Reads 4 Writers is now ended, visit https://thewriterscrate.blogspot.com

The blog address to read my book reviews is https://thewriterscrate.blogspot.com.

Closing this Blog, Please Visit The Writers Crate Blog Instead

By Kate Phillips


My Reads 4 Writers Blog is not working very well so if you are interested in my book reviews, please visit my original blog, The Writers Crate, on Blogger. I post every Monday.

Thank you.

Why We Write About Ourselves: Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature edited by Meredith Maran

By Kate Phillips

          I write first person essays for several outlets so when I discovered Why We Write About Ourselves: Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature edited by Meredith Maran, I had to read it. Another selling point, several of my favorite memoirists are in the book including Anne Lamott, Sue Monk Kidd, and Cheryl Strayed. After reading the book, I have many more memoirists’ work I want to read.

Each chapter begins with an introduction of the memoirist, vital stats, a list of published works, then his or her answer to: Why I write about myself? The rest of the chapter subheadings are different as each author discusses his or her writing process and beliefs. At the end of each chapter, there are Words of Wisdom for Memoirists.

Here are some of my favorite passages:         

“Don’t be afraid of writing into the heart of what you’re most afraid of. The story of life lives in what you would rather not admit or say.”

--Kate Christensen (page 20)

                                                          

“…I firmly believe that there are things we already know and spend a lot of time resisting. You can try, but the amount of energy you spend trying not to know what you already know will be exhausting.”                      

--A. M. Homes (page 102)

“The reason to write memoir is to put something important out into the collective consciousness, to distill one human life as you’ve come to understand it…”

--Anne Lamott (page 140)

“Know that the writing will lead you to places you can’t imagine you will go…writing comes from a place beneath intellectual consciousness. The only way to get to that place is by writing. Trust the magic of that process.”

--James McBride (page 164)

“My work doesn’t hinge on shock value. I tell only what needs to be told for the work to reach its full potential. I’m not interested in confession. I’m interested in revelation.

--Cheryl Strayed (page 212)

“If you’re not uncomfortable and scared while you’re writing, you’re not writing close enough to the bone.”

--Ayelet Waldman (page 230)

“You get the most powerful material when you write toward whatever hurts. Don’t avoid it. Don’t run from it. Don’t write toward what’s easy. We recognize our humanity in those most difficult moments that people share.

--Jesmyn Ward (page 242)

 I want to read many of the books listed by the authors in Why We Write About Ourselves including Ayelet Waldman’s Love and Other Impossible Pursuits which sounded interesting and familiar. Searching through my unread books, I found it—a future book review.

A Year Without New Books

By Kate Phillips

          

          About five months ago I reviewed Howards End is on the Landing by Susan Hill. In this memoir, Hill goes looking for her copy of Howards End on her landing, but it isn’t in that bookcase or in the many other bookcases in several other rooms. By the time she finds it, Hill comes across about 200 books she hadn’t read yet. Deciding to read these books, Hill decides she will not buy any new books, unless required by her publishing job, for a year.

          

         I’ve been reorganizing some of my books and realized I have a few hundred of my own that I haven’t read or started but haven’t finished.

How does this happen?

It’s easy. While I read every book I received as a gift or bought through the Scholastic catalog in school when a child, as an adult I can buy or borrow more books than I have time to read. As I’m a voracious reader, most friends and family members give me gift certificates to bookstores for birthdays and holidays and it doesn’t take long to fill a shopping cart/basket.

Although I read and write for a living, I have to read most books on deadline. When looking for novels to review, I have to read two or three to find one to I’d like to review. For non-fiction, I don’t have to finish reading the book before I decide if it is review-worthy so I save a little time there, but end up with a lot of partially read books.

I don’t get rid of them because sometimes these books are review-worthy, but I can’t complete reading them with enough time to write the review by deadline so I save them for the future. Sometimes I need to digest books so a few months after I read them I decide to review them. No wonder books pile up.

Not surprisingly, I have decided not to buy any books for a year. This moratorium started on November 1^st.

So far so good! All these unread books caught my interest or they wouldn’t be piled up in my home so it’s not painful to concentrate on them. As I read and review them, I’ll lend or give them to friends or donate them—unless I truly love them. These books will grace the shelves of my personal library.

Unfortunately, the pain will come when I hear or read about fantastic new books or favorite authors have new releases. Luckily, I can make a list or pile these books in an online shopping cart. In only fifty weeks, I’ll have room to pile them up at home again!

Word After Word After Word by Patricia MacLachlan

By Kate Phillips

          

         I believe in supporting writers of all ages so I’m recommending Word After Word After Word by Newbery Medal-winning author Patricia MacLachlan. While written for children ages 8-12, this book is inspirational for writers of all ages.  

In summation: Miss Cash’s fourth grade class welcomes Ms. Mirabel, a writer who will be speaking to them for six weeks about how writer’s work. On her first day with the children, Ms. Mirabel was asked if what she wrote was real or unreal. She replied, “Real or unreal. They’re just about the same…They are both all about magical words!” (page 16)

Later Ms. Mirabel whispers to a student named Lucy who isn’t sure she has anything to say, “You have a story in there…Or a character, a place, a poem, a moment in time. When you find it, you will write it. Word after word after word.” (pp. 20 & 21)

“Remember this if you remember anything from our time together,” said Ms. Mirabel. “Writing…is…brave. You are brave.” (page 114)

Great advice for writers of any age!

