scrapes of red sully
marked-up draft ’til revisions
heal text with edits
Red Pen (Photo credit: cellar_door_films)
Today, in response to the make something challenge to work with red, I wrote the red haiku above.
A teacher or editor’s red ink can feel like a beating. Marked-up text looks battered and bruised—a rough and rude abuse to the writer who gently laid words in order on the page.
But editing is not an affront. It’s a service. A privilege, even. Editing exposes blemishes to be cleared and diagnoses ailments to be cured … so the writer can heal the message.
Beth Nyland 