Subject: Re: Words, words, words
AntiUtopia@aol.com
Date: Tue Feb 01 2000 - 08:25:17 EST
In a message dated 2/1/00 8:01:33 AM Eastern Standard Time, wh14@is9.nyu.edu
writes:
<< I respectfully disagree--editing is part of one's writing process and the
more able one becomes with it, the more one's writing improves. Few
editors will "love" your writing as much as you do, and editing is much
more than correcting spelling and grammar. In my writing process, there
are many drafts toward something I will submit for publication--each draft
is an opportunity to find ways to improve the next one...sorry Jim but I
see editing as integral to creating good writing, will >>
Of course I see it that way too. I never write anything once (except
e-mail). I usually write whatever it is I'm sending out over ten times. I
don't even want to guess how many times I reread it. Each time is an edit
and a revision. I could cite people like Yeats who had precisely the same
problems our own bananafisher had and dealt with it as I suggested -- had
competent friends work with him on the spelling and punctuation of his poems.
Unless the person was a talented as Yeats, of course, I'd never recommend
this as a habit. We all do need to learn to write Properly.
But this particular person sounded like she was so hung up on mechanics that
she couldn't create, and what's the point of learning proper grammar and
spelling if it keeps you from writing at all? I'd say just write and forget
about mechanics, then take care of all that in later revisions, after you've
said what you want to say. Get help if you need it. Or separate the writing
you want to do from writing you do to learn proper mechanics. But don't just
sit there so worried about not doing it right the first time that you don't
write at all. That's a terrible waste.
Jim
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