Comments on: Editors… the unsung heroes

By: Kauket

Kauket — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:53:20 +0000

Commenting late to the party as usual, but I’m going to recommend 2 books that are must-reads for any author and editor. You can get both for under $10 total, and investing now can save you a world of effort later. Both by Orson Scott Card (whatever his politics, the man knows the craft of writing).

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy
http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Science-Fiction-Fantasy/dp/158297103X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1303825080&sr=1-1
I specifically recommend this one since you note Cassie doesn’t read F&SF. I didn’t find speculative fiction until the tragically late age of 13, but by 18 I’d read so much that I didn’t understand why other folks didn’t “get” this genre. Took under 200 pages to clear that up.

Characters & Viewpoint
http://www.amazon.com/Elements-Fiction-Writing-Characters-Viewpoint/dp/0898799279/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1303824624&sr=8-1-spell
I’ve only read a few bits of Converging Forces, but please spend some quality time with this book. While I’m a huge fan of your posts, as a general principle I’m not convinced blogging skills translate into formal fiction writing.

By: bigbearbutt

bigbearbutt — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:39:36 +0000

I shove it in there wherever I feel like, and it doesn’t like that, no it doesn’t.

By: Tsudrats

Tsudrats — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 11:21:43 +0000

I’m curious. What is it you do to the poor apostrophe that is so dreadful?

By: RiegnMan

RiegnMan — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:58:53 +0000

The shirt would be a fine idea as long as Apostrophe isn’t a greek exchange student or something. . .

By: Mannyac

Mannyac — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:15:30 +0000

Ironshield, here’s what happens from my perspective.

I look at the situation John has put my character in (though usually that situation is as a result of something I said or did).
I know how she would react to certain things. There exists somewhere a character sheet, (like the ones we use for tabletop gaming). ON this sheet there are mechanical things but also background and a fairly large amount of personality based information.
I will write him back with, what I think are appropriate in-character actions. Occasionally, that will include mulitple if/then choices. If the situation class for it, I will also include dialogue, otherwise I leave that up to John.
He takes what I send him and edits? fits? (not quite sure what word to use and fits it into his story).

By: Mannyac

Mannyac — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:08:29 +0000

I have done quite a bit of writing, albeit for the business world as opposed to blogging or fiction.
I still have issues with commas. When I was earning my degree, I urged a a teacher of mine to write a book entitled the “Comma Sutra,” in order to help poor slobs like me.

By: Ferrel

Ferrel — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 13:18:48 +0000

I wouldn’t feel too bad about not catching your own mistakes. It can be really hard to do. You’re thinking more about getting your story across than the details of grammar. That isn’t a bad thing! Your job is to create and an editor to refine.

Believe me, my book was a pretty solid train wreck once I finished the manuscript. I was lucky to have some really awesome editors who helped polish it up. Once they finished I went back and read it myself and made changes after the fact once it was in a grammatically correct state. The humor in that is that I then added new mistakes into it! At any rate, don’t feel bad!

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:58:31 +0000

I’d love a t-shirt that said

What I do with apostrophe’s is an offence against God and nature.

By: Aleysha

Aleysha — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 09:14:28 +0000

For a barrel full of laughs while learning a lot about punctuation I can tell you this one book made my day: Eats, Shoots & Leaves (http://www.amazon.com/Eats-Shoots-Leaves-Tolerance-Punctuation/dp/1592400876).

By: Ironshield

Ironshield — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:00:31 +0000

If you are looking for ideas for blog posts, I am incredibly curious to know how this PBeM thing actually works. What do you give to your players, and what do they give back, and then how does that go to the final post?

When I was reading through the story I couldn’t picture how they were created without resorting to excessive dialogue between you and them.