The Pen is Mightier

Master Donovan contacted me privately and said he had a chunk of period text he wanted to turn into a peerage scroll, but he didn’t know where to start, and could I help him figure it out? He failed to mention who the scroll was for or which peerage, so I went into this one blind.  I didn’t find out until it was read in court, nor that I got partial credit for composition until that time. So if you wanted to know what I think about and how I think about it when I tackle a period text, below is an example. The Text is from the Wiktenauer translation of Capo Ferro. He wanted to use the Leoni translation, but Wiktenauer is what he had access to. It is not my intention to hold you at bay with pompous and splendid words, in the recommending to you of the profession of arms that I practice. It is extolled in the due order of its merit, for which it is greatly prized and honored, and always praised, and the greatness and valor are commended of those who worthily carry the sword at t...

This was one of those speeches that I had a framework for going into court, but it was not written down or rehearsed in advance. I knew the beginning and the end, and I had the base idea I wanted to embed in the middle of the speech, then I noodled my way into connecting the beginning to the base idea, expounding on the base idea and then moving from that exposition into to the conclusion. It works because the conclusion is strong and I can sell the speech with personal magnetism. It is remembered by others in the room as being one of the better speeches of the day for those reasons. That said, looking at it logically once it has been transpired, it is a mediocre speech with many run on sentences, and I injected myself too much. Don’t do this at home, kids. FB link to Anastasia's Vigil My piece starts at 8:05. "I am Countess Marguerite Ingean Lachlainn, (Bows to the Crown). A Lady of the Rose is supposed to speak about Courtesy, but today I am going to speak about ...