Tomorrow I begin inputting the corrections from this latest pass over A65, and I get to argue with myself over the placement of commas and incomplete sentences. Do they add to the story, interfere with the flow or are they just affectations? I got no idea, and Strunk & White is reading a bit on the old-fashioned side. I don't want it to read like a Victorian novel, with commas at every change of phrase, but some are necessary and probably more than most modern writers use...so I'll be having fun, this weekend.
Something I do want to keep in mind is, the corrections I'm making this go around aren't that extensive. The vast majority are just me questioning myself about grammar and trying not to kill my style in doing so...and fighting to keep the emotional connection with the reader at the top of the realm. That's the real hard part.
I think I'm at the point where if I do too much more, I'll kill the story. Edit the life right out of it. Right now, Adam's huffiness and Casey's secretive manipulations have a nice balance and glide along at a nice clip. I could easily bog it all down with too much extraneous detail and that's another fight I'll have with myself, this weekend. Does this detail further the story is a good way or is it there just to be there?
It's funny how many typos I keep finding through each pass, though. This evening I caught four that had been there for at least three drafts. Man...I could never be a proof-reader; I'd get too caught up in the story and forget to keep watch for errors, or I'd so hate the story I wouldn't pay attention. I'm trying to read a couple of books, right now, neither of which has caught my attention, so they've become a chore that I'm close to abandoning.
With one, I like the author and have read 3 of his other works, but this one is boring and predictable. Woman on the run with her daughters from an abusive husband who's rich and hires a detective who's got a past and needs money to find her and the kids and...gee, I wonder where this is going? And so tediously.
The other is a gay romance that burns so lowly and so stupidly, I have no respect for the characters. The author has a good style, it's just...too many excuses for the two male leads to not notice or pay attention to or do anything about the obvious attraction between them. I'm 2/3 of the way in and nothing of interest. Nothing. In fact, I want to slap both of them. Not a good place for a book to be.
But it does make me wonder about my own work and try to keep from falling into the same pitfalls. I think I have the action in A65 following naturally and normally, but you don't know till someone comes back with a decent review.
Or a rough one...
Something I do want to keep in mind is, the corrections I'm making this go around aren't that extensive. The vast majority are just me questioning myself about grammar and trying not to kill my style in doing so...and fighting to keep the emotional connection with the reader at the top of the realm. That's the real hard part.
I think I'm at the point where if I do too much more, I'll kill the story. Edit the life right out of it. Right now, Adam's huffiness and Casey's secretive manipulations have a nice balance and glide along at a nice clip. I could easily bog it all down with too much extraneous detail and that's another fight I'll have with myself, this weekend. Does this detail further the story is a good way or is it there just to be there?
It's funny how many typos I keep finding through each pass, though. This evening I caught four that had been there for at least three drafts. Man...I could never be a proof-reader; I'd get too caught up in the story and forget to keep watch for errors, or I'd so hate the story I wouldn't pay attention. I'm trying to read a couple of books, right now, neither of which has caught my attention, so they've become a chore that I'm close to abandoning.
With one, I like the author and have read 3 of his other works, but this one is boring and predictable. Woman on the run with her daughters from an abusive husband who's rich and hires a detective who's got a past and needs money to find her and the kids and...gee, I wonder where this is going? And so tediously.
The other is a gay romance that burns so lowly and so stupidly, I have no respect for the characters. The author has a good style, it's just...too many excuses for the two male leads to not notice or pay attention to or do anything about the obvious attraction between them. I'm 2/3 of the way in and nothing of interest. Nothing. In fact, I want to slap both of them. Not a good place for a book to be.
But it does make me wonder about my own work and try to keep from falling into the same pitfalls. I think I have the action in A65 following naturally and normally, but you don't know till someone comes back with a decent review.
Or a rough one...
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