LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Friday, January 4, 2013

How Many Writers?


How many writers read their work out loud to themselves in the process of creating a work, whether fiction or non-fiction?

How many writers listen to some one else read their work in progress out loud while they sit and just listen to their own words?

One might think that all writers do this, because it is such a useful tool for writing the best sentences and pages and chapters that can be written.

But I don't know if everyone does or no one does.

I do though, and so does el V. I know a few others.  All of them are non-fiction writers, incidentally. It's the very best way of catching thuds, that all too often the eye does not process as what they are, as the eye moves along.

Though if voice, pacing, rhythm, tone and style don't matter much or at all to the writer or the writer's readers, it probably is a waste of time? Though one's own experience with manuals and other writing that is intended to be helpful, still it seems that reading the instructions and even the step-by-steps aloud might make for highly improved instruction manuals!

1 comment:

T. said...

I read my poems-in-progress out loud many times. I find it really helps with the rhythm. And in my writing group, the poet reads his/her poem out loud, and then one other person does also. It's amazing how much one can learn by having just one other person read ones work aloud.