Dear Reader,
And so it begins. The typesetting of our longest-yet piece. I've been sitting with it for weeks. Trying to make sure the words make sense, and that they're right. Reading and rereading not only the essay, but also the research papers I've referenced. I've asked more than a few kind souls to proofread it for me.
And yet, once in the workshop, I sometimes question my decisions, abandon my script, and just put new words together as I'm composing. Sometimes it makes the passage stronger. Often, it needs editing again.
According to my word processor, I will need to set more than 13,000 characters for this chapbook. (More if I insist on rewriting them as I go.) Everything is set one letter at a time. I've been timing myself, and trying to get a sense of my rhythm.
I make mistakes when I get tired, but I don't always see it coming. When I'm lucky, the mistakes are obvious.
When I'm unlucky, I don't notice until I'm reading the proof. A missed line is much easier than a missed word. A missed word means reflowing the text all the way to the end of the paragraph. Moving each letter, and every space, until it's correctly located.
For the month of April, I'll be showing you behind the scenes in our letterpress workshop. Typesetting is the slowest part, but we'll cover all the steps from printing through to binding. If all goes well, your copy will be in the mail at the end of the month.
If you can't wait that long, I'm running a special email series (free, of course!) about the history of trees and the colour we get from them. Interested?
Best inky wishes,
Emma