"My only (only!) recommendation is to bring yourself more into the scenes physically." This was some feedback I received on a recent piece of writing I submitted for a course I'm taking on family writing. The instructor is awesome, and trustworthy, and her keen suggestion caused me to pause and reflect on her words. She is spot on I think. I do struggle with bringing myself into the scene, both in my writing and in my life. For most of my adult professional life as a counselor, I was a listener to other people's stories. Taking up writing has been intentional in helping me pivot my focus from others' stories to my own. That shift has sometimes been difficult. My learned default is to sit back and listen, quietly using those honed non-verbal gestures in letting another know I care about their story. But what about my own story? What happens when I am the scene? In my writing courses, I've been intentional about speaking up during class. This act has been useful in helping to bring myself into the scene (for now, the classroom). My writing is shifting too, one small bit at a time. As silly (and perhaps self-centered) as it sounds, I'll now, humbly, work on being the scene.
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I learn the word Colophon in a recent Publishing class. My first thought is that it’s a homely word, really, and resembles medical terminology, or the name of a persistent, unrelenting, sexually transmitted infection. To me, the word's cadence and phonology make it a 2nd cousin to Chloroform, a toxic substance if inhaled or swallowed, impacting major organs of the body.
A colophon, however, is a work of art. Webster offers two definitions of Colophon: 1.an inscription at the end of a book or manuscript usually with facts about its production 2.an identifying mark used by a printer or a publisher Colophon’s origin is Latin, from Greek kolophōn, meaning summit or finishing touch. The word’s first known use occurred in 1501, and at the time, primarily followed Webster’s first definition of a book’s inscription after a scribe’s final entry, though colophons have been found in books and manuscripts from the 6th century CE. In the painstaking work of book scribes, a colophon provided factual information, including his name (were scribes always men?) and the date and place of the work’s completion. The colophon sometimes included an expression resembling “thank goodness this is done because I’m exhausted,” to acknowledge the scribe’s conclusion of an arduous task. The colophon, (and the work of scribes) evolved during the 15th century with the invention of the printing press. Here, printers added a blank first page to protect it from printing ink. They also included an identifying monogram, emblem, or a brief sentence on the book’s last page. At first, the inscription included only basic information that the book had been printed, including where the printing occurred. Later, colophons became more complex, including the printer’s praise for the book, which often resembled a short essay on the book’s merits. By the end of the 15th century, the colophon was relocated to the first blank page in what is now the book’s title page. The colophon now appears on the page opposite the book’s title page and is usually a simple one-sentence statement that acknowledges the book’s printing by a given printer at a given location. More detailed colophons regarding the typeface, paper, and other production details are sometimes added to the book’s last page. A book’s trademark now defines the colophon. Look for the penguin, the kangaroo, the cat’s eyes, the fish to tell us of the publisher’s ethos, including the kinds of books they typically publish. A colophon represents the publisher’s unique imprint in the world of books. The Knopf publishing house is associated with its borzoi colophon, designed by co-founder Blanche Knopf in 1925, who suggested the Borzoi, a Russian Wolfhound, for the logo as she believed it would imply motion. Indeed, from “An Unofficial Ranking of Publishing Colophons” by Dylan Brown, who writes, “the dog’s lithe silhouette cuts a graceful figure mid-leap from one side of the books spine to the other, as if it were urging the reader on to crack open the book and start turning those pages already.” In today’s publishing world where publishers routinely devour each other, so do their colophons evolve. Look at what is now the HarperCollins colophon, after the 1990 consolidation of Harper & Row and Collins Publishers. The colophon is an amalgamation of the Harper torch and the Collins fountain, now fire and water. Sources: https://www.britannica.com/art/colophon-visual-arts https://lithub.com/an-unofficial-ranking-of-publishing-colophons/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colophon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colophon_(publishing) |
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March 2023
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