Dr.
Langlinais is always a great professor to talk to so it is no surprise that our
interview with her went so well. She has an especially unique perception of the
world and writing. She is very visual – she values art, drama, and poetry – so
her view of writing and inspiration for writing is considerably different from
what we might call the “typical” writer.
One
of the initially interesting things she shared during our interview was the
amount of interest she had in the actual publishing process. When she published
her chat-book of poetry with a friend of hers, she explained how intrical the
process was to the thought and message of the chat-book itself. The publisher
literally strung the pages together to create the book, after Dr. Langlinais
and she had discussed the possible options as far as color and print of the
book. She said that handcrafted-ness of the chat-book created part of the
meaning that would be lost if the poems were simply posted on an eBook.
If
there were indeed a concrete range of people ranging from complete adaptation
of eBooks (10) and only using traditional books (1), Dr. Langlinais is on the
latter end of the scale. While she realizes that eBooks are becoming more and
more common, she says there is just something about holding the text and thus
interacting with it. It brought up memories for her of her childhood. When
taking her class, I remember her strong desire for everything to be printed out
for her to grade or to read. She says that it depends on what she is writing as
to if she writes by hand or on the computer initially. Generally she uses the
computer when working on poetry, because you can move the poetry around the
page and visualize it better. However she has plenty of paper journals from
friends who know she writes, so she likes to use them for fiction or little
ideas – but each has a specific, organized purpose.
Dr.
Langlinais is rather relaxed about writing. She even says something to the effect
of “I know I should write every day at a certain time, but I just don’t.” She
admits that it’s more of an on-a-whim basis that she writes than regimented.
This contradicts one of the most well-known given pieces of advice that you
should set aside a certain time every day that you write.
The
interview with Dr. Langlinais (1) inspired me to write more and make my “accidental”
English minor into a more pre-meditated action, and (2) to understand better
from the writer’s point of view. I had questioned how writers felt about their
novels moving from print to eBook, and while Dr. Langlinais’s was only one
opinion (and most may conflict with it), I understood how it would be a different
experience for an author to see their book in print rather than on screen. For
my way of thinking, I can see my writing now on a screen even as I type. What I
have always dreamed of is the solid binding, the smell of the crisp page, and
the pliability of the page as your index finger runs the length of it to turn
it. For some writers, it is just the fact that the book was published. For Dr.
Langlinais and I, publishing is so much more.
Her involvement in the publication of her chat-book is interesting because authors typically have minimal input in how their book is published. I think it's wonderful that Dr. Langlinais was able to not only be a part of the process, but was able to thematically tie in every detail to the text. It brings the poetry to a new level, because reading is not experiencing the text; it's experiencing it in the context of the reader's environment and the medium by which the text is presented. Even though the writer typically cannot contribute to the physical book itself, readers tend to think of the book as a reflection of the text inside it. The author is still strongly associated with it.
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