A copy-editor is far too Brenda Starr for me. Oh, you don't know who Brenda Starr is?Here's a clip of her comic strip which ran for a zillion years. I wanted to be her - Brenda Starr, girl reporter. She never got to be a woman, poor thing. And despite this goofy pic - she had red hair as I did in my...ahem...former years.
So all that aside - what am I doing? I am copying chunks of my manuscript - entering them into a cloud program so I can spot the words I over-use. Yesterday I cleaned about 732 'just's out of my novel. Whew! I'll keep going with some other flabby words. Gwen told me that a writer pal of hers had written on a manuscript 'Just don't'. From time to time I take a break from this deep cleaning to look at some character problems I need to address. I have my protagonist using some words that don't suit her etc... and my first readers were able to show me where I did that.
I don't have the big structural changes to make that I do on The Rock Walker which is a good thing. And I'm letting RW just hang out for a bit in limbo land. I feel fine that the first 3 thousand words is at the contest doing her best to catch the eyes of the judges and when I win that prize or come close enough to catch a publisher's signature on a contract, well then I'll deal with that mare's nest. Can you believe the sheer cockiness of that last sentence? You probably think I'm being a braggadocio don't you? But I'm not - I'm manifesting. Yes.
- a quote from The Skeptic's Dictionary which I think I will spend a lot more time at. I like it...Manifesting is allegedly a way for the average person, without need of paranormal or divine powers, to do magick and perform miracles. All one needs is the will to exercise one's magic on the universe. "Manifesting is the art of creating what you want at the time that you want it," says John Payne (aka Omni, a "being of light" channeled by Mr. Payne).
Because of going to Ontario last week I'm not having a normal client week - I will see no one until Friday and then I have a pile of them. So I have all these good old freezing days to work on True. What are you up to in your freezing or not freezing part of the world?
11 comments:
Jan - Oh, I know just what you mean about going over a manuscript to get rid of overused words and such. It's interesting how it can be so energizing to write a story and so enervating to revise and edit. But it is an important step in the final product, so good for you to plug away at it!
So glad you're writing!
I use 'just' a TON....one of my favorite words.
One-word titles are really popular right now...sounds like a great pick.
I'm editing, too. Speeding (or trying to speed) through this draft to catch pacing and continuity goofs. I've found more than I thought so far.
It's smart to let your manuscript sit for awhile. It's just better.
As for the cold, it was cold last week but this week it's in the high 30s. So hot!
Hi Margot - I actually like the revision process - maybe not every little bit of it but generally I feel like I'm a 'real writer' when I'm revising. Now, this is about the fourth or third or twelfth revision so...
Thanks Elizabeth! I like the title too.
Carol - continuity goofs - yes....ahem....I'm sure I have some of them. They are darn hard to catch though.
Clarissa - oh don't worry - I did the month long leave it alone after the first draft. And I've had several chunks of time since where I simply couldn't get at it. So it is seasoned! Now I just want to finish 'er!
Hot huh? I'm coming for a visit.
I am quite excited to report that I am in sunny Florida on vacation. Woo-woo! My husband and I go back home on Friday to see if our house survived my son house sitting. Until then, we're having fun.
I think I'm going to do a search and find for "just." I use it all the time!
Ah, those old comics that I used to read--Brenda Starr, Steve Canyon, and Little Orphan Annie. Back when funny meant Nancy, Henry, or Mr. Magoo and not something trying to be polically relevant. But I dream.
Now I should be manifesting in my writing, but I'm still consumed with platform building blog activities that are fun and sociable, but not getting my novel done. But it's going to happen. I need to try that word cloud thing.
Lee
Tossing It Out and the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011
LOVE the idea of Manifesting! I think I do a bit of that... just willing something to be... I mean i do the legwork... but I end up lucky sometimes.
I do the same thing of 'diminutiving' *shifty* all through my manuscript. The one that has gotten me a lot lately is 'though'---damn qualifying is going to make me CRAZY! but there is still a lot of 'just' and 'a little'... I've also discovered a fear of the words 'sometimes' (I use 'from time to time' or 'now and then' instead grrrrr)---really need to just drop the lot of them!
I hope the detailed edit is really helpful! Also wish you HUGE luck in your contest!
What cloud program do you use? Over-repeated words are something I'm always on the hunt for. I've been thinking about using WordCounter.com, but I'm interested in discovering what others use.
Helen - oh lucky you! Instead of going anywhere we sent our kids to NYC with the school music group. They get in tomorrow night after 3 Broadway shows and a an Opera!
Liza- my new one is 'like' which is much harder to get rid of when you find it. I had to lie down for awhile after...
Arlee - get going on that novel! I will join you in your challenge and know that I'll be futzing about when I should be WRITING or REVISING. jeesh...
Hart- I know, I know - and I don't use it much in speech because I hate it! The only places I left lots of 'likes' is when I have kids talking...
K.M. - I use Wordle. It is lots of fun so you can waste a bit of time but that isn't a bad thing is it? Yesterday, after I worked at routing out 'just' and 'like' - I copied a bunch of Rumi poems into Wordle and made the most beautiful word cloud. It is a great program if you are visual as what it does is make the words used the most large and so on. I set it at 150 but you could probably set it at 25 and it would be as good.
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