What is TextCrafting?
Welcome to this site and thank you for being here! That you are here likely indicates we have already met and to some extent discussed how words can change your life. For everyone else: what do I mean by TextCrafting? To answer this question, allow me to introduce myself briefly.
I am a text professional, of sorts. The types of documents I worked with starting out were musical texts, such as those written by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, and I was paid to perform and record them. To do that in a convincing manner required the effective use of countless other, verbal, texts. Then, when 9/11 hit in NY and musical activity became sparse, the texts I worked with were those written by marketers around the world and I was paid to tweak their messages and help get them on the internet in the most effective ways possible. And now, because I have always had a personal penchant for the path less trod, I live in Tokyo and support myself by working with some of the most intelligent and creative people I have ever met, helping them to use English in their various fields as I go about the crafting of my own texts.
In so doing, I’ve discovered that crafting texts, even those intended solely for personal pleasure, is remarkably useful and practical. There is great pleasure to be derived from creativity that is aligned with purpose.
The reason referring to the arrangement of words as texts might prove useful is because 'text' is a neutral term and it leaves open the tremendously helpful option to explore the notion of genre and note how incredibly important understanding genre is when communicating with other human beings. Additionally, calling novels and poetry and essays and stories texts seems to underscore craft; the notion of the artisan is increasingly compelling in a world that overuses the word artist. I adore craft, yet, I believe in magic. To be more specific, I believe in alchemy which, to be cheekily clear, is socially acceptable pseudoscience that involves both experimentation and discipline, with all the requisite practice and training.
In terms of reading and writing and communication in general, we live in a very different world today. The cat’s out of the bag, as the saying goes. A generation of thousands upon thousands of self-help books and online courses have given away all the secrets. Except they haven’t explained the most important one, because no one can. And this secret lies in the craft, the practice, training and repetition, and it is deeply personal.
There are many activities we engage in to exist and survive in this world, most of them forming routines. Writing, however, or as I call it TextCrafting, is action. It is never mere routine because it involves constant choice and deliberation, even as the texts we craft take on a life of their own. If we are to put together words that are designed to be read by others and achieve some purpose, craft is required - craft, the consummated relationship of strategy and technique. It is craft, not wishful thinking or the cheerleading of others, that stimulates the imagination.
In my case, I could call my own texts stories, but I feel that would be presumptuous. What they are is for other people to say, not me. For me, they are texts and they are my way of practicing the craft of magic. I might, for example, make available one day a collection of Ghoulish Tales of Dubious Veracity. Yes, I just might, indeed...
But, enough about me, what’s in TextCrafting for you?
Welcome to this site and thank you for being here! That you are here likely indicates we have already met and to some extent discussed how words can change your life. For everyone else: what do I mean by TextCrafting? To answer this question, allow me to introduce myself briefly.
I am a text professional, of sorts. The types of documents I worked with starting out were musical texts, such as those written by Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, and I was paid to perform and record them. To do that in a convincing manner required the effective use of countless other, verbal, texts. Then, when 9/11 hit in NY and musical activity became sparse, the texts I worked with were those written by marketers around the world and I was paid to tweak their messages and help get them on the internet in the most effective ways possible. And now, because I have always had a personal penchant for the path less trod, I live in Tokyo and support myself by working with some of the most intelligent and creative people I have ever met, helping them to use English in their various fields as I go about the crafting of my own texts.
In so doing, I’ve discovered that crafting texts, even those intended solely for personal pleasure, is remarkably useful and practical. There is great pleasure to be derived from creativity that is aligned with purpose.
The reason referring to the arrangement of words as texts might prove useful is because 'text' is a neutral term and it leaves open the tremendously helpful option to explore the notion of genre and note how incredibly important understanding genre is when communicating with other human beings. Additionally, calling novels and poetry and essays and stories texts seems to underscore craft; the notion of the artisan is increasingly compelling in a world that overuses the word artist. I adore craft, yet, I believe in magic. To be more specific, I believe in alchemy which, to be cheekily clear, is socially acceptable pseudoscience that involves both experimentation and discipline, with all the requisite practice and training.
In terms of reading and writing and communication in general, we live in a very different world today. The cat’s out of the bag, as the saying goes. A generation of thousands upon thousands of self-help books and online courses have given away all the secrets. Except they haven’t explained the most important one, because no one can. And this secret lies in the craft, the practice, training and repetition, and it is deeply personal.
There are many activities we engage in to exist and survive in this world, most of them forming routines. Writing, however, or as I call it TextCrafting, is action. It is never mere routine because it involves constant choice and deliberation, even as the texts we craft take on a life of their own. If we are to put together words that are designed to be read by others and achieve some purpose, craft is required - craft, the consummated relationship of strategy and technique. It is craft, not wishful thinking or the cheerleading of others, that stimulates the imagination.
In my case, I could call my own texts stories, but I feel that would be presumptuous. What they are is for other people to say, not me. For me, they are texts and they are my way of practicing the craft of magic. I might, for example, make available one day a collection of Ghoulish Tales of Dubious Veracity. Yes, I just might, indeed...
But, enough about me, what’s in TextCrafting for you?