Tributary, Mere Mortals, Fringe

[erastes]

Finished the first edits for Tributary. Relatively painless--and as editing always is with with a good editor, illuminating and educating too. I will certainly search and destroy “was” and “that” with impunity from now on – I know “that” is one of my bugbears. (It’s an example of the problem, when I’d normally say “I know that “that” is one of my bugbears.”) Who knew you could remove “that” 99 percent of the time and it made no difference to the sentence?  OK – YOU lot knew, obviously, but I didn’t. I suppose I should read more books on “how to write.”…

There were one or two “that”s that I asked to keep in – all of them in dialogue because people aren’t grammatically correct when they speak, and they use was and that all the time.

But I hate editing, I really really hate it. It gives me no pleasure at all, which is why I do it immediately and get it out of the way. When you are in the unenviable position of editing something myriad times (I think Transgressions was edited four times in all, all 120k words of it) I was so sick of it I could have screamed.

Remember the illustrator I told you about who is going to work on a graphic novel of Standish with a view to sell? Well she’s done a mock up of a cover for Mere Mortals (very much a draft as obviously it would be up to Lethe as to whether they go with a cover they didn’t comission, and I won’t joggle Steve’s elbow until after Saints and Sinners) and it’s so bloody brilliant – I hope to god he does. It’s a concept that i would never have thought of in a million years—I was thinking much more literally with boats and islands and castles—but the concept she’s come up with – And this is her site by the way, very talented – is perfect, and most importantly it’s INTRIGUING.  Not only is the cover entirely work safe, but I’d hope someone would pick it up on the strength of the cover – and it’s not until you’ve READ the book would you appreciate what the cover actually means. I can’t show it yet, but I will, the minute I can. It doesn’t scream gay romance, because it isn’t, or I like to think it isn’t. It’s a gothic story where men are homosexual I suppose.

I’ve been watching the first series of Fringe, and am now just starting on series two, and I really like it. At first I felt sorry for the actor playing Peter, because the Dunham character upstaged him over and over, and he was there just to add one-liners, or to have father issues – but as the story went on he has a part to play which I like. I really like Dunham, she’s beautifully kick arse without being sue-ish, makes stupid mistakes etc.  Very enjoyable, but of course it is bound to be one of those shows – like Kyle xy – that is axed with every thing left up in the air.

Comments

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I think the use of 'that' is a matter of style and it is the way a lot of people speak. And I don't think it really improves a sentence that works well to remove 'that' as a matter of editorial policy... but then, I split infinitives, too. Deliberately.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Heh me too. some of my word choices make editors tear their hair out. "but why did his mood feel like fog?"

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I think the problem is - seriously - that there are too many "editors" who think in cliches. Awhile back I had one tell me to change a fire 'dying back' to 'dying down.' Fact is, they can do both or either, and I was trying to avoid a cliche. There are some publishers whose editing is so bad I would never submit to them.. and I only buy books from them if I know the authors have a decent command of grammar.

That said, I've also dealt with editors who think proofreading a manuscript constitutes "editing," and in a lot of ways that's far worse.

A good editor's worth her weight in chocolate. A bad one is worse than none at all.