Revising
All right, I've been a little terse (and I hope not patronizing) in my comments the last couple of days. The copy edits were the most extensive (as page by page) that I've done and now I am immersed in taxes (hideous, hideous) -- and moving my website, which is taking longer from all parties than I anticipate. I wanted a big surprise and fanfare, so when I announce, you might want to pretend you didn't know, but since I wanted to excuse my preoccupation, I wanted to let you know. Sigh.
Now, REVISING -- this word can mean several things, and there are big rewrites and not. Clear as mud, eh? Well, the copy edits had marks on every page -- usually punctuation, some clarification questions, and A LOT of "repetitive word," gee, in a 600 page ms., you think? A LOT of things were NASTY -- the feel of parchment and Jaquar's hat (both made of monsters), smells (putrid breaths), the invading creatures themselves. I ended up printing out a list of alternative words. A lot of things were fantastic and incredible -- Marian's trip to Lladrana, her experiences, Marian herself to Jaquar, Marian's hamster, atomball-eating Tuck...
So making Sorceress conform on my machine to the Copy Edits will take a while. But it wasn't an IN-DEPTH revision. There wasn't some motivation or clue I left out that I had to go back and insert like I did in Guardian. There wasn't a layer I had to take out -- when that happens you wonder if you can do it. You wonder if you get it all. You wonder if you've Put In too much now. So, the revision was time consuming, and I found some bad choreography and fixed it, but it wasn't brain-melting.
Oh, and Sorceress wasn't really 600 pages. I've just been saying that as a whine and to grab your sympathy.
It was 595, but you're allowed to round up in taxes....
Robin
Now, REVISING -- this word can mean several things, and there are big rewrites and not. Clear as mud, eh? Well, the copy edits had marks on every page -- usually punctuation, some clarification questions, and A LOT of "repetitive word," gee, in a 600 page ms., you think? A LOT of things were NASTY -- the feel of parchment and Jaquar's hat (both made of monsters), smells (putrid breaths), the invading creatures themselves. I ended up printing out a list of alternative words. A lot of things were fantastic and incredible -- Marian's trip to Lladrana, her experiences, Marian herself to Jaquar, Marian's hamster, atomball-eating Tuck...
So making Sorceress conform on my machine to the Copy Edits will take a while. But it wasn't an IN-DEPTH revision. There wasn't some motivation or clue I left out that I had to go back and insert like I did in Guardian. There wasn't a layer I had to take out -- when that happens you wonder if you can do it. You wonder if you get it all. You wonder if you've Put In too much now. So, the revision was time consuming, and I found some bad choreography and fixed it, but it wasn't brain-melting.
Oh, and Sorceress wasn't really 600 pages. I've just been saying that as a whine and to grab your sympathy.
It was 595, but you're allowed to round up in taxes....
Robin
posted by FantasyAuthor RobinDOwens | 8:12 AM
2 Comments:
600 pages of yummy good Llandrana story? Yay for us!!!
Can't wait for Marian.
So, this is my question (not related to rewrites...well sorta) although the cover of SOF is a svelte woman, is Marian still curvaceous in the story?
I mean, they don't ask you to change her description to suit the cover, right?
I had a conversation with Patricia Rica about her "Magic" series. In her first novel, the heroine was a bit "curvy" and she told me that she originally the heroine was a bit plump, but her editor would not let it stay. She had to tone down the curves.
Anything like that with Marian? I have to wonder about this since I have a size 16 heroine on the back burner. Is this an industry wide fear? And why does it exist?
terri
I have Marian as being plump, especially in her own mind, BUT I cut some of the scenes where, on Earth, comments were made about her weight. So I really don't know if she comes off as plump or not. I know it confused my editor.
I would say it depends on what you are writing. If you are writing category romance (that's Harlequin and Silhouette) then it is less likely to be acceptable IN MY OPINION. If you are writing kick-ass heroines, then people will wonder why they are plump unless they are just big women.
Otherwise, I think that being really svelt is not an issue. I made Shauna in Road of Adventure plump, too, though since she (like Marian) does a lot of outside work, they both tone up more.
Lori Foster has made women big, so have other authors.
I DID want the picture of Marian to be of someone curivier, but that's not what I got. Also, I gave up trying to work Marian standing on a gargoyle with a ball of light in her hand into the book. When you have 10 days to do the edits and 5 are taken up by being at a conference, there is really no time to do any BIG work unless you ask for an extension, and this book has been slow going through the process all the way.
Robin (avoiding her taxes).
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