Not going to be around much

Hi, I'm afraid my posts are going to be a bit sporadic for awhile.  My dad just had major surgery.  The operation went really well, but things 'll be hectic for the next few weeks.  So if I've become invisible around here lately, that's why. 

A rant on politics

So a few days ago I was reading Zechariah, one of the Old Testament prophets, and I came across this really interesting passage:

This said the Lord my God: Become a shepherd of the flock doomed to slaughter.  Those who buy them slaughter them and go unpunished, and those who sell them say, `Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich,' and their own shepherds have no pity on them.
-Zechariah 11:4-5 (English Standard Version.)

The thing is, I've been watching a lot of Fox news and this verse reminds me of the political climate right now.  We have all these people running for office, or in office, countless political scandals.  The country is in deep trouble and I keep asking myself, is anyone in power actually caring for the people?

I hope there are those in public offices who truly desire to serve their country.  I think those people are the ones you never hear about.  When someone is just doing their job, there's no scandal for the media to latch onto. 

I'm not sure what I'm trying to say with this rant.  My brother (who understand politics so much more than I do) says I'm a hopeless idealist for grumbling about corruption and wishing everyone would just straiten up.  I do think that power and riches aren't always a sign of God's blessing.  God cannot bless riches that come from corruption.  I just hope there comes a time when the folks of this country seek office in order to protect the people, not feed off them.

Splicing and Chunking

Today I found myself chunking the beginning of the book I'm currently re-writing.  

Chunking is what I call one of my editing methods: chunking and splicing.

Splicing is what I do when I've re-written a scene a dozen times, am heartily sick of it, and the stupid thing still won't come out right.  At that point, I print out each failed try and circle the sentences and paragraphs that I like.  I cut them out and move them around like puzzle pieces until I'm happy with the result.  Then I tape them down on line paper and fill in the gaps by writing a few lines here and there with ball-point pen.  It's surprisingly effective.


Chunking is similar, except you're moving whole scenes (aka chunks) around, instead of paragraphs.  Its surprising how often a story flows better when I yank a scene out of its original place and put it somewhere else.  (I don't know what that says about my subconscious.)  Of course, I have to make sure I make a backup file, just in case a scene I'm moving was in the right place all along.


So how about you guys?  Any favorite editing tricks you'd like to share?