Sunday, April 05, 2009

BOM: The Editing


I wrote the original version of JOURNEY so long ago that I remember virtually nothing about the editing.

I "edited" the manuscript, however, for it's rerelease, and I know I cut out at least 9,000 unnecessary words without changing a whit of the story. What did I cut? Things like "He stood to his feet" became "He stood," along with speech attributions, etc. I also noticed that in the early versions, I had people WHISPERING all the time. Why? I have no idea. So I tried to cut most of the whispering. And the "suddenlys." And lots of other things that have become pet peeves over the years. :-)

Tomorrow: Q&A day, so if you have a question, be sure to leave it in the comment box. Thanks!

~~Angie


6 comments:

SmilingSally said...

I'd love you to write more about your writing pet peeves. I know that you teach writing, and it'd help me. My pet peeve is the nonword, "alot." I used to tell my students: "A lot is something upon which you build a house." or "You wouldn't write "alittle," would you?

Mocha with Linda said...

Love that! I know with the article I just wrote, every time I read it I would tighten it in just the way you described. I'm sure I still had much to improve; I figured if there hadn't been a deadline I probably could have eventually whittled it down to nothing! LOL

Deborah said...

Everytime I read the book, I always feel so bad for Manasseh b/c even though he's the oldest, Jacob placed his hand on Ephraim first. And throughout the book Ephraim makes sure that Manessah knows this throughout their whole lives. I thought this was very realistic that you portrayed the brothers like that as sibling rivalry. I thought it was interesting though that Ephraim is not mentioned in Revelation in the list of the 12 tribes (along with Dan) yet Manasseh and Joseph both are


Oh and I always have loved the ending of the book. What made you decide to tie the story up like that? Did you intend on doing that from book 1?

LuAnn said...

Smilingsal said...I'd love you to write more about your writing pet peeves.
I totally agree. There are so many mistakes in books. Where are the proofreaders who should know these things? Maybe you need a book specifically written for proofreaders.

Anonymous said...

I am praying for you and your writing this morning in the Prayer Room at Liberty ...

Charles Hughes

Angela said...

(Thanks, Charles! Appreciate it so much!)

I went to college with Charles . . . and at the time he was involved in a terrible car accident. We all saw the power of prayer at that time!

Angie