Tales from Star Island: The Red Canoe
Mar. 20th, 2014 09:24 pmI duly edited Aunt Jan's story and sent it back so she can submit it to this year's Loon, which is the combined directory, yearbook, collected minutes, and literary arts magazine of the Star Island Protective League. (I won $50 from them one year, for my poem Inland, Walking South.)
Actually, I think I will post the edited version here, because it's a cute story and should be shared more widely than just among Star Island folks, and also because I like editing and think it's interesting to share examples of the process.
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[[Hi Aunt Jan! I copy-pasted your text into the body of this email. All changes are marked by bold and underlined text. There are also a couple notes which are marked by brackets and italics, like this opening note! Mostly I just tightened stuff up and changed sentences from passive to active voice. I also fixed some weird phrasings like "the lake, Cass," or "the river, Mississippi," which may have been intended as a part of the canoe's own vocal quirks but which read to me as a malfunctioning search-and-replace or grammar-check program, and thus took away from rather than added to my enjoyment of the piece. Your mileage may vary, of course!
I did like reading this. I never knew the history of that canoe, and I'm glad that it is getting a new life with people who will take it on new journeys.
Love,
Liz]]
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( the autobiography of a red canoe, as told to my Aunt Jan )
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Editing is a lot easier after adequate sleep, FYI. :-) Also, if this gets into the Loon, I may post Aunt Jan's final copy here at some point, both to have a version without editorial clutter and to see which suggestions she kept and which she didn't. (Hmm. Come to think of it, Aunt Jan asked Vicky to edit the story as well. I should get a copy of her comments for the record. *plots idly*)
Actually, I think I will post the edited version here, because it's a cute story and should be shared more widely than just among Star Island folks, and also because I like editing and think it's interesting to share examples of the process.
---------------
[[Hi Aunt Jan! I copy-pasted your text into the body of this email. All changes are marked by bold and underlined text. There are also a couple notes which are marked by brackets and italics, like this opening note! Mostly I just tightened stuff up and changed sentences from passive to active voice. I also fixed some weird phrasings like "the lake, Cass," or "the river, Mississippi," which may have been intended as a part of the canoe's own vocal quirks but which read to me as a malfunctioning search-and-replace or grammar-check program, and thus took away from rather than added to my enjoyment of the piece. Your mileage may vary, of course!
I did like reading this. I never knew the history of that canoe, and I'm glad that it is getting a new life with people who will take it on new journeys.
Love,
Liz]]
---------------
( the autobiography of a red canoe, as told to my Aunt Jan )
---------------
Editing is a lot easier after adequate sleep, FYI. :-) Also, if this gets into the Loon, I may post Aunt Jan's final copy here at some point, both to have a version without editorial clutter and to see which suggestions she kept and which she didn't. (Hmm. Come to think of it, Aunt Jan asked Vicky to edit the story as well. I should get a copy of her comments for the record. *plots idly*)