Shift #53 - Writing and Editing
Saturday, July 20, 2024 | 7-11:40 am CST/8 am-12:40 pm EST (4 hrs 40 min)
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Michelle Hurt, student/intern
Jennifer Gonzalez, practicum supervisor
This is a screenshot of a secondary source for my blog post. Thankfully, previously-published blog posts are filled with secondary sources that I can look through!
Today, my husband gave me the space to focus on my practicum, namely getting some writing and editing done. As noted above, I also did additional research into what happened after pirates were tried and sentenced. It was horrific to discover that executed bodies were displayed for the public to see. With communication means being very limited in those days, I suppose this was necessary - for people to see the consequences of crimes and to spread the word. In my first blog post, I am profiling two pirates, John Massey and Charles Gibbs. They were both executed for the crime of conducting piracy. As much as I want to depict their final days, I don't think I have the space for it because I have so many words already! One of the things my small group cohort supervisor pointed out is the need to be concise. However, not just conciseness but drawing readers along to the discoveries I made as I read about Massey's and Gibbs' life.
I spent the rest of the time going back and forth between writing and editing. I focused my writing from my cohort supervisor's notes, in that I needed to shape the environment that I was drawing my readers into. How am I able to allow readers to understand my experience of reading these old sources? Even now as I'm writing, I still refer back to the sources on the Library of Congress website. They're digital materials but I can get up close and personal with them - using the magnifying glass, examining the yellowed pages. I don't consider myself much of a creative writer but I know that this is my chance to flex my creative muscles and add some flair to my blog post. I do know that by taking on this topic, I've learned a lot of things - so much more than what I knew from what Hollywood fed me! I also need to make sure that I'm not circumspect with my experience, but that I need to make sure my words are direct and upfront so readers can understand and follow along in my journey.
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