tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post1421756154210140313..comments2024-03-28T15:01:21.285-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: The Wordsworth TrapLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-91657360367108415542013-05-29T10:05:29.652-04:002013-05-29T10:05:29.652-04:00I hope nobody will think I've tinkered with DE...I hope nobody will think I've tinkered with DEATH WILL GET YOU SOBER in a quest for the perfect 70,000 words. I merely deleted a thousand <i>unnecessary</i> adverbs and Jimmy's laborious explanation to Barbara of how to use Google (verb "to google" not yet in use in 2008). Oh, and changed back a name I loved that my legendary editor made me change. She died (at 92); I win. The past five years have been a blink of an eye in which everything in publishing and technology has changed significantly.Elizabeth Zelvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13944424094949207841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-60321437892565341062013-05-28T15:58:28.947-04:002013-05-28T15:58:28.947-04:00Striving for perfection is a futile endeavor. Once...Striving for perfection is a futile endeavor. Once you have constructed that perfected sentence, two minutes later, you think “I can make it even better.”Louis A. Willishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16563842429688123421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-56459652571258064392013-05-28T14:47:49.336-04:002013-05-28T14:47:49.336-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Terence Fahertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05928381496296429254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-49142105245054773652013-05-28T14:47:18.368-04:002013-05-28T14:47:18.368-04:00I've always thought that a person who hopes to...I've always thought that a person who hopes to leave one perfect work of art behind when the pen falls from his or her cold dead hand is putting a lot of faith in his or her next of kin. I'm not sure I'll have any posthumous works. My wife has the dumpster rental company on speed dial. Terence Fahertyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05928381496296429254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-1405048853466961652013-05-28T10:13:35.837-04:002013-05-28T10:13:35.837-04:00Perfectionist tinkering is just another way of not...Perfectionist tinkering is just another way of not getting much done. But it's an easy trap to fall into, especially when faced with a blank page/screen.<br /><br />I'm more intrigued by the idea of the earlier self as other, for one thing because I was talking to a program friend about this yesterday, and assuring her that she is not who she was. And we are not. If we did not/could not change, then education, rehabilitation, punishment, hope, would all be futile. Granted, some things from youth die, some things that we could consider very valuable. Or is that hindsight? Personally I'm always very wary of people who are ingenuous, naive, and innocent well into their 4th decade. Something is wrong. Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-21595151179324704502013-05-28T08:58:21.205-04:002013-05-28T08:58:21.205-04:00I can see fixing typos or inserting a scene or two...I can see fixing typos or inserting a scene or two to clarify something, but to go back and tinker? The two worst offenders of overdoing this are Stephen King and George Lucas. Lucas has mercifully handed off Star Wars to JJ Abrams (I would have picked Peter Jackson, but what do I know?)<br /><br />King really needs to let The Stand stand. Yet I fear before he dies, he'll put out a 4000-word version that starts in 2020 and makes absolutely no sense compared to the original. Too much tinkering is really a slap at the reader anyway.Jim Winterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06122822825357026014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-87485939476693603902013-05-28T06:04:15.361-04:002013-05-28T06:04:15.361-04:00Or maybe it's the Henry James trap.Or maybe it's the Henry James trap.mybillcriderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02350478005243505108noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-35780961477320155422013-05-28T00:33:52.431-04:002013-05-28T00:33:52.431-04:00Yikes! I'm afraid I could become a tinkerer, e...Yikes! I'm afraid I could become a tinkerer, especially if readers catch errors.<br /><br />But yes, I agree Wordsworth had a problem. So did Leonardo da Vinci, if I remember right– he left lot of unfinished works. I also believe he lost commissions because he kept tinkering with models and concepts.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.com