Cling Hardily to This

Never underestimate the importance of a cheat sheet.

Cling hardily to it.

Secure it in your under-things if you must.

When writing a novel of any kind, it is absolutely vital to keep tabs on all your players. You can be as detailed or as lax as you dare, but jotting down a record of who did what to whom and where is crucial for the sake of your story’s continuity.

It may be boring. It may feel a bit like the tedious school work of yours days past. It may be unintelligible gibberish to all but you, but it is NECESSARY.

Having momentarily misplaced my own cheat sheet for The Hushing Days (a stark 48 hours I twitch at recalling), I know of what I speak.

Take heed, dear writers. Take heed.

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

Editng "Cheat Sheet" Part Two: The Gory Details



This could get ugly.

This evening I have far less atmospheric company with me as I rough out my late Friday blog.

Eames and Goren from “Law & Order: Criminal Intent,” the dynamic, crime-fighting duo, are busy keeping the streets of New York safe from serial killers and the like while I type. (SIDE NOTE: I love the recurring Nicole Wallace character, said to be Irene Adler to Goren’s Sherlock Holmes. That, of course, has no pertinent value here, but does hold a matter of “cool” I simply can’t resist. Color me crazy, on this one.)

Back to business…

Ticker from Madness for today’s editing/buffing/polishing of my novel Writhe due in just over a week’s time stands at…

                            4,000 words (for a total of 34K ready to head to the publisher)

I have as of yet to reach the panic stage on Writhe. It’s coming, I’m sure. Hopefully, I’ll be ready when it barrels down on me. *fingers crossed*

Proudly, I announce that I finished going through Dreamspinner Press’ first edits for my short story “Ravenscar.” I did not puke, hyperventilate or hide under a single piece of furniture.  Bravo, me!

Since, I got a lot of blog traffic from this morning’s “Editing Cheat Sheet for a Few Dollars More,” I’d like to expand on that now. Hopefully, this will help somebody out there.

Below is a list of all the corrections my copy editor made to the story. I’m not repeating the passive voice, Ethan vs. the doctor and ellipses markups. You’ll find all those gory details in this morning’s blog. (Please, someone tell me this isn’t too terribly boring. Please. *lol*)

Here we go. I’ll only give you the correct versions along with the editor’s explanation for it if provided. The changes made are in italics…

 

-“Twenty-nine-year-old Ethan” (this is always hyphenated before a noun)

-“peacoat” (one word, not hyphenated)

-“overindulgence” (one word, not hyphenated)

-“nondescript” (one word, not hyphenated)

-“premed” (one word, not hyphenated)

-“twenty-five” (numbers up to one hundred are spelled out)

-four sentences in a row began with the same letter, the editor revised changing one of them so not so repetitive

-“British intelligence” (the agency, not the state of England’s minds, is lower-cased surprisingly)

-“however” (several of these throughout the story were marked as “not needed”)

-“Ethan just people watched” (not hyphenated if not before a noun)

-“euros” (lowercase)

-“postcoital” (one word… even though my spellchecker does not agree, lol)

-“makeup” (one word)

-“pissed off” (two words, instead of one hyphenated)

-“The seventeenth” (if not paired with a month, the date is written out)

-“All right” (instead of “Alright”)

-“Ayers’s” (instead of the possessive being “Ayers’”)

 

Please remember, copy editors are not machines. They have their own opinions on how to read grammatical rules. The above might work for my copy editor, it may not necessarily work for all.

I hope this gives you an idea of what to expect from a copy editor and what to look out for while you’re polishing things up.

Until tomorrow…

Chloe

Editing "Cheat Sheet" for a Few Dollars More

Lee Van Cleef

I love me some Lee Van Cleef.

Just saying.

As you may have surmised from my opening sentence of really bad English, Sergio Leone is directing my morning’s company. Clint Eastwood and his poncho are also here, as are the rest of their “For a Few Dollars More” counterparts.

All of which means, of course, I’ll be trying to whistle the theme song all freaking day. Ah, well. It’s a small price to pay for a few hours with Mr. Van Cleef (I admit guiltlessly to watching “High Noon” just for that opening shot of Lee waiting by the tree.)

While I’m sure all this Chloe-trivia fascinates you, let’s get to why you’ve graced me with a Friday morning visit. That would be, in case you weren’t aware, my authorly wisdom and insightful insight into the being-a-writer business…

Yes, well.

Shall we carry on before we all choke to death in a fit of chuckles?

I do, however, have for you a small copy editor “cheat sheet,” if you will. There are no trade secrets revealed here. This is just a little list of the things I’m always caught on when I get edits back from a publisher. I’m not sure how much this will help anyone, but I offer it in hopes that it will.

          -Ellipses, editors usually hate these. Occasionally you’ll find an editor who is Ok with them, so if you feel they are vital to the feel of your story, include them. The worst they can do is ask you to change them to periods or colons. I spent a great deal of yesterday’s “Ravenscar” edits time turning ellipses into periods. (I’ve got a hang-up with those three little dots that lead the reader on. Thankfully, I never use such things in my blog…) *lol*

          -Passive voice. Yeah, this is one I’m sure you all know about. Instead of “He was listening at the door,” it should be “He listened at the door.” After a couple dozen publications, I’ve finally gotten a better hang at avoiding these. However, I’m inevitably caught in the easy mistake a time or two each project.

          -This one is a bit tricky and really depends on the copy editor you get… Using the name of a character too often versus using a descriptor for him. Such as, “Ethan couldn’t believe…. Blah, blah, blah… but the man could believe this.” Some editors hate you using Ethan this, Ethan that. They feel it’s too repetitive (and I agree with them). However, sometimes you’ll get an editor who says that by using these descriptors instead of the actual name of the character you are causing a needless separation between the audience and the character. Don’t be surprised if you’re caught in either “wrong.” It’s simply a personal choice, not an attack on your writing skill. This is particularly true in the romance genre.

Alright, I believe I have bored you enough this morning with my silly wisdom. I’ll leave you to your day.

Meanwhile, I’m off to whistle.

Until tonight…

Chloe