One of the things we have started doing on Plum Tree Books is featuring different writers who contribute to our Plum Tree Book’s Facebook page. Plum Tree Books is very lucky to present to you Shawn MacKenzie Editor’s Corner. Each week, I will be reblogging her post. She is a brilliant writer and editor, and I know that she has much good advice to share with us all. Thank you Shawn for your brilliant, regular corner on Plum Tree Books.
Music to the Ear
“Now this is very profound, what rhythm is, and goes far deeper than words. A sight, an emotion, creates this wave in the mind, long before it makes words to fit it …” … Virginia Woolf
Always remember, never forget: As much as there is rhythm to life, there is rhythm to writing.
In preparation for the challenge of the Editor’s Corner, I have, much as time and stomach allow, perused a cross-section of blogs and self-published novels and short stories. While there are sparks of brilliance out there, I am amazed by the amount of clunky, tin-eared prose out there, replete with stilted dialogue, baroque narratives, and lurky-jerky labyrinths of bad grammar and even worse punctuation. It’s enough to make this editor weep – or at least tear her hair.
‘Can’t these people hear what they’re writing?’ I ask myself. Such a simple question, yet…
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Thank you for the reblog, Niamh. It is a pleasure to be here on the Plum Tree.
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Just great to have you, Shawn.
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This post that originates on Plum Tree Books FB is well written and quite helpful in improving one’s understanding of just how to improve one’s ability to write more effectively. I’m learning a great deal following Shawn MacKenzie’s Editor’s Corner every Tuesday and also on her blog to find out more information about Dragons and other interesting and mystical things. jk the secret keeper
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This is brilliantly written and deeply helpful as it gives recognition to what so few people know about writing: Writing is music.
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Yes, it is. It feels when you are writing poetry or prose that there is something happening to your body that is reacting to a certain flow that is rhythmic and organic and so connected to the drums and flute of the Gaelic or at times for me the general rhythm of rap/hip-hop or whatever music I am connecting with at the time. Well said Niamh. jk
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