Created by Jorge Cham. Copyright 3/4/2015. Used with permission.
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Editing Rant: Rosemary
Image courtesy of Serge Bertasius Photography at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Know Your Topic
Oh for the love of … if you write about something common from a historical setting that still is used today, at least get it right.
“She stripped rosemary leaves off a plant and dropped them into a woven basket.”
Leaves? Really? Rosemary Sprigs, yes – rosemary needles, yes. Leaves – no.
And in one sentence the author has thrown all cooks and gardeners out of the story. Amazing how simple it is to put in an epic fail into a book. With herbalist ability a popular part of magic and also historic medicines, I would recommend writers either find a Beta reader familiar with the material or study up on the topic.
This goes for all topics actually. A male friend of my mine had the misfortune to write a gun battle where a character thumbed off the glock’s safety. He didn’t know, his editor didn’t know, and his proofreader didn’t know. But his audience let him know loud and clear glocks do not have external safeties.
Another edit I had a person performed CPR on a character gasping for breath. CPR is to start a heart, not breathing.
Obviously a writer cannot know everything they write about, which is why a good stable of beta readers from a variety of backgrounds is essential. The worse things are the things you think you know about, but you don’t or they have changed since you learned them.
Not everything is important to get prefect. Don’t know guns, then don’t be specific about guns. Not everyone is a gun owner. And really in the middle of a fight what does a character care if a 22 or 34 is aimed at them – there is a gun aimed at them. Details really don’t matter.
On the other hand – FOOD – food you need to get right. I have yet to meet a reader who does not eat.
Good luck.
WRITING EXERCISE: This one is a little different; learn something new … not through reading or YouTube. Take a class from a person. The class can be a one-hour course but needs direct interaction with a subject matter expert. Comb through your local newsletter, your town’s webpage, “what’s happening” at your library, the local gardening club, free classes offered at the community college or high school, or other sources and find something you think a WIP character of yours may need to know.
READING EXERCISE: Read two non-fiction books on a subject related to your most recent Read-In-Progress. Examples: Reading about pirates in space – read about Chinese women pirates or Blackbeard; your present Urban Fantasy has Knight Templar, read about them; the mystery centers around monks in an herb garden – study herb gardening. Children books from the library’s non-fiction section have some really good information.
Flash: Ubel and Sidero
Image Courtesy of photostock at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The two turned as one when Vinny burst in the small room: Ubel, a Germanic overlord whose very name meant evil, and Sidero, a woman whom even the cadre elders treated cautiously. Ubel’s hand was wrapped around Sidero’s throat and Sidero’s claws were digging into Ubel’s chest.
Gulping audibly, Vinny announced, “The decision has been made.”
Ubel released his grip and his shirt snapped into place as Sidero pulled in her claws.
“This is not over.” Ubel whispered, his mouth line thin, promising thunder and blood. In medieval times, he had lined streets with the heads of his enemies. Whatever master brought him across had judged well on Ubel’s survivability and adaptability. The vampire had miscalculated on his ability to control his creation; the master’s name and ashes long lost to time.
Sidero smiled without teeth and nodded to the door for Ubel to go first. They stalked passed Vinny, a matched set of black and spotless white clothing, anger, and power.
Only with the dynamic couple gone could he look around the room to see what was left of the other three candidates. Pieces and parts, blood and bone, were strewn in the small room, decorating the walls and soaking into the floor. The detached head of the ancient Balash stared at Vinny from the grisly scene.
The destruction didn’t bother Vinny as much as Ubel and Sidero walking out without a mark on them.
He prayed to his unresponsive god they liked the decision the triad made on who was to be the next leader.
(257 words – first published 10/27/2013; republished new blog format 10/09/2016)
Blog: Nano Choice Part 2
Holding Cover by Erin Penn
I’ve decided what I will be doing for NaNo 2016. I will get “The Swan and the …” series out of my head and onto paper. It is about a male shapeshifter (a swan) and various women he meets in the shifter world – the Pussy, the Hawk, the Dolphin and the Dragon. The first story should run a bit over 10K each, each one getting longer, with the last closer to 30K – for the total of 50K – the Nano Goal. Urban Fantasy Romance genre.
Other Cool Blogs: Magical Words November 27, 2012
Image Courtesy of Tuomas_Lehtinen at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The Perfection Myth
“I have to get this right.” How many times you have told yourself this as you revise your manuscript the 15th hundredth time? And we are just talking about the first page. You still haven’t written the second page.
Lucienne Diver gives some excellent advice on Magical Words of “Giving up on Perfect”.
Me. I like things right. A lot.
Learning having a thing “good enough to be right” does not mean “perfection” is still an ongoing lesson for me to master. As in perfect. Sigh.
At some point during our childhood we learn to color only inside the lines. Maybe Ms. Diver’s words can help you learn this lesson a bit faster than my long-time struggle. Link here: http://www.magicalwords.net/lucienne-diver/giving-up-on-perfect/