Caitlin Johnson's Blog, page 10

Learn How to Edit Yourself, Please

A friendly reminder from your favorite local semi-pro writer: editors are not there to fix the mistakes you made because you couldn't be bothered to learn some really fundamental stuff.
This is not one of my random writing rants, I assure you. Far too often, I come across writers and/or written pieces that are sorely lacking in the editorial department. (And, in fact, I have written about it before.) Everyone makes a typographical error now and then; this isn't the kind of thing with which I take issue. When I was working in publishing, I straight-up admitted that there would be at least one mistake in every book I ever produced, because human error is a strange and terrifying thing. Rather, it's the attitude that some people have about their level of proficiency with the English language.

If you don't know how to use a semi-colon, go and find a book that will explain it. If you're not sure what the difference is between flaunted and flouted, pick up a dictionary. If you never learned about the proper format for dialogue in a short story or novel, might I recommend that you ACTUALLY READ A SHORT STORY OR NOVEL?

I promise I'm done yelling. For now. But seriously, I beg of you: brush up on your writing skills prior to showing your work to someone, especially an editor. You will thank yourself later, guaranteed.

-Cate-

Popular Culture Holds Us Together

One day last summer, my friend Bonnie and I had a brief conversation:
Cate: The dude in the car next to mine looks like Uncle Phil.Bonnie: IIIIIN WEST PHILADELPHIA BORN AND RAISED
This was a fabulous moment. Bonnie didn't have to ask who Uncle Phil was, and I got a kick out of her response. The fact is that it was facilitated by a powerful force: popular culture. 
Without a shared cultural experience, Bonnie and I couldn't have interfaced like this. So the next time you find yourself questioning the value of popular culture, consider how it brings us together: with common images, sayings, and feelings. Without it, you wouldn't be able to recognize this:


or this:


and certainly not this:


Long may pop culture reign!

-Cate-

Images via here, here, and here.

PS REMINDER: I am judging the 2015 Tiger's Eye Press chapbook competition! The last day for submissions is August 31st. Details can be found here.

Snobbery and Hipocrisy!

Here’s a thing I’m occasionally forced to admit: I am a snob.
This is, perhaps, unsurprising to some of you who have met me in real life. I suffer from that well-known disease, Resting Bitch Face Syndrome. Apologies to my parents, but it’s a genetic condition. Several people have told me that they thought I hated them when they first encountered me, because my default facial expression makes me look like I’m pooh-poohing everyone and everything around me. The truth is that I am only doing this about 25 percent of the time.
When I am, it tends to be because people are in the process of telling me that they are in the midst of reading the Fifty Shades of Grey series, anything by Nicholas Sparks (the king of white people almost kissing), or the latest Kardashian publication. This is funny because I’ve gone on record several times as saying that I believe people should read anything that appeals to them rather than following some prescribed list, as well as because I am nothing if not a fan of the trashy romance novel (mainly of the Regency persuasion).
But when I get to an open mic event and someone reads their maudlin, poorly-rhymed, unlearned poetry that was influenced by Billy Collins or a spirit journey to the desert or the really awful time they had with addiction/cancer/dying pets, I judge the writer and then I tune out their words. It’s a horrible way to act as an audience member, and I know this because I’ve been on the wrong side of a less-than-enthusiastic crowd in the past.
There’s something in me, though, that cannot accept hearing a piece written in such a way. I’m all for artistic expression, especially as a healing tool. Simply committing words to the page, however, does not make it poetry, nor does it make the thing fit for public consumption.
This is a sort of long-winded way of saying that we all need to be careful about what we put out into the world. No matter how heartfelt your efforts, you cannot create something worthwhile by running the poetry playbook (rhyme, meter, alliteration, and so on) and applying it to whatever topic springs to mind. That’s what a diary is for. Even the so-called “confessional poets” (Lowell, Sexton, Plath, and their contemporaries) were able to turn their psychic wounds into something better for themselves and their readers and connect with them without falling completely into the self-obsession trap or--more importantly--the sentimental trap. Sentimental verse is great for greeting cards. It’s not useful in a poetry collection.
Lest I should sound like a complete jerk, I readily admit that I struggle with this in my own writing. I’m absolutely self-centered when it comes to producing poetry. I’ve never written a single poem that wasn’t at least partly about me and my hang-ups. But I want to bridge that gap between my interior life and my reader’s sensibilities, and so I work hard to make it happen. This isn’t my way of tooting my own horn; it’s simply my way of encouraging others to take a similar approach in order to avoid alienating their audience with a simplistic rhyme scheme and platitudes.
Of course, I’m likely judging everyone too harshly, given the quality--or lack thereof--of my own poetry, and for that I apologize. But as someone who loves the written word, I want to read and hear the best work possible, and I hope this will nudge some authors in a more polished direction.
-Cate-

