On Editing

A fellow writer and friend Shane Joseph is my guest blogger. His post, On Editing was written over three years ago, but is timeless and has relevance to the writing life.

 

Shane is a strong writer and his wit sparks. We met in San Francisco and in many ways; our paths have been very different.  He was born in Sri Lanka, I, the United States. He has lived in four countries; I have lived in two. He works in the corporate world; I teach. He plays in a rock band; and I sing in the shower.

 

And yet, we are also similar: we are both avid travelers and share a philosophy of visiting a foreign location every year.  And we both have lived in the desert. He said his time there was an intellectual void; I call it a hypnotic placidity that floats where nothing ever falls or changes.

 

Please welcome him.  You may enjoy his style, or you may not, but please make your comments known.  We are trying something new to support each others' creative endeavors, which I appreciate.  I hope you do too.

On Editing

Friday, August 1st, 2008

A writer once went out into the fields of imagination and created an animal with a lion’s roar, a giraffe’s neck, a cheetah’s speed, and a horse’s gait; he gave it the vegan diet of an elephant, the conceit of a cat and the faithfulness of a dog. The animal, which the writer decided to call “Novel” due to its uniqueness, took on the colours of the rainbow as it danced in the light of a fading sun. Both writer and his creation played and frolicked until it was time to go home.

 

At home, he met his friends, fellow writers, who did not like the lion’s roar (too frightening) and the cheetah’s speed (too racy). The writer took them off Novel to please his friends. He met his editor, who was livid that a giraffe’s neck should go with a horse’s gait (inconsistent). The writer met his publisher, who said, “How can I sell this…this…thing?” More cuts were made to appease all aggrieved parties. Finally, the publisher was happy and petted the animal, saying, “Now you are understandable and non-threatening. Everyone will want to have a clone of you in his house. They will enjoy you on their lap in their armchair beside the fire on a winter’s evening. They might even let you live in their bookcase.”

 

As the publisher walked away figuring out how many clones he would make, the teary writer sat dejectedly with his animal, now reduced to a tiny dog, and said to it, “Who are you?”

 

Shane Joseph is the author of three novels and a collection of short stories. His work After the Flood won the best futuristic/fantasy novel award at the Canadian Christian Writing Awards in 2010. His short fiction has appeared in international literary journals and anthologies. His latest novel The Ulysses Man has just been released. For details see www.shanejoseph.com