Writing, reading and recording

A teacher once told me that there are no good writers, just good editors and it's something I've repeated to students of my own. That being said, I think editing comes in different forms. When I was in school, I hated handing in drafts. Most often, I would write my piece and then go backwards and create the "drafts" I was supposed to hand in with the final copy, trying to create feasible changes I might have made. I found it a tiresome exercise, mainly because I tend to edit as I go. This is not to say I don't believe in teaching writing process -- I just believe that there's more than one.

The writing and editing process -- thinking through flow, word choice, and everything else as you write and revise -- took on a whole new meaning recently when I read The Diving-Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Once the editor-in-chief of Elle magazine in Paris, the author suffered a stroke and became paralyzed, unable to move anything except one eyelid. By blinking his one eyelid then, he dictated a book about his experiences with Locked-In Syndrome. Thanks to the speech therapist who devised a blinking/alphabet code with the letters in order according to their frequency of use in the French language (brilliant!), and the woman who patiently recorded his words, Bauby offers a concise, but rich glimpse into his world.

On the subject of worlds, I've just finished Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the Shore that I thoroughly enjoyed. Totally surreal and fantastical but gripping action and interesting ideas as well. Would definitely recommend it...

Separately, Pat pointed out to me that I'm now a bona fide recording artist. I have a set of 6 CDs, on sale now, complete with a set of educational readers. That's right. I'm one of those voices. If you want to hear some questionably educational passages read by yours truly, give me a shout. They even come with multiple choice questions to test your listening/reading comprehension. Yippee :)