I Let My Dog Chew on My Shoes So You Don’t Have To, Or, the Absurdity of Non-Experience

Slate, the Gawker family of sites, and a few other outlets are big on publishing the type of article that starts out, “I [insert random activity here] So You Don’t Have To.” The author often undertakes some onerous task, such as reading a celebrity autobiography (possibly in a meta way, if Bethenny Frankel is involved), viewing a highly-unanticipated television show or film, or sampling the latest trendy food. Sometimes a new, questionable beauty treatment is involved.
While I don’t object to these articles in full--they do, after all, fulfill a purpose in the form of a review--I do think it’s odd that so many media types find it necessary to blatantly judge a product. Sometimes, it seems as though the writer is saying, “I am a gatekeeper and these are the reasons why.” Gatekeeping is, however, something that contributes to a lack of interpersonal understanding and, frankly, elitism.
I’m not the type of person to seek out, say, the complete works of Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi. Although she has certainly grown as a person over the past few years, I don’t find her appealing at all, and therefore I have no desire to read her books. By the same token, I don’t need anyone summarizing her output for me. This isn’t elementary school, and no book reports are necessary.
Similarly, if a consumer has a secret soft spot for beauty advice from the Kardashians, she doesn’t need some “tastemaker” who has never met her judging her from a distance for purchasing an eyeshadow palette from Kardashian Beauty.
There are some non-experiences we should appreciate: refraining from murder, human trafficking, or starting up a meth lab, for example. These, however, we can learn from fictional works and serious journalism rather than from snooty people who think their tastes are highbrow.
And for the record, while I may have let my dog chew on my shoes (she quite enjoyed them) for the sake of saving my mother’s shoes from the ravages of puppy teeth, I think everyone can more or less figure out for themselves what is good or bad. Give us a little credit.

-Cate-

Holding Your Tongue

Recently, I had an interview for a job at the cosmetics counter of a local department store. Phase one was a phone interview, and when the woman on the other end asked me why I wanted to work in cosmetics, I began my response with, “Not to buy too much into the beauty myth, but.” Amazingly, I was invited to interview in person, although I didn’t end up getting the job.
I was surprised to have the opportunity to meet the next person in the chain of command because running my jaw tends to get me in trouble. Throughout the years, I’ve said all sorts of things I shouldn’t. A few times, serious consequences have followed. Holding my tongue seems to be the best strategy, but it’s easier said than done, if you’ll forgive the cliché.
Fictional characters are lucky. They can say what they want with impunity from the author. (Other characters? Not so much.) I encourage writers to try out all sorts of dialogue for their characters. It may help you find the right voice for that character or even the best direction for the story. In some cases, doing so could be therapeutic for you, the writer, but it can also be dangerous.
Sylvia Plath agonized over the autobiographical nature of her novel The Bell Jar. Anyone who has ever drawn inspiration from their own lives will know a bit of that feeling. In Plath’s case, she was able to make her characters come alive on the page through drawing from tics of family, friends, and acquaintances. She took the extra step of first publishing under a pseudonym. Her ultimate success has, perhaps, proved her literary instincts correct.
But if you’re like me, you tread carefully to forego any drama. We can create enough of that in our day-to-day lives without adding to it on the page. Still, we should never be afraid to explore the possibilities, so long as we’re willing to rein it in and protect others while still remaining true to our artistic vision.
-Cate-

365

As of tonight, I will have been home for one year.
In the past 53 weeks (I'm including the one right before I left North Carolina in that count), so much shit has gone down. Some of it was awesome. Some of it was just okay. Most of it sucked.
I had to say goodbye to my jobs, office, and apartment all at once. I miss my blue bedroom more than I can describe.

It's not unusual for me to get nostalgic about stupid things; earlier this year, for a moment, I missed making the 45-minute drive to Fayetteville--a city I actively dislike, but that played its own strange part in my life for ten years.

There are still times when I cry. Sometimes it lasts a minute. Sometimes it lasts an hour. Sometimes I'm not entirely sure why I'm shedding tears over this or that memory. All I know is that the pain isn't gone.

One day, I realized that I was grateful my aunt wasn't alive to see (what I view as) my downfall. The thought of disappointing her makes me more depressed than the events themselves.

Since I set foot in Michigan last July, I've twice watched the eight Harry Potter films, all three seasons of Sherlock, and all ten seasons of Friends, and I've managed to watch once all six seasons of I Love Lucy and all six seasons of Sex and the City (along with the first film). I have read far fewer books than I hoped. Beyond blog posts, I have written very little.

For six weeks in the run-up to Christmas, I lived through retail Hell, but it was nice to be able to help people again, no matter how insignificant I might have been to each customer.

I've bought so many novels, poetry collections, and history books that I'm running out of places to put them in my bedroom. I may have a book problem. Additionally, I've blown quite a bit of money on handbags and two expensive pairs of shoes that I love.

