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  1. Lessons Learned Editing a Blog Friday, July 17, 2009

    This is a voice, calling to you from the ether. Hello, friend. How’d you do?

    Frankly, it’s just the voice of the very same person who, for nearly a year now, has been working as CreateHere’s resident blogger. Say what you will about distant Wizard-of-Oz-esque floating heads and puppet-string ad writers, most of Chattanooga’s writers are lucky enough to have viable, celebrated creative outlets. Why hide from the work we do, when so often that work is engaging and significant? I’ve always been very upfront about what I do here, and I’ve never shied away from writing in much the same way I would in other venues. No ether, no fog, no special effects, no special accents. No need, really.

    I’ve had the great privilege to write on behalf of an organization I care for deeply, and that’s made all the difference. This week, I’ve matched that privilege with the epic honor of editing blog posts from my colleagues, the CreateHere fellows—the people who make this place what it is.

    I’m gonna join the crew today and write a little post of my own, because it’s been an enlightening week. Editing, as it turns out, is very different than writing (surprise). Where writing takes research and planning and coffee and big-picture and guidance, editing takes awe, pure and simple.

    Earlier this week, we heard from TJ Bowman, a man obsessed with the meaning of beauty; Thomas Perry, a cheeky curator; and Fynn Glover, an earnest community organizer, just to name a few. It should go without saying: their voices are very different, but equally valuable.

    How, then, to put them together, to bring some order to the chaos, some vision to the many, many voices? That’s a question I’ve heard a lot lately, working closely with Chattanooga Stand.

    And what I’ve concluded, after editing and canvassing and copywriting and phone banking (all very much related), is that you don’t force order on that chaos. You celebrate entropy, and you stand in stunned awe of diversity in thought. The ticks, the nuances, the soaring heights: they are all indispensable in this mission to be better writers, better Chattanoogans, better global citizens.

    Posted by Administrator