Editing, Etc.
Currently reading:
The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
I miss you, Bret :(
Books finished this week: 0
(Moratorium Library books, anyway . . . )
Library updates:
Y’all, have you heard? Grad school is hard, actually!!
I promise, I wasn’t that clueless going into it, and I’m feeling a little better about balancing schedules and doing the work after this first week. But it’s so bizarre to be reading theory again and putting time on my calendar to read books and write essays.
On the flip side, editing the first round of classmates’ pieces for workshop was incredibly fun. Since I only work on nonfiction books now, it was really fun to dive into the fictional worlds other people have created. I honestly don’t get tired of editing——thinking and talking about story, making line-level edits, sharing ideas on what can be expanded or condensed to strengthen the narrative. I feel so lucky that I get to do this for a living, and that I now get to do even more editing in my coursework.
I also feel so much more prepared to edit these pages and make suggestions. I always second-guessed myself in undergrad workshops. What could I possibly have to offer anybody? Who would want to hear anything from me? I had no idea what I was doing——what qualified me to give advice and offer edits on anyone else’s work?
The thing is, that feeling doesn’t go away: the feeling of not knowing what the hell I’m doing. But I guess I just feel more confident in what I’m doing overall. It only take a decade of publishing experience to get to this place! (*sob*)
I think I’m also feeling bolstered by the fact that I’ve finished three books in the last two-ish weeks, with high hopes for finishing another two in the next week or so (and one of those will be a reread of The Hobbit——woo!). I feel engaged, I feel inspired, I feel booked and busy, I feel accomplished. I don’t have much more to say for this week’s missive other than I’m hoping to keep those feelings going, I hope you feel similarly charged up, and I will finish The Shards before the summer ends, I will, I will!!
Closing thoughts:
No thoughts, just vibes.
Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 36
(Total books added to the Library: 47)
Oops. But I had to support a fellow Emerson grad, and I’ve had my eye on this little Bradbury number for a long time.
Also, a second grad school book haul for you fine folks:
