Correction
A confession, a history and an apology
In haste I emailed out a raw unedited post today and I apologize.
What this reveals to you is how many times I revise and revise as I write, littering my desktop with versions, first creating story outlines, finding the story’s trajectory, then typing inches and inches of copy and then printing the long flabby version and going over it with a pencil scalpel, moving entire paragraphs, editing out “precious phrases”, extraneous adjectives, repetitive clauses and distilling the verbiage down to where the story is and then copying it all back through Microsoft Word to find the spelling, grammar and punctuation errors and then back to another Pages version to be most likely rewritten again and again. And again.
And then I submit it to my most brutal editor, my well-read lit major, my Ellen, a savage unsparing editor whom I respect and trust more than any other. She often devotes an hour to marking up the next printed version. I leave her to it. If after reading my writing she hands me copy covered with corrections, underlines, cross-throughs and arrows and general editing suggestions regarding setting or time or action I’ll thank her and make the corrections and follow her suggestions with groveling gratitude. Handing her copy is akin to feeding your beloved text to a shredder.
If after reading my writing she suggests tossing it all into the fire I’ll toss it all into the fire, thank her and start again.
I am not comparing myself to Robert Louis Stevenson but I love this instructive anecdote. Thanks to Fanny Stevenson, Robert Louis Stevenson’s spouse, a noteworthy magazine editor in her time and a supporter of her husband’s writing he became a global great only because of her brutal editing of his work. Stevenson tossed his first weak version of “Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde” into their fireplace after she ripped into its many weaknesses. In three days, following her counsel, he created the new improved compelling version of his tale that became an international classic. For more on their life together and her remarkable life as a Bohemian writer I recommend “Under the Wide and Starry Sky”, a novel by Nancy Horan, which is one of the few books I have loved so much I’ve reread it.
Dig deep in literary history and such alliances are not uncommon. Stephen King, for one, writes in “On Writing” that without his literary mate’s insights “Carrie” would have never have been a best seller.
The post that follows this apology is the final edited version I originally intended to send. I appreciate of your patience and forgiveness, and I love those of you who found the errors and pointed them out to me.
Long ago I learned to love good editors.
Abrazos,
David
As a lover of all things written and a perfectionist who, of course, is never perfect, I feel your pain. No need for apologies. Your writing enthralls - with or without typos.
“Under the Wide and Starry Sky” was indeed a favorite for me also. Love the shout out to your wife and her prodigious editing talents. Really looking forward to part deux.
On a personal note, sadly my husband and I reversed our plans to move to Tucson. Heat is always a concern (2 Celts here - don’t know how you do it!) but the political climate - yikes! Well, at least there’s a trial, enjoying that immensely. Hope this finds you well.