In this book, five of the students meet under a lilac bush to discuss writing and the happenings in their lives. True to real life, the children are experiencing happiness, tragedy, and changes they have no control over. As words come to them, they write poems and stories.

         

         When I was a child, I dreamed of being a writer. I had stories and songs and poems inside me that I jotted down. Yet, as I’ve grown older, I only write essays and articles. Where are the songs and poems and stories that poured out of me in the beginning?

         

         This book inspired me to grab a notebook and pen, sit under my favorite tree, and write songs, poems, and stories about life and love—word after word after word.

           

Backpack Literature Chapters 4-5

By Kate Phillips

          In continuation of my post on September 26th, I’ve completed chapters 4 and 5 of the textbook Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing 4th edition by XJ Kennedy and Dana Gioia. It’s as informative and engaging as the authors promised.

          I love this textbook! I’m so glad I’m auditing this class.

          I had planned on finishing a chapter a week, but my editing schedule only allowed me to complete chapters 4 and 5 this month.

          Chapter 4 covered elements of setting. After reading pieces by Kate Chopin, Jorge Luis Borges, Jack London, and Amy Tan, settings are part of the experience for readers, but writers use them in different ways from mimicking characters’ moods to plot points.  The setting in Jack London’s “To Build a Fire” captured freezing cold perfectly.

          To learn to write about settings, I choose to write all the details about a place I like to visit then write a paragraph about what sort of mood is suggested by it. As often is the case, the mood wasn’t exactly what I thought before I completed the assignment. Writing is the best way to discover what you really think!

          Chapter 5 covered tone and style with short stories by Hemingway and Faulkner. Irony in its many guises was discussed then highlighted in pieces by O. Henry and Kate Chopin. I loved the inner dialogue of Mrs. Mallard in “The Story of an Hour” by Chopin which, of course, had an ironic ending.

          For the writing exercise, I chose to describe a city street as seen through three different characters in different moods and stages of life. The moods and ages are part of the exercise. I loved this assignment. It’s so freeing to step outside of yourself and see things through someone else’s eyes. The same street isn’t seen the same way. Fascinating to discover different actions taken because of a mood can make you oblivious or obvious.

          I recommend this textbook to all writers.

Editing Advice From an Editor to an Intern: What it Takes to Become an Editor

By  Kate Phillips

This is the second part of my post started on October 3, 2016 where I gave writing advice to an intern who also wants to be an editor.

               

Recap:

I didn’t set out to become an editor. I wanted to be a successful writer working from home. I became both by writing for years then taking a writing class where I met the woman who just bought one of the magazines I now write for and edit.

I started out as an unpaid intern for the magazines. I wrote articles as well as learned about copyediting (turning press releases and items sent in by the public about meetings and events into style copy for the magazine issue), layouts (placing texts, ads, pull quotes, photos, and captions on each page), proofreading (using the correct proofreaders’ marks), and the myriad of little things to check in an effort to publish an almost perfect issue (something always goes wrong).

A few years later, I became the editor of two magazines—a job I love. Now I’m working with an intern who wants to be a writer and an editor. I’m happy to share my knowledge and experience with her; however, writing skills are more straightforward to discuss than editing skills.

Here is my editing advice:

Reading is the most important editing skill. The more you read, the more you build up your sense of words—their rhythm, flow, and tone—and expand your vocabulary. You absorb grammar and punctuation rules. Even reading poorly written books teaches you what doesn’t work.

Reading widely gives you a feel for grammar, but also read grammar books like Words Fail Me and Woe is I by Patricia T. O’Conner and/or the Grammar Girl series by Mignon Fogarty then keep them for reference. Do the same for punctuation. I like the Merriam Webster’s Guide to Punctuation and Style. Refer to these books often.

All knowledge makes you a better writer and editor. I read all genres as good writers make any genre interesting. I also read books about science and art as well as classic novels and bestsellers.

For writers and editors, words are our medium. Spend as much time as possible reading and writing.

Poetry is essential. Ray Bradbury makes this recommendation to writers on page 36 of Zen in the Art of Writing:

Read poetry every day of your life…it flexes muscles you don’t use often enough…it expands the senses and keeps them in prime condition.

Editors use these muscles more often than writers. Read any poet who appeals to you then branch out.

Read every book by Diane Ackerman, Bill Bryson, Joseph Campbell, and their ilk, like The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt, for broad-ranging knowledge.

Read memoirs. Read philosophy. Read the classics.

“…a good editor reads omnivorously and is interested in everything.” –from page 128 of Editing Fact and Fiction.

This is true so it’s also essential to stay on top of the news, pop culture, and have a wide array of interests. Articles and essays you edit (or write on assignment) can include references to anything.

The more information you take in through books, magazines, news outlets, TV, the internet, movies, and conversations, the more you have in your arsenal to help you catch errors when editing as well as to connect with readers when writing your articles, essays, and posts.

