Being copy edited is a humbling experience.
In front of the copy edited version of gods in Alabama that I am OKAYing and STETing is a list of every character who appears in the book. The copy editor makes a list of all character names, place names and made-up words so that she can check them for consistency, so she will notice if Jean becomes Jane at one point, see?
I look at this list of characters in the book I wrote a year ago, and I think, who the heck is CINDA? Who is DAWNA? Who is GRETA??? All these people are IN THE BOOK. Perhaps they are waitresses. Or pets. I have NO memory of them and all of them sound like C-cup blondes. I OUGHT to remember them. WHO IS DAVEY BUD FREEMAN??? Wasn't he on LETTERMAN? Well, he is in the book. He first appears on page 211. Oh RIGHT, he is a BABY.
Made-up words that appear in the book include Candy-asses, lookit, nutburger, and unfornicate.
I overuse the word little to an OBSCENE degree. She has taken out about 50 thousand uses of it. I will use the word 5 times a page without blinking. Apparently, I REALLY LIKE THE WORD LITTLE. I also like JUST and EVEN, but NOT half as much as that PRINCE among words, LITTLE.
Also she notices repetitions of words that are close to each other. For example, I ACTUALLY WROTE THIS SENTENCE AND SAW NOTHING WRONG WITH IT FOR 50 THOUSAND REVISIONS:
"The bottoms of his high-tops almost brushed the top of the highest heap."
All in one sentence we have bottom, high, top, top, and high? OKAY! I revised it though! It is now much better and more "Me-ish.". It now reads:
"The little bottoms of his little high-tops littley touched the little top of the littlest high little heap little little little."
11 more chaptters to go! *STET STET STET*
Posted by joshilyn at June 10, 2004 8:08 AMIs it a story about small, tiny people and their diminutive dogs? 'Cause then I understand the littles.
I've recently discovered that I have an unnatural affection for the word "snuck," which is wrong, wrong wrong.
It is APPARENTLY a story about LILLIPUTIANS because EVERYTHING is little little little. Even a digital clock at the Courtyard by Marriot can not escape being diminunized. <--TRUE WORD, means "injected with adjectives that indicate smallness because there is apparently a LITTLE epidemic"
Love,
Joshilyn, Still Hip Deep in the copy edits, DONE with removing LITTLES, now RUTHLESSLY hacking out adverbs
Do you think Homer had to do all that editing to roll the Illiad out the door and onto the scroll shelves?
Posted by: Judi at June 11, 2004 2:31 PMJudi -- No. But all of his translators have.
Kira -- Your copy editor will relentlessly switch all the snucks to sneaked. EVEN IN DIALOGUE. EVEN WHEN SAID BY A REDNECK HICK WITH A WEED IN HIS TEETH. You have to go sneak STETS beside the snucks.
SAY THAT THREE TIMES FAST.
Posted by: Joshilyn at June 12, 2004 6:31 AM