My closet here is about a third of the size of the one I had in North Carolina. Dresser drawers have now become my friends.

As an early birthday present, my parents gave me a Yorkshire Terrier. I call her Little Dog. I know it confuses her when I do so, but sometimes when I'm crying, I'll pick her up and pet her so I don't go off the rails completely.

When my unemployment benefits ran out, I managed not to panic. This was an important moment in my life.

I've embarked on a sort of self-improvement regime, which consists mainly of my feeble attempts to re-learn the French I lost between high school and now.

I took a six-week creative writing course through the local YMCA in the hope that it would jump-start my writing again. The only tangible benefit I saw was that it got me out of the house for a couple of hours every Friday for the first month and a half of this year.

In spite of having tons of time on my hands, I'm still behind on reading copies of my beloved Smithsonian.

Nothing is the same. Everything is the same.

-Cate-

A Brief Hiatus

Hello, Readers!
I'll be taking a brief hiatus this summer as I settle into a new work schedule, deal with some publication stuff, and hang around with my puppy. I hope your June and July are enjoyable!
-Cate-

Get Yourself a Copyeditor

Y’all probably realize by now that I’m not much of an e-book person. While I do have a Nook, it rarely sees action. But I try to keep a book on my phone for those awkward times when I’m stuck in a waiting room and either forgot to bring a magazine or didn’t anticipate spending so much time in a queue.
This is great, because there are tons of free books available in the iBookstore (yes, I have an iPhone, and yes, I love it; haters to the left). Sometimes they’re promotional things, like when an author has a new title coming out and wants people to sample his or her back catalog. Sometimes they’re works in the public domain--think of pre-1920s-ish classics, such as the Sherlock Holmes stories or The Count of Monte Cristo. Sometimes they’re offered by small-time writers who are attempting to expand their audience.
The third category makes up about half of what I’ve downloaded and consumed, most of them historical romance novels. The stories tend to be serviceable and sometimes even good. But recently, I’ve abandoned a small handful of them because they’re so lackluster in the editorial department.
This isn’t necessarily the fault of the author. God knows it can be super-difficult to find reliable help when you’re starting out, particularly if you’re self-published or represented by a company stretched to its limits by budget and time constraints. But the neglect does have an effect on readers like me, whose job it is (or once was, as the case may be) to fix such errors, or who are sensitive to mistakes because they have a highly-developed understanding of the grammatical concerns of the English language.
As someone who writes, my advice to other people who write is this: find yourself an editor. Many people will do freelance copyediting for a reasonable rate. (Guru.com and Elance.com are good places to find them.) If you suspect you have structural problems, you may also want to get in contact with a substantive editor. What you spend on these services can seem excessive at first, but in the absence of a full-on publications team like you would find at, say, HarperCollins, you’re faced with a choice that isn’t really a choice: edit or be disregarded by the market.
After all, isn’t it better to have a clean, well-made product that might earn you the notice of a bigger published or a wider audience than to find yourself pushed to the side because of things that are easily fixed?
-Cate-

Mystical Places?

Recently, the Guardian(UK) published an article about the homes of a dozen famous authors and indicated that such destinations would be appropriate for writerly pilgrimages. It’s an interesting idea, one I had considered myself in the past.
But the older I get, the less mystical I find these places in and of themselves. So, Virginia Woolf lived here? That’s great, but a house is only a building to people who have never inhabited that space. Maybe the solution is to take a cue from places like the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and turn these structures into something less monumental and more instructive. Get people interpreting for visitors as they do at the Walt Whitman Birthplace. Have historical reenactors on hand à la Greenfield Village.
It’s not enough to put a picture of someone on the wall and claim it’s a sacred place. Explain to me why this location holds power. Because if you don’t, I’m simply standing there looking at a time capsule with no notes to impart the importance of the place upon me, and as someone who’s looking for answers, I need more than an old typewriter and a childhood portrait. 
-Cate-

Three Things About Gods in the Wilderness

Kamy Wicoff, the founder of SheWrites, recommends that authors tell their potential readers three things about their book: 1) What is it about? 2) What was your inspiration? 3) Who is your ideal audience? While this can be a challenge to do at all, let alone succinctly, for a poetry collection, I'd like to tell you these three things about my forthcoming full-length poetry collection, Gods in the Wilderness, if you'll indulge me.
1) What is it about?As with any poetry collection, Gods is about many things, including nature, faith, violence, love, and identity.
2) What was your inspiration?The first section of the book is heavily influenced by religious imagery. The second section uses the Norse-named days of the week as an organizing principle.
3) Who is your ideal audience?People who enjoy free verse and don't mind some blood and guts.
I hope this has piqued your interest, and if you have any in-depth questions to ask, please don't hesitate!
-Cate-