Reflections

It's been almost two months since I posted ... not because I didn't have things to talk about, but because of a distinct lack of time (due in part to family commitments, work, and a nasty viral bronchitis that's pretty much side-lined me for the past 3 weeks).  This has been quite the year, with some significant ups and some even more significant downs.  I'm glad to be moving forward, with all that the new year, and the promise of a new start, brings.

I have a lengthy list of blog posts to write and share, an even longer list of writing projects for 2014, and a bit more writing time this go around, so here's hoping for a more prolific (and consistent) writing year.

So here's to the year that was, and to the year that will be.  Happy New Year, everyone!

Small town living

I had another post almost set to go when inspiration struck.  In talking with @MattKruchakCBC  the other morning about suburban sprawl and moving to a small town, I couldn't explain in 140 characters why moving out of the city was one of the best decisions we've made.  So rather than finish the article I was working on, this essay on small town living got written.   

Small Town Living

When we moved from the city to a small town seven years ago, I don’t really think we knew what we were getting into.  Or, at least, I didn’t.  I grew up in a Vancouver suburb, so moving to Main St. in a small Saskatchewan town was a bit of a culture shock for me.  But I had the perception in my mind that we were making a change for the better, and I can say now that I wouldn’t move back to the city, not unless it became an absolute necessity.

What drew us originally to a rural town was the cost of housing, which was substantially lower than in the city.  We were able to afford a larger house, on a significantly larger piece of property, than we’d have been able to afford in the city at the time.  And we’re not tied to a big mortgage, which means that we’ve been able to go more places and do more things than we might otherwise have been able to do.

There’s a sense of community here that I had never experienced in any of the cities in which I’ve lived.  People know each other, and look out for each other.  The disconnect that some people experience—particularly larger cities—from family, from friends, and from neighbours just isn’t here in a small town.  We’re not “bowling alone,” to use Robert Putnam’s phrase, and there’s a depth to our social capital that I’ve never seen elsewhere.  To put it bluntly, we’re invested in our community, and invested in each other. 

That investment can certainly have its down sides.  Yes, there are disagreements, and long-standing feuds that newcomers will likely never understand—like why the Town and RM councils seem to have difficulty working together.  But we can’t all agree on everything.  And it’s difficult, at times, for this socially-liberal, fiscally conservative feminist to see things from others’ points of view.  On the plus side, I’m getting better at biting my tongue when saying something just won’t do much good, which is a valuable talent to develop.  And people do know everyone’s business, at least to an extent.  When we got a new cat, a stray kitten found not far from the ferry road, people across town knew within minutes.  Although that’s partly my “fault,” for posting on Facebook that we’d retrieved it.  But, in all honesty, the intimate details of our lives are still intimate, unless we’re inclined to share.

In light of sharing, the saying “it takes a village to raise a child” comes to mind.  Living in a small community has reinforced my belief in this concept.  In the early summer, there were packs of small boys running rampant through my yard, and if my boys disappeared, I had a pretty good idea of where they’d gone.  We know their hockey coaches, their Kindergarten teacher has visited our house, and they’re already beginning to contribute to volunteer activities within the community, this year helping to get toys sorted and cleaned for the Christmas Miracles initiative, along with delivering suppers to Mrs. Claus when she gets so busy she forgets to eat.  They have many wonderful, positive role models in their young lives, which is a blessing, to be sure.

We’re relative newcomers to this small town, which is close to celebrating its 105^th birthday.  We live in the “Newton house,” even though our last names not Newton, we won’t ever be part of the town’s inner circle because our grandparents weren’t community founders, but we’re still a contributing part of this small community.  We work to keep tradition alive, doing odd things like giving out wieners (!) at Hallowe’en, serving on various boards and committtees, and generally contributing to the community’s social capital.  We may not always agree with our neighbours, but we’ll always be here to lend a hand … and I think that spirit is one of the most important gifts we can give our children.   

And chaos ensues!

I've been meaning to post, and every time I've thought I might have a few moments, something's happened.  Whether it's one of the dogs absconding with the little green army men, the boys staging a full-scale Star Wars / Angry Birds / Skylanders battle in the living room, or the recent mouse invasion (which we so are not going to talk about), I just haven't seemed to have much time.  Add to that the boys' fall activities, which are almost all into full swing and, well, it's been busy.

No, let's rephrase that:  in reality, it's been a crazy few weeks around here, which isn't unusual, except that those weeks have included the publication of two major projects that have taken up most of my "spare" time over the past several months.

Wolves and the River of Stone

This month will see the publication of Eric R. Asher's next book, Wolves and the River of Stone, the second in the Vesik series.  If you enjoyed the first, you're in for a treat with this book ... with lots more of Damian, Foster (everyone's favourite fairy), and lots of action, along with the obligatory American Civil War references.  The cover reveal just took place (awesome, isn't it?), and the official book release is slated for October 22.  Oh, and before I forget, here's the back cover blurb:

Philip, Zola’s boyfriend from one hundred and fifty years ago, is not nearly as dead as we thought. I really wish he was. Not only has he kidnapped Zola, but he’s raising an army to scour humanity from the earth. Hopefully the local werewolf pack will help. What could possibly go wrong?

Wolf Willow Journal

In addition to the editing for Eric's latest book, we've been busy putting together the first issue of Fish Creek Press' literary journal, Wolf Willow Journal.  The issue was released online last night, and ebook versions were released earlier today.  We're certainly excited to see the work of so many talented authors between its pages, and under our imprint.  Here's to many, many more wonderful issues!

