Conversations with Calliope

Conversations with Calliope

JOE: Good morning Calliope.
CALLIOPE: Good morning Joe. How are you today?
JOE: Pleasantly surprised.
CALLIOPE: How so?
JOE: I told you last week that I made another attempt at Rushdie's Satanic Verses and again found it impenetrable at least for my feeble mind.
CALLIOPE: You did. And now?
JOE: I tried giving it one more chance. After I got past the initial pages, I found his tle absorbing and very well written. I must admit I wandered a few times but for the most part am enjoying it.
CALLIOPE: What made you persist?
JOE: Hearing Rushdie read made me realize how good he is at lyrical expression and analogous ways of saying things, in short of capturing the reader's imagination in looking at pedestrian events.
CALLIOPE: Quite a turnaround I'd say.
JOE: Me too. The later pages took me by storm and captured my imagination. I found them a treat.
CALLIOPE: And what about your writing?
JOE: Hearing and reading Rushdie brought me to think about how I write. I came to realize I do so in three stages. First I write the story. Next I edit it for consistency and clarity. Finally I return to listen to my voice as narrator and the voices of my characters to see how they can become more immediate and expressive.
CALLIOPE: Where did you get that approach?
JOE: Hard to say. I remember reading about approaching one's writing from different perspectives one at a time. Maybe it arose from that. I'm not sure how I ended up with this particular plan or whether it is the best one for me. For now, I like it and am using it to write and edit Marital Property. I am open to other approaches and plan to ask some about their approaches. Time to get to business. Talk with you tomorrow.