no noose
deadlines swooshing by. knives surely to follow.
nice to know people are still alive. maybe.
now the real work begins...all in the rewrite. i've never had so much constructive criticism all focused on the same point.
bring out the argument.
further define the terms, show how the terms help the argument.
it all comes down to the audience. imagine the audience and cater to their needs. what a depressing set of assumptions. what really has to happen is a critical engagement with the text as it stands by itself. the written is not the author. the written word has to stand alone. the physicality of the written world stands it apart from the very source of the thoughts which once were presented, and re-presented, edited and worded. the written word is so still it cannot capture the fleetingness of thought. but it can provoke thought.
that's where the work is. beating up the text so as it matures into a self supporting structure of thought provoking literature. one can never give birth to oneself - recognise the work as something other and then it will be self-sufficient, self arguing, critical and engaging.
so now you know.
hope hope and all the determinacy.