Oct 14 2008
Sneetches, wild holy parades, and more about editing
I have mentioned, I think, that I love writing for Boundless.org. The biggest reason for that is that I love reading Boundless. Today’s article, Todd Temple’s “Lessons from Sneetches” struck me as an excellent explanation of several of our culture’s biggest downfalls, economically and socially. I especially loved its insight into age segregation. Read it! I also really enjoyed Todd’s recent “How to Wallow in Debt,” and have been bringing it up in conversation ever since it was posted last week.
I also enjoy writing for Homeschooling Today. This week, I’ll be working on a review of two recent literary guides to Prince Caspian. I flipped the first one open and was instructed by the authors, in no uncertain terms, to put it DOWN until I had read Prince Caspian again. It’s been about 16 years since I last read C.S. Lewis’s classic, so I took their advice. There’s a scene near the end where Aslan leads a wild, holy procession of revelers through the villages. I had completely forgotten about it.
“If you don’t attend, Gwendolen,” said the mistress, “and stop looking out of the window, I shall have to give you an order-mark.”
“But please, Miss Prizzle–” began Gwendolen.
“Did you hear what I said, Gwendolen?” asked Miss Prizzle.
“But please, Miss Prizzle,” said Gwendolen. “There’s a LION!”
“Take two order-marks for talking nonsense,” said Miss Prizzle. “And now–” A roar interrupted her. Ivy came curling in at the windows of the classroom. The walls became a mass of shimmering green, and leafy branches arched overhead where the ceiling had been. Miss Pirzzle found she was standing on grass in a forest glade. She clutched at her desk to steady herself, and found that the desk was a rose-bush. Wild people such as she had never even imagined were crowding round her.
Which goes to show that it pays to give attention to really important things, like holy lions, and argue with school teachers when necessary. It also goes to show that you should read Prince Caspian if you haven’t yet, or if it’s been a long time.
Commenting on my last post, my fellow Waysider and good friend Britt said,
That was very interesting to read. Editing! I would dearly love to try my hand at that. Is it mostly proofreading, or is it actually editing material? Either way, that sounds like a fun thing to do without me actually having to produce something. :-P It does seem that you have to have a certain gumption and perseverence to get your foot in the door, though.
It does–but gumption and perseverance are necessary in any profession having to do in any way with words :). As to the actual work, it depends on the client’s needs. I can be hired to do a substantive (or developmental) edit, where I work a great deal with shaping and critiquing the material; a copy edit, which has to do with wording and grammar and saying things in the best way possible; or a proofreading, which just checks for errors. I also ghostwrite, but that’s another matter altogether, and coach writers, which is fun.
