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Automatic writing is the most direct of Surrealist
techniques.
Sit at a table with pen and paper; put yourself in a
'receptive' frame of mind, and start writing. Continue
writing without thinking of what is appearing beneath
your pen. Write as fast as you can. If, for some
reason, the flow stops,leave a space and immediately
begin again by writing down the first letter of the
next sentence. Choose this letter at random before you
begin, for instance, a 't', and always begin this new
sentence with a 't'. Although in the purest version of
automatism nothing is 'corrected' or re-written the
unexpected material produced by this method can be
used as the basis for further composition. What is
crucial is the unpremeditated free association that
creates the basic text.
-- Surrealist Games (Alastair Brotchie, Redstone
Press)
> So it isn't the News station. It's an AP error.
> Google produced three (or
> 3) copies of the same article.
>
> http://www.google.com/search?q=%22Thirty-1-year-old+Martin%22&sourceid=navcl
> ient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS210US210
>
> Shouldn't the AP have editors to catch this? How
> important was the article
> that it should have been sent out without some
> decent editing? I imagine
> that the headline, "Six indicted for "cheese" heroin
> distribution," probably
> warranted some hasty newsworthiness for "cheese
> heroin" because that's a new
> term we should keep in mind if we hear teens mention
> that they need
> "cheese." Perhaps the AP writers and editors are
> little over-worked.
>
> Lauren
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> >
>
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lt34=csus -dot- edu -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
> On
> > Behalf Of Bonnie Granat
> > Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 11:16 AM
> > To: neilson -at- windstream -dot- net; 'Techwr-l'
> > Subject: RE: Automatic editing?
> >
> > Could be that "31-year-old" was moved from another
> place and
> > changing the
> > "1" was missed when they changed the "3" -- it
> happens to
> > editors, too. :0
> >
> > I would otherwise agree with your hypothesis, but
> I don't
> > think that's the
> > case here. Besides, with an AP sourcing, it may
> not have been
> > the TV station
> > at all. My understanding is that if you run
> something like your story
> > (http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6620358),
> you run it
> > the way AP
> > wrote it. I have this opinion because of the
> identical
> > stories I see from
> > time to time, all credited to AP.
> >
> >
> > Bonnie Granat
> > http://www.GranatEdit.com
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From:
> > >
>
techwr-l-bounces+bgranat=granatedit -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> > >
>
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+bgranat=granatedit -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l
> > > .com] On Behalf Of neilson -at- windstream -dot- net
> > > Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2007 12:30 PM
> > > To: Techwr-l
> > > Subject: Automatic editing?
> > >
> > > The following paragraph is from an online report
> on the web page
> > > of KLTV in Tyler TX (near Dallas).
> > >
> > > "Thirty-1-year-old Martin Laguna is charged with
> conspiracy to
> > > possess heroin with intent to distribute, plus
> distribution of
> > > heroin. He's also charged with possession of a
> firearm during a
> > > drug trafficking crime."
> > >
> > > Thirty-1 ??? How did they accomplish that?
> Whaddya bet that as a
> > > TV station, they're not putting much effort into
> editing for good
> > > journalistic writing. So they have a
> smell-checker that tries to
> > > apply some AP Style Guide rules: (a) Numbers
> from 1 to 10
> > are spelled
> > > out, and everything else is in digits. (b)
> Sentences do not
> > begin with
> > > numbers in digits. Applying both rules at once
> gives
> > amazing results.
> > >
> > > I'm sure it's from automatic editing; no human
> editor, reporter or
> > > typist could do something so ridiculous, even if
> not a native
> > > speaker of English.
> > >
> > > So you saw it here first--the oncoming
> automation of copy editing.
> > > As tech writers we tend to regard MS Word's
> grammar and spelling
> > > suggestions as occasionally helpful and
> frequently quite silly.
> > > We ignore them when we know they're wrong. But
> the Bulldozer of
> > > Future Standards is upon us, and we will be
> crushed by it. We will
> > > see our finished writing pushed through an
> automatic Grammar
> > > Grinder and ruined in the name of improvement,
> and the result
> > > will become the new standard.
> > >
> > > [Neilson emulates the Grammar Grinder on
> previous graf:]
> > > So you were here first. The outcome automates
> copy editing.
> > > As technical writers tend to regard Ms. Word's
> grammar and
> > > spelling suggestions... [Geez, I gotta stop; my
> head hurts.]
> > >
> > > --Peter Neilson
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
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