Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Writing Group => Topic started by: EUOL on July 07, 2004, 07:46:37 PM
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Yup, this is just LOADS of fun. Going through your book line-by-line, fixing every sentence, trying to cut out 10-20% of the text.
Do things get any better than this?
/sarcasm
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heh. That's what I'm doing
Except that I only have an 11 page short story.
And so it will take less time and doesn't need the length cut.
So I'll shut up.
Oh! I know! you can just delete every 10th word. Claim it was an "artistic choice"
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Or spread ebola and other various diseases throughout the book, and then call it artistic integrity.
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Gemm, now I remember why I chose to base the incoherent character in MISTBORN around you.
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MMmm, news, anyone? Hello. Guy in Buffalo was arrested for having deadly diseases in which he claimed they were being used for his art. Buh-duhed.
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I think copyediting is only fun when it's someone else's book. ;) Then I'm not slashing my babies. But I actually enjoy line editing if I have enough distance from whatever I've written. Otherwise, it's just too much of the same thing, and it's hard to look closely.
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speaking of someone else's,... feel like proofreading Magroth tonight, Stacer?
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After I answer Brandon's questions. I've been thinking on them all day and want to answer while they're on my mind.
Shouldn't take too long, though. I made a few changes as I read through it yesterday and tracked the changes.
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Thanks. I did do an edit this afternoon/evening so I've sent the most recent copy.
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Are you doing syllabic editing?
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Heh. I don't do things the same way Dave does. I use the 'what feels right?' method. However, being me, I tend to be a bit verbose, and I can usually find several lines in a given paragraph that say the same thing. I cut things like that, try and rework sentences to be more clear, get rid of the passive voice, that kind of thing.
My goal is to go from 1167 pages to 1000. Wish me luck....
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Out of curiousity, what is syllabic editing?
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it involves going through and expressing each thought with the fewest syllables possible. Shorter words, shorter circumlocutions, etc. If over done, it can make your story sound very awkward.
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That sounds a lot like the kind of editing I do, except that I don't mind if I use large words, if they express an idea in fewer words. I mainly try to get rid of prepositional phrases in favor of adverbs and adjectives, and try to get rid of adverbs and adjectives when the right noun and expressive verbs will work better.
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Good luck, EUOL
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You know, I've noticed that Scott Card has a very terse style when he writes. There's almost a blunt forcefulness to his prose. I wonder if that's how he edits.
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I don't think I like that idea. Think of what that would do to Dickens?
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vastly improve it?
I'm not a fan of Dickins.
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Well, I bet he doesn't like you either. Punk.
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SE has always been a punk. Improve it? I bet he's a Hemingway fan.
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yes. I'm very punk. Used to dye my hair and listen to the Sex Pistols and everything. OI!
No, uhm... really. I don't like Hemmingway. I do like Steinbeck, though.
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The thing that kept me from taking Dave's advise in this area is that I just didn't like his prose. He's a good writer, but his actual sentence constructions don't seem to have much life. Then again, neither do Scott's--but he seems to have that terse style down better than Dave.
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Well, 15k (70 pages) cut so far. Maybe I should collect all of the random words I've cut and throw them together. I'd have a novella!
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I hates you.
I mean,... congrats!
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Dickens got paid per word. That would make anyone verbose. Dickens was just able to do it well.
Wow, EUOL. That's probably more than I've written in my life.
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Heh. Final word count? 35k cut. 155 pages manuscript. My editor was glad to hear it.