While the internet offers access to almost every piece of information, I also like to dip into reference books like The New York Public Library Desk Reference; The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy by E D Hirsch, Jr., Joseph F. Kett, and James Trefil; and An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned But Probably Didn’t by Judy Jones & William Wilson to learn something new every day.

TV shows I recommend include CBS Sunday Morning at 9am as it covers a multitude of topics that are timely, interesting, useful, and fun. Writers and authors are often profiled. Also watch Charlie Rose and Tavis Smiley on PBS as they interview many writers as well as cover a variety of topics. Book TV on C-SPAN2 offers weekends full of author discussions. Super Soul Sundays includes many authors talking to Oprah on OWN. Authors are interviewed on Well Read on PBS. BBC America has many shows about writers and the arts as does the Ovation channel. I also watch NOVA, Nature, and Masterpiece Theatre on PBS. I occasionally watch shows on the Discovery channel, Smithsonian channel, and History channel. Also, don’t overlook the knowledge shared on Jeopardy.

Yes, to be a good editor you need to read and watch TV as well as view movies and listen to all kinds of music—dream job!

As a freelance editor and writer, I never know what topics might come up. For example, I was the editor of a Boating & Fishing magazine for years. I don’t boat or fish so editing took more work to assign articles. Then I had to double check facts and spellings. You don’t have to know a topic to edit, but you need to put in the extra work to make sure errors don’t get into print.

A magazine issue does not exist without an editor tracking down article ideas, contacting people to be interviewed, assigning articles to writers with word counts, and giving deadlines. Appropriate topics for articles depend on the magazine. Columnists decide on their topics independently.

As these are monthly magazines, I decide and assign articles by, for example, October 25th that are due by November 15th for the December issues. There is no room for procrastination!

In the same time frame, I copyedit all press releases and information sent in by the public for each issue. I also write captions for the photos with people's names left to right.

Editors have to be prepared for articles to fall through at the last minute. Be prepared to write assignments yourself or have non-timely articles ready to go like profiles of artists. Be prepared to write assignments yourself. If you have a specific interest, like reading, be prepared with book reviews.

Deadline is the 15th of every month. I have to edit everything by the end of day on the 18th and send it to the Production Department. Three days is not enough time for perfection. Hopefully, I catch most of the errors I missed earlier during proofing on the 21st and final proof on the 22nd. However, I do not get to see that changes were made correctly on the 22nd. If I didn't write clearly or the Production person missed a correction or made the change incorrectly, then there will be errors in the issue. We are all human so I just hope none of the mistakes are embarrassing misspellings.

For actual editing skills, train yourself by editing what you read, especially newspapers and magazines, using proofreaders’ marks. No publication is perfect. Also, editing is in part subjective. Cut articles you read by 50-100 words or more without losing any content. Look for repetition, wordiness, and filler as “every word should tell” (Strunk & White, page 23). Be concise and precise. Most importantly, let the writer’s voice stay true; however, clarity is essential. Please note, clarity does not mean only simple sentences.

An internship with an editor is the easiest way to see what editors do as well as ask why they make specific corrections and changes to pieces. Different editors make different changes sometimes due to the style of the publication, sometimes due to editing style.

Editors are required to check every fact. Check spelling. Look up definitions. When in doubt, double check.

Editors must:

change misused words;

correct misspellings, grammar, and punctuation;

double-check all names, titles, and facts

find buried leads / reorganize paragraphs when needed;

include smooth transitions;

keep to publication’s Style Sheet;

stay consistent, i.e., U.S. or US; ten or 10;

check everything they are not absolutely sure about,

make writers’ work shine,

ensure clarity,

and meet every deadline without fail.

There is a lot to learn to become an editor and no easy way to teach editing skills. As I mentioned you need a sense of words, but also a discerning eye, an ear for language, and intuition when something is wrong even if you can’t point it out right away plus the tenacity to find and correct these errors.

Editing for magazines doesn’t require discussing changes with writers usually; book editing does.

Editing takes a lot of time, but deadlines are tight generally.

You need to work well under pressure.  

Fresh eyes are essential so take breaks as needed.

Read pieces aloud to catch mistakes.

As the saying goes: “Editors are like goalies. No one remembers all the ones you caught—only the ones that get by you.”

          

          Some mistakes will always get by you so you must have a thick skin.

          

          Learn from your mistakes.

          

          Feedback is sometimes negative.

          

          Tact and good people skills are important.

          

          Do your best on every issue or project. 

Reference Books:

Good dictionaries—one everywhere you work and read or use refdesk.com, look up every word you don’t know.

The Copyediting Handbook by Amy Einsohn

Editing Fact and Fiction by Leslie T. Sharpe and Irene Gunther

Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus (reviewed on 6/9/14)

The Synonym Finder by J I Rodale (reviewed on 6/9/14)

The Elements of Style by Strunk & White (reviewed on 12/8/14)

Words Fail Me and Woe is I by Patricia T. O’Conner

Grammar Girl series by Mignon Fogarty

Merriam Webster’s Guide to Punctuation and Style

Style Book (AP or Chicago Manual of Style)