Currently, I’m ensconced in South
Carolina, in the friendly arms of the Converse
Low-Residency MFA program, where we’re having our winter residency
session. Lots to report on, as usual,
but also very little time, as usual! For
now, I thought I would share the handout that accompanied my craft lecture, which
was titled, “Inch by Inch, Word by Word: Strategies for Revision.” I’ve also included a bonus resource that I
discovered after I put together this document.
Flannery O’Connor’s 8 Rules of
Writing
(Also worth looking at for the
great photo of Flannery with her peacocks!)
My favorite music to revise to:
The River by Ketil Bjornstad and David Darling
(Skip the stupid ad at the
beginning…it’s not very revision-friendly.)
Draft: The Journal of Process
(Fascinating literary journal
that publishes draft/s of prose, followed by the final version, followed by an
interview with the author.)
“Revision is Experimentation” by
John Guzlowski, blog post on Everything’s Jake
(Lots of ideas here for poets
and prose writers, with an emphasis on experimenting rather than “fixing.”)
“Revising your writing again?
Blame the Modernists: How self-editing
became the first commandment of literature” by Pablo Amargo, published in The Boston Globe
(I shouldn’t share this because
it’s all about how “classic” writers like, say, Shakespeare, DIDN’T revise
their work! Revising is a new thing! Because we have computers instead of
quills! No wonder I didn’t mention any of this in my lecture!!!)
“Design Wrong: Harness the Power
of Imperfection” by Scott Dadich, published in Wired magazine
(All rules are meant to be broken…these
ideas go a step beyond the “polish to perfection” approach to argue that
imperfection is also rewarding; though the piece focuses on tech design, it’s
relevant to any creative endeavor.)
“New Translations of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina” by Masha Gessen, published in The New York
Times Book Review
A wonderful exploration of
finding the “right word” as a translator, with a wallop of a conclusion that
demonstrates how one well-chosen word truly will change everything.
