One of the stories that I think is ready to go is the "Time Machine." I feel that the story is really evocative of those moments we all had as children, often in the classroom, about trying to make something more out of reality, only to be shut down and scorned by either our peers or an adult authority figure. The writing of the piece is not overly grandiose, but at the same time it's not too simple to be boring or minimalistic. Crucially, I don't just think that it's the reader's nostaligia that makes this piece work, but it also just happens to be an interestingly told story, and I like the authentic way that the author presents a typical classroom setting.
If I could change one thing, I would probably ask the author to consider a more eye-catching ending, but I still think the piece works with the ending it has at the moment.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Monday 2, 2009
I thought that Alan D. Williams' "What is an Editor" was insightful with regards to laying out the multi-faceted duties of a successful editor, as well as describing the overall importance a good editor plays in the success of an author. As Williams says, for the author, "the editor is acting as the first truly disinterested reader, giving the author not only constructive help but also, one hopes, the first inkling of how reviewers, readers, and the marketplace will react, so that the author can revise accordingly." Williams' assertion that an editor must be involved in every step of the process is one that seems like a no-brainer in the modern day, especially given what I learned from Richard Curtis' essay.
In M. Lincoln Schuster's "An open letter to a would-be Editor," I was, frankly, shocked by some of the things confessed by Schuster with regards to the realities of editing; one of which being the idea that some editors don't get to read a word of the actual manuscript before having to make a final decision. However, despite such harrowing passages, Schuster's essay was probably my favorite so far this quarter, not only for its useful information, but also for the passion Schuster clearly holds towards editing.
Richard Curtis' essay, "Are Editors Necessary?", like many of the pieces we have read thus far, also points out that despite cries for the (mostly) fictitious "good old days," editors are in danger of finding themselves obsolete unless they can evolve along with the world, with one of the key ingredients being a culture of editors who can shake off the notion that taking risks is not worth it in the editing and publishing industry. I also thought Curtis' closing time-scale was a funny, though overtly hyperbolic touch.
In M. Lincoln Schuster's "An open letter to a would-be Editor," I was, frankly, shocked by some of the things confessed by Schuster with regards to the realities of editing; one of which being the idea that some editors don't get to read a word of the actual manuscript before having to make a final decision. However, despite such harrowing passages, Schuster's essay was probably my favorite so far this quarter, not only for its useful information, but also for the passion Schuster clearly holds towards editing.
Richard Curtis' essay, "Are Editors Necessary?", like many of the pieces we have read thus far, also points out that despite cries for the (mostly) fictitious "good old days," editors are in danger of finding themselves obsolete unless they can evolve along with the world, with one of the key ingredients being a culture of editors who can shake off the notion that taking risks is not worth it in the editing and publishing industry. I also thought Curtis' closing time-scale was a funny, though overtly hyperbolic touch.
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