Inneresting 21
issue 21
September 11, 2020
Keeping Clear and Concise
Our new blog post tackles how to tighten up your writing. Looking for suggestions on how to lean down your paragraphs or trim some pages from your latest draft? Start here!
But what does editing look like?
Digging in to the Quote-Unquote Archives, check out these screencasts of John’s editing and revision in action!
First, check out “Writing Better Scene Description” for ways to address some of the pitfalls of describing what the audience will see on screen and how to move through space with the action.
For a taste of how to speed up the pace and add some dramatic OOMPH on the page, watch “Writing Better Action”.
Won’t You Be My Editor?
Mister Rogers was a great example of when editing isn’t just about cutting things down, but about revising for clarity. In an interview with writers from Mister Rogers Neighborhood, they discuss “Freddish”, a gently joking description for the process Fred used to make sure the lessons on their show spoke directly to children.
Highland How-To: The Bin and The Scratchpad
Highland 2 offers several different tools for editing, but two of its sidebars do a lot of heavy lifting.
The Scratchpad is a blank space, like an extra sheet of paper on the side of your primary document.
You can use the Scratchpad to test out variations on a line you’re rewriting at that moment, or put a note in there to refer back to frequently, like a sticky note or list pinned to a cork board.
The Bin saves separate blocks of text. Just highlight what you want to cut out of your main document and drag it over (or use the ⌥ Option + ⌘ Command + X shortcut) to add it to a searchable list of clippings.
The Bin is great for dropping in scenes that need a new home somewhere else, or earlier versions of sections you might want to pull parts out of for something else later.
To find out more about Sidebar tools and the other helpful features of Highland 2 check out our Knowledge Base
Other Cool Things
A quick look at the Olivetti 32 “Katakana” Typewriter and the history of Japanese typewriters.
‘The $7,500 Typewriter I Built For Alger Hiss,’ the story of typewriter expert Martin Tytell and his attempt to duplicate an entire typewriter to prove it was possible for Alger Hiss to have been framed. (And a contemporary counter-claim from The Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science to Tytell’s account of his success.
Because it wouldn’t be right to miss out on an opportunity to connect Mister Rogers and typewriters, here’s a video of Tom Hanks teaching you how to change a typewriter ribbon. #synergy
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
If you know someone else who might want to read this, please forward it to them. Thanks!
Come across something you think other readers will find inneresting? Reach out to Chris on Twitter @ccsont or email us at ask@johnaugust.com.
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Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from the entire Quote-Unquote team. Subscribe here.
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