My novel will be ready soon.
Waiting for my editor to send proofs of Deadly Enterprise. I have some changes I want to add at the same time, and have copies of them to send back with the proofs. After that it'll seem odd not to be able to tinker with the manuscript any more.
I've heard it said that writers never actually finish editing their works – the pages are just taken out of their hands, and they're slapped if they try to add something. It seems that I can't go back to any finished manuscript without seeing something that irks me. It may only be a word or an attribution that could be cleaned up, but barring printing the thing off and declaiming it to the world from the back deck I think that's as far as I'd go.
At some point I will likely find myself reading some aloud, and I know I will automatically edit and transcribe the whole thing into something that sounds like Lady Macbeth trying to wash the blood off her hands. I made a terrible discovery the other day. I couldn't think of one guaranteed funny passage in the whole novel. What the hell am I going to do for starting the reading off with a laugh? I should have thought of that when I began writing it.
My protagonist is good for the odd terse one-liner, but the audience would need to be in the narrative flow for a few pages to get them. I have picked out some dramatic bits at different times, but I know that I will revisit the whole novel before being satisfied with any excerpts I choose.
I'm told the wolves I mentioned in my last blog post were seen at a farm south of here, with their eyes on the owner's small dog. I'm certain that they had their eyes on my two as they snuffled about gopher holes in the field the other week.
We met a very cheeky coyote yesterday who stood his ground and yipped and yodeled until we were way out of sight. He had quite a deep voice and some of his yips sounded more like laughter. I was able to compare his noise with the wolves' silence – coyotes need to make the noise to keep their spirits up. Wolves are confident enough to watch silently. He was silent as he prowled closer – the dogs went on and I sat on a rock on the hillside to watch him – but when I stood he decided he was close enough for safety and began yipping again.
Looks like a year for wildlife visitors. The whitetail and mule deer are a given, as thick as gophers, but we had a dozen or so elk browsing on the hills where I walk when the grass began to green. Should be bears and cougars next – they turn up at some time most years. As long as they mind their manners . . .
Waiting for my editor to send proofs of Deadly Enterprise. I have some changes I want to add at the same time, and have copies of them to send back with the proofs. After that it'll seem odd not to be able to tinker with the manuscript any more.
I've heard it said that writers never actually finish editing their works – the pages are just taken out of their hands, and they're slapped if they try to add something. It seems that I can't go back to any finished manuscript without seeing something that irks me. It may only be a word or an attribution that could be cleaned up, but barring printing the thing off and declaiming it to the world from the back deck I think that's as far as I'd go.
At some point I will likely find myself reading some aloud, and I know I will automatically edit and transcribe the whole thing into something that sounds like Lady Macbeth trying to wash the blood off her hands. I made a terrible discovery the other day. I couldn't think of one guaranteed funny passage in the whole novel. What the hell am I going to do for starting the reading off with a laugh? I should have thought of that when I began writing it.
My protagonist is good for the odd terse one-liner, but the audience would need to be in the narrative flow for a few pages to get them. I have picked out some dramatic bits at different times, but I know that I will revisit the whole novel before being satisfied with any excerpts I choose.
I'm told the wolves I mentioned in my last blog post were seen at a farm south of here, with their eyes on the owner's small dog. I'm certain that they had their eyes on my two as they snuffled about gopher holes in the field the other week.
We met a very cheeky coyote yesterday who stood his ground and yipped and yodeled until we were way out of sight. He had quite a deep voice and some of his yips sounded more like laughter. I was able to compare his noise with the wolves' silence – coyotes need to make the noise to keep their spirits up. Wolves are confident enough to watch silently. He was silent as he prowled closer – the dogs went on and I sat on a rock on the hillside to watch him – but when I stood he decided he was close enough for safety and began yipping again.
Looks like a year for wildlife visitors. The whitetail and mule deer are a given, as thick as gophers, but we had a dozen or so elk browsing on the hills where I walk when the grass began to green. Should be bears and cougars next – they turn up at some time most years. As long as they mind their manners . . .
posted by Christopher Hoare at 5:12 PM
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