Editing a novel, I prefer to do markup of the first rough draft as a hardcopy in a three-ring binder. This weekend, while I was writing changes into the margins, I thought about the pen I was using.
It's nothing special, just a disposable rollerball with red gel ink. I also do edits with a plastic 0.7mm mechanical pencil. Unlike the pens and pencils I use for writing (like my beloved Parker 51), the pens and pencils I use for editing are the exact opposite of classy, interesting, and high-end. They are cheap, boring, and utilitarian.
Why?
What's the psychology behind my choice of writing tool? Do I need something with flair and élan when I compose? I'm not so bad as to be using a quill pen and green ink, but the idea is the same. And for the grunt work of editing - why so downmarket? Because editing is flinty hard work, and the tools should reflect that?
Am I the only one who does this kind of thing?
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
It's nothing special, just a disposable rollerball with red gel ink. I also do edits with a plastic 0.7mm mechanical pencil. Unlike the pens and pencils I use for writing (like my beloved Parker 51), the pens and pencils I use for editing are the exact opposite of classy, interesting, and high-end. They are cheap, boring, and utilitarian.
Why?
What's the psychology behind my choice of writing tool? Do I need something with flair and élan when I compose? I'm not so bad as to be using a quill pen and green ink, but the idea is the same. And for the grunt work of editing - why so downmarket? Because editing is flinty hard work, and the tools should reflect that?
Am I the only one who does this kind of thing?
||| Comments are welcome |||
Help keep the words flowing.
Maybe it's because you wouldn't use a fountain pen full of red ink except during edits, which means it's in danger of drying out before you use it again.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point. I just leave that red editing pen in the binder, so it gets knocked around quite a bit, too.
DeleteI think Larry's onto something with the frequency comment. When I taught, I was very particular about my marking/editing pens -- I shied away from red because if all the blood connotations and used purple or green instead (at least until I ran out and just grabbed the first pen from the supply cabinet). They were cheap pens, but back them most of my stuff was cheap just because of lack of income.
ReplyDeleteTrue, the red ink helps my markings to stand out. I have no particular negative connotations with red ink, perhaps other than the critical comments of teachers in years past. But perhaps that's what I'm going for here? To take myself out of the nurturing mother hen mindset so I can do a proper job of ripping this prose apart to root out the weaknesses?
DeleteI have to use cheap pens and pencils because I always lose anything of any value. Headphones also break within minutes.
ReplyDeletemood
Moody Writing
I make my edits in pencil because I nearly always rub them out and change my comments before I go back to my word processed document.
ReplyDelete