YOU GOT SERVED

posted by James Reel

    Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal theater critic and arts-blogger role model, discovers he’s been dissed by a previously unfamiliar blogger, investigates, and comes back with a magnificently withering put-down in the guise of a recommendation:

Interested in knowing exactly what sort of writing the blogger in question thought was worth reading, I spent a few minutes looking over the self-written "serialized blog novels" he'd posted elsewhere on his site, an experience I commend to all connoisseurs of unpublished fiction.

    Oh, the cruel, cruel gibe. The only term more insulting than “unpublished fiction” is “self-published fiction,” of which I have had the misfortune to proofread much. But at least I get paid for that, which is more than can be said for the self-publishing authors.

ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE

posted by James Reel

    The editors of the glossy quarterly Tucson Guide (content not available online) asked me to write a preview of fall theater productions, and I was happy to comply; the magazine is run by good, smart people for whom I do a lot of freelance proofreading and write occasional articles on request. The only little problem this time was that Tucson Guide, intended as it is for tourists, new residents and upscale foothills denizens, is a relentlessly positive publication, and I am by no means a relentlessly positive reporter or critic. Even a sentence suggesting that the local theater scene isn’t as vibrant and diverse as it was 10 to 15 years ago was deemed too negative for inclusion. I’m not complaining; writers have to adapt to the editorial stance of the publication to which they contribute, and I certainly didn’t have to lie about anything. But I must confess that I find the upcoming season excessively light, and not quite as exciting as the article in the current issue makes it seem. To find out what I really think as the season develops, you’ll just have to follow my cranky outbursts in the Tucson Weekly.