Comments on: An Inside Look at the Copy Editing Process

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 14:01:06 +0000

Maybe it gets easier over time?

Maybe it does, but I’m still waiting for that point. All I can say is that once you’ve finished something worthwhile, at least you know that you can finish something worthwhile again.

By: kendall

kendall — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 02:29:46 +0000

I think having a really skilled copy editor makes a huge difference. I agree that the metaphor is just a little clunky. It’s extremely valuable to have someone (a) notice the problem, (b) articulate the problem to you clearly, (c) work with you to improve it, and (d) be willing to totally drop the whole thing if you decide to leave it alone. I personally think that your new bit of dialog flows nicely while keeping the feel intended by the original.

I’ve been taking a class from a local writer (only six students!) and I should be getting back to my homework. I’ve got something like 30 hours of work into a piece 12 pages long, and now a huge appreciation for folks like you who can finish something with hundreds of well-written pages. Maybe it gets easier over time?

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 01:29:59 +0000

Hi Sandy. Glad you like the blog (and the sentence)! Don’t worry, there will be plenty of other wacky metaphors in MultiReal to tide you over.

By: Sandy

Sandy — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 23:14:07 +0000

Hi David – I like your original wheat sentence! I think you shouldn’t change it.

I met you briefly at Capclave, which prompted me to find your blog – I find it quite entertaining. And I’m currently reading Infoquake!

Happy holidays – Sandy

By: Soni

Soni — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 04:32:42 +0000

I knew it.

By: David Louis Edelman

David Louis Edelman — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 13:58:39 +0000

Soni: All right, just kidding! This whole post was made up. I really wrote the book in one long burst of inspiration after communing with the Muse in a darkened, incense-scented basement.

By: Peter Hollo

Peter Hollo — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 07:49:01 +0000

FWIW, I like the original. Especially if Marcus is meant to be a bit odd or unconventional. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of anthropomorphism, and a metaphor’s a metaphor after all. Comparing a person on Null Current to a stalk of wheat is kinda nice.

Not that I’m not sure the changed version will be great too Just sayin’ that to me there’s nothing wrong with the way you had it to start with…

By: Soni

Soni — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 05:14:49 +0000

Oh sure. Spoil the magic act for me.

And here I thought you just pulled all that incredible writing out of your a…er, hat.

By: Rosemary Lake

Rosemary Lake — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 04:14:02 +0000

The ‘look’ that the people and the stalk ‘get’ would mean their appearance, as seen by an outside observer. Maybe the problem is the stalk ‘watching’ the thresher approach.

How about a kinesthetic image? The stalk vibrates as the thresher approaches, for several reasons: the heavy machine is shaking the ground, its noise is shaking the air, the blades are stirring the air, and the roots of the wheat plants are being disturbed. For a visual, an observer can see the stalk vibrating, perhaps just looking a little fuzzy or translucent, or tilting toward the thresher.

“There’s an appearance people get when the Null Current is about to pull them under, Margaret. A look of inevitability. It’s the tilt of the stalk of wheat, shaken by the approaching thresher and knowing that the time’s come for a newer, stronger crop to bask in the sun.”

By: Real-time copyediting queries at Deanna Hoak

Real-time copyediting queries at Deanna Hoak — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:09:07 +0000

[...] Louis Edelman has posted (with my permission) an IM conversation he and I had this morning, as I was copyediting his novel MultiReal. I love it when I get to communicate with an author in [...]