Scott!

I have a title for a small essay (hem hem!) in mind. It is called "The Language of 'The Star-Treader'".

I was wondering, to tempt the interest of yrself, what would you like to see covered under such a title?

I'm thinking that I may use the essay to tempt you into publishing it in Lost Worlds

ciao!

Phillip

*Author of Strange Gardens [www.lulu.com]


*Editor of Calenture: a Journal of Studies in Speculative Verse [calenture.fcpages.com]

*Visit my homepage: [voleboy.freewebpages.org]

voleboy Wrote:
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> Scott!
>
> I have a title for a small essay (hem hem!) in
> mind. It is called "The Language of 'The
> Star-Treader'".

Your definition of "small" is similar to Hitler's definition of "final territorial demand." :)
>
> I was wondering, to tempt the interest of yrself,
> what would you like to see covered under such a
> title?

Have you seen William Stanley Braithwaite's review of TST? It's included among the reviews I posted on this site sometime back (look under BIOGRAPHIES). I've touched on the subject in "Gesturing Toward the Infinite," but what I would like to see is not relevant; I'll cover that on my own. However, what you have to say about it would be of great interest, if you can keep it down to around 4000 words or so. Remember, you don't have to cite every instance of a particular example, just pick out some characteristic ones.
>
> I'm thinking that I may use the essay to tempt you
> into publishing it in Lost Worlds
>
Wouldn't be much of a temptation. You do good work, you just need to learn to keep it short. (Of course, my first draft for the intro to STAR CHANGES ran to 10,000 words before I cut it down, and I'd have liked to have cut it more, but couldn't figure out where!)
> ciao!

Auf wiedersehen!
Scott

Scott writes, "Wouldn't be much of a temptation. You do good work, you just need to learn to keep it short. (Of course, my first draft for the intro to STAR CHANGES ran to 10,000 words before I cut it down, and I'd have liked to have cut it more, but couldn't figure out where!)"

A long introduction would not have troubled me in the least.

Jim

Thanks, Jim. You will be happy to learn, I think, that I could only get it down to about 7500 words, which is still a hefty chunk of verbiage. But seriously, when I write a first draft I throw in everything I can think of, being part of the Kitchen Sink school of composition, then I go back and cut out something here, move something else to another place, change this to that, add salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 30 minutes, serving with noodles.
Scott

You are welcome, Scott. Glad the introduction will still be rather hefty at 7500 words.

I suspect my method might be similar to yours in some respects. I tend to start plugging random ideas, facts, and quotations into a document with multiple subtitles long before I begin an actual draft. This material then shrinks or expands weeks later as the introduction forms in front of it. Except for the quotations, most of this material serves more as a spur or reminder than ingredients for the finished work. In fact, a significant portion of this initial material, no matter how interesting it might be in and of itself, ends up in an ever-increasing miscellany file. How often, while investigating a side-topic to your main discussion or while attempting to answer a question that came up during your investigation, have you discovered a wealth of fascinating material about an ancillary figure or topic, only a small portion of which you could actually use, because discussion of it in depth would throw off the balance of an entire book, let alone an essay or introduction? You could always resort to the practice some writers have of burying a miniature essay in a footnote, but this has the paradoxical effect of turning attention away from your thesis.

Jim

You should see the ridiculous lengths I got up to with the Lovecraft essay I'm writing for my book. It's slightly less small than the CAS essay you turned down, Scott, by about 4000 words. It also has an absurd number of footnotes; I'm trimming them down at the moment.

I can handle 4000 words, no problem. Dr. Farmer has given me something to chew over, as well, so I shall attck that essay once I've finished revising and looking over the material I already have for the book. It should be ready to be started upon, say, Friday.