Revisions, and why we do them

It's that time of year again, where teachers and students get down to the business of learning.  As many of you know, I teach writing.  And part of writing, and of teaching writing, is revision.  I have a fairly short assignment that I'm doing with one of my classes, one for which I asked students to submit a draft last week so that I could go through and suggest changes.  Only about half the class sent drafts to me originally, then I had a few stragglers submit theirs after the initial ones were returned.  I still have yet to see about a quarter of the assignments.

After the first batch of suggestions and edits, I told students several times to re-submit their work so that I could go over it again.  Less than half of those who submitted have done this, but more are trickling in now that I've begun to hand those back.

Those that haven't submitted drafts by now are out of luck, as the assignment's due next week and I don't see them again until Tuesday.  Of those who've only submitted a first draft, several have asked why they'd need to submit again, considering, as they put it, "You've already corrected all the mistakes, so why bother?"  Then there's the third group, some of whom are horrified to receive a second edited / commented draft that seems to have more writing on it than the first.

I think I'm going to have to put a handout together on the stages of editing, explaining what instructors (and editors) are looking for in the various drafts of a document.

Personally, I like to do at least four sets of revisions.  The first set focuses on larger problems, the most significant of which are barriers to reader comprehension.  The second set focuses on logic, flow, and (for technical writing) accuracy of content.  The third set involves a closer look at document flow, and a first-pass detailed edit.  It's not until the fourth set of revisions that I'm looking to do a detailed copy edit ... and that's if we've managed to get to this stage, as sometimes I have to do two or three passes looking for and fixing barriers to comprehension.

The long and short of it is that multiple edits are needed, especially if you want to produce the best possible document, whether it's a technical report, a poem, or a novel.

Rejections

I'm in the process of making final selections for the upcoming issue of Wolf Willow Journal.  It's been an interesting process, and one that I'm really enjoying.  But I'm fast approaching the point at which I'm going to have to send out a bunch of rejections.  And I'll admit that there's good work that's been submitted that I likely won't accept because it just doesn't fit with where the issue is going.

I was reading a post on one of my Facebook groups yesterday, where an author was bemoaning the fact that she'd sent a particular piece out five times, and received five rejections.  She was ready to give up.  There were the usual "editors have no idea what they're doing" responses, and there were the "I had to submit 200+ times to get x published" responses.  I've had work accepted the first time I've sent it out, and I've got other work that's been submitted numerous times, to no avail.  That seems to be the way it goes, with publishing.

So, what next for the poor writer?  Perseverance and belief in yourself are one key.  Making sure to do thorough market research is another key.  Submitting the best work you possibly can is another, and one that I harp on again and again because, well, it's important.  But none of these guarantee publication.  That's up to us fickle editors, unless you choose to self-publish.  But do remember that a rejection isn't necessarily a critique or comment on your work ... sometimes, it's excellent, but it just doesn't fit.

Perception and misperception

I'll admit it.  I'm a bit of a grammar snob.  Okay, more than a bit, but seriously people, if the first impression you're going to make on someone is through the written word, would you mind proofreading what you're sending out before you hit ?  The source of my ire this evening is a tweet from a popular provider of literary services, a tweet that suffered from a case of plural/apostrophe confusion.  I'm sure they're nice people, but I certainly wouldn't want my work edited by someone who gear's up for things.  

Snarking aside, there's a reason people suggest time and time and time again that your cover letter--whether for a poem, short story, article, book, or whatever--should be perfect.  This is the very first impression that people have of you and your work.  And, perception being what it is, we tend not only to favour first impressions, but also to hang on to negative first impressions.  Not what you want to be doing, especially if your intention is publication.  

So while a typo might be an oversight, the resulting misperception on the part of the reader about your grammatical prowess (and thus your overall writing abilities) is going to be difficult to change.  Take the time to carefully proofread everything you send out, otherwise you might find yourself the victim of misperception.  

Thinking about writing

We're back home, with a mountain of stuff to unpack, after having spent seven weeks at the lake, with somewhat limited Internet access; hence the dearth of posts over the last few weeks.

I'd love to say that I wrote lots, every day, but it didn't happen.  I was too busy having fun and doing stuff with the kids, and while I didn't do a lot of actual writing, I did do a lot of thinking, which got me thinking about thinking about writing.  Convoluted, I know, but there's a point here, if only a small one.

Sometimes, it's the thought that counts the most, the time spent behind the scenes before we put pen to paper and begin writing.  It's all the daydreaming, pontificating, whatever-you-want-to-call-it that we do when a character or idea is born.  It might not be present on the page that particular day, but a few scribbled notes is usually sufficient for later, for remembrance.  It's time spent exploring ideas, options, and the minutiae of a character or idea, background work, if you will, for when that character of idea is brought to life.  And it doesn't always have to happen before, but I really do think that it needs to happen to add the depth, breadth, and real-ness that our characters and ideas need.

So while this brief post, written in the midst of a seeming sea of Rubbermaid tubs begging to be unpacked, might seem only tangentially related to editing, I'm a firm believer that putting the thought into characters and ideas before editing is something truly worth thinking about.  Off now to ponder my latest project while putting away a summer's worth of clothes, toys, and other detritus.