Finding a Voice

"As we attempt to transform conversation to print, we must radically intervene--'mess around with what is said' to show clearly what is meant. ... We must present [our narrators] well in writing and not patronize them in doing so."

"Next edit and contextualize, rearranging to create a coherent and tight narrative. Editor needs to be ruthless. Beware of tangents that are off the point."

-- Suzanne Mulligan, "IOHA CONFERENCE MASTER CLASS – Editing for Oral History Publication" (notes on a Master Class by Linda Shopes), at http://www.flexi.net.au/~mulligan/Newsletter.htm.

I am working on my second-last narrative. It was the first one I edited it many months ago, then a few weeks ago, and looking at it now the weaknesses are dreadfully apparent to me. It's more factual than readable -- not enough life in the tone. The first shall be last. This is why it's important to leave time between writing and rewriting -- time often brings perspective.

I was in Prince Albert for health region training this week and had tea with my cousin, Heather Persson, Managing Editor of the Prince Albert Daily Herald. She has been reading my blog and said that as a journalist she sometimes envies how much time I have to think about the voices of my interviewees. The similarities and differences between her work and mine are fascinating: journalists specialize in quick turn-around from interview to print, oral historians have the luxury of time to ruminate and rearrange before publishing. Audience and purpose are other points to ponder.

But a longer treatment of these themes will have to wait for another day ... my "baby" is calling.