Editeyes

Del Martin

May 5, 1921- August 27, 2008

Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon were partners for over 50 years. Martin died this past week at the age of 87 after a life-time as activist campaigning for the rights of women and lesbians.

Shortly after moving in with my female lover, I found the couple in a book entitled Women Together: Portraits of Love, Commitment, and Life. I was euphoric and confused by my new found status as lesbian and delighted to find a book with beautiful images of female couples.

No such book existed when Del and Phyllis were new lovers, but they paved the way for the kind of books I found in libraries and books stores when I first came out.

The two women were journalists. They were writers and human beings who spoke honestly and bravely in a time when such frankness was risky. Julie Enszer writes an in depth tribute to Martin on her blog if you’d like to know more about this remarkable woman. For my part, I simply want to emulate this pioneer in speaking the truth.

May I always choose honesty over safety.

May I remember Del Martin in moments when my confidence wavers.

photo of Phyllis and Del from: www.women-vision.org

Tags: Write Right by ph
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A common practice among bloggers is identifying and annotating the blogs they have been reading that might also be of interest to their readers. Sometimes this is done on a regular basis, say every Saturday, and sometimes it is the feature of particular topic the blog writer is addressing. I love this practice, not only because it extends the conversation but also because it leads me places I might not otherwise have gone. I haven’t yet decided how I will integrate “a carnival” of blogs into Editeyes, for I’d like it to emerge organically as the blog and I grow together.

Today, however, I am pointing directly to Misplaced Misfit, which appears on my blog roll. Keiti, who is Ms Misfit, is a cyber friend who has graciously, and I might add insightfully, interviewed me in the context of a blog tour — a kind of virtual book tour. Keiti, who lives in Florida, has timed the posting of her interview to coincide with the west coast launch of my book which will take place August 23 in Sonora, California.

To learn more about Between Two Women, please visit Keiti’s blog during the next few days.

Tags: That's Personal, blog-land by ph
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In her book Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg has a chapter called “Be Specific” in which she tells writers about the importance of naming:

Give things the dignity of their names. . . It is much better to say “geranium in the window” than “flower in the window.” . . . When we know the name of something, it brings us closer to the ground. It takes the blur out of our mind; it connects us with the earth . . . Learn the name of everything.

As a teacher, I instruct my students to use concrete nouns in order to give their writing substance. But what if the job is to bestow a name upon something, like a child or a pet or a blog? Dignity originates in the giving of the name.

We went through 4 names before we settled on Tweety as the right and most dignified name for our cat– a tiny svelte creature who was at once feisty and comical. When naming something, the intent is to get the right fit. But a name should also provide useful information. Tweety is small, courageous, and more than a tad goofy, just like her namesake Tweety Bird.

In the world of business, naming is called branding, for it is a marketing method that sends a message to the consumer, a promise about what can be expected. Branding is important enough to writing enterprises that Kristen over at the Inkthinker blog is hosting a branding bootcamp in upcoming weeks.

Editeyes is a business blog, a place were I wish to sell my credibility as a writer and attract a readership who will not only find worthwhile information but who are interested in creating relationships around the issue of writing. Though I can’t honestly say I was thinking about branding when naming this blog Editeyes, I knew that I wanted the name to send several messages along with a clear promise to address these points:

• We write with our eyes and our ears (and nose, tongue and skin too). As a name, Editeyes plays with sight and sound to convey this message;
• The playful spelling and atypical use of the suffix in Editeyes is a purposeful way to communicate the intent of this blog to explore the edges of writing “right.”
• The editing and revising stages of writing are essential and can be satisfying as well as insightful. The message in the name Editeyes is that I value this stage of the writing process.

Tell me what you think of the name Editeyes. What was your first impression? Did it change after reading this post? Be honest. Writing has so much to do with audience, so I want to know what you are thinking.

Tags: Mispeld Wirdz, Word Wise by ph
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When you grow up in a large family, it’s not unusual to look for a niche in the hope of establishing an identity uniquely your own. The niche or identity that I assumed as a child in a family of 5 kids was athlete or in today’s terms: the jock. My sister was the creative one–the writer, the musician, the artist, and to my way of thinking the free thinker. So I was well into my 40s before I allowed myself to write outside of the formal boxes of academic and technical pieces.

Around that time, I remember being surprised when a young colleague called himself a poet. He hadn’t even finished college, and yet his self-image allowed him a title that seemed evocative. At the same, a small delight found it’s way to my hands: a wonderful personal essay by another colleague. It was a touching piece about his parent’s wedding anniversary that brought tears to my eyes. Though these were minuscule events in the greater scheme of my life, the two incidents managed to break through the hard identity I held of myself as jock and technical writer. Suddenly in what felt like a recklessly unparalleled gesture, I signed up for a 6-week long creative writing workshop.

I was a nervous wreck on the morning of the first class quite certain I was going to be totally out of my element. When the teacher handed us velvety green wisteria pods and told us to hold, touch and study them intimately, I truly enjoyed the pregnant wonder of my pod. But when she told us to write about what we’d discovered, I shuddered with confusion. I was used to writing memos and curriculum and project plans. What could I write about a wisteria pod?

I finished that workshop and then signed up for a second session and later went on to attend numerous creative writing classes and workshops over the next few years, but it was a long time before my pen moved freely on the page confident that what poured forth would have merit and might even be juicy or touching or scary.

It’s no small feat to take a risk and forget how to “write right.” I’m still pushing the edges of my comfort zone, trying to squeak through locked doors and slide around monstrous hurdles.

Today, I’m undertaking the risky business of launching a blog about writing. There are many such blogs out there, some of which I read regularly and have listed in the blog roll to the right. I want to be part of the conversation they are having and add my perspective, be it complementary, unique, or challenging. My goal is to attract readers who are exploring their edges and who will jump in with daring comments that make all of us think.

Come back again for the 2nd post when I will write about my blog’s name–Editeyes–and consider the risks of naming.

Tags: Write Right by ph
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