's beautiful.
Oh, Linda, thank you. There are so many different ways to be a copy editor (heaven knows, I've been ... uncomfortable ... with some in the past). But in this case, and ... thank you, about the art. It means as much to me as the words do.
Love this! How did you find your editors?
Beth, each book (or mostly) has had its own journey. In this case, my book is Philadelphia centric, and Tursulowe is deeply engaged in Philadelphia with its words and books. I knew that, and so I wrote a letter, was invited to meet with Jessie, and so this project and this friendship became what it is today.
'I endanger myself, writing as I do. I risk privileging my own process over clarity, or soundness.' Oh, yes. This is how it feels when I write, the feeling inside me searching to find form on the page, often only recognisable in the moment of creating it. Learning to give more definition, more connection, more constraint to the thoughts before offering them to a reader is my journey.
Bev, isn't it the best feeling, though — this dance with words .... and then the clarifying?
When the meaning finds a form that is willing to be shared, that's the joyous part. I write across multiple forms and genres and that's helped me to borrow a step here, a twirl there, sometimes a kick and flip. My 'natural' writing voice is intense and insular, difficult for readers to access. Using techniques I've learned in academic writing and military history, I think I've been able to create more meaningful work in more of my work. But only the reader can tell me if that's true... if the dance is rhythmic, flowing, satisfying.
Beautiful Beth. What a lovely note you wrote. I hear you, loud and clear. 🙏
Thank you, Anja, for being here, for listening.
Oh, what a beautiful concoction! And what a privilege to be a beloved and valued copy-editor, not just a proof-reader 🧡
Janey, yes. Precisely. No mere proofreader. But a friend in the making.
And your novel sounds wonderful - will it be released in the UK?