News of a controversial new 'snooping' law the Government is trying to introduce in Britain has caused upset amongst some who feel this is too much of an invasion of privacy. The law will give the police and MI5 the power to read peoples' email and tap into phone conversations. This new law is a reaction to the unrest in the Middle East and the threat of terrorism on home soil.
Personally, I'm not bothered. In the same way that I'm not against the many CCTV cameras that span our towns and cities. These have proved themselves in the past to be of use in providing evidence in crimes and really came into their own with the London Bombings in 2005. My view is that if I'm not doing anything wrong, then I've nothing to worry about. This goes for the emails and phone too. Perhaps that's a little naive but if someone wants to listen in on how well my tomatoes are doing, then so be it. I know this isn't the view of everyone, and that's fair enough. But I do have one slight niggle...
What happens if they look at browser history? I, like many other writers, use the internet as a research tool. And sometimes I'm researching how a person could commit a crime of some sort; if they did so and so, would forensics be able to track them? What is the least traceable poison? Looking at a writer's browsing history could give a very false impression of the kind of person they are! Let's hope the powers that be have allowance for us creative types.
Happy writing!
Monday, 21 July 2014
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Finally!
At last! The final edit is done. It's definitely taken longer than planned due to a few other factors, but isn't that always the way with life?
As it is, it's done. I'm just letting it sit now for a few days when I'll go back through once more and just check that I've got the layout right. And then comes the scary bit - sending it out into the big wide world.
After that, there's not too much I can do but live in hope.
Wish me luck!
As it is, it's done. I'm just letting it sit now for a few days when I'll go back through once more and just check that I've got the layout right. And then comes the scary bit - sending it out into the big wide world.
After that, there's not too much I can do but live in hope.
Wish me luck!
Friday, 23 May 2014
Nearly There!
Yes, I am still editing the novel. You may remember in my last post that my 'first reader' - also known as hubby, was now doing his thing and finding all the mistakes. Well, that plan which worked pretty well in the past now no longer really fits.
Once upon a time, hubby worked in London and had an hour's commute on the train. This allowed time for a kip on the way up and any reading I needed him to do on the way home. These days he no longer works in London and so doesn't have that commute. He also runs his own business which means that work doesn't stop at the door. So, whilst he did try and do some, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to be the ideal set up.
After some pondering, I took over the job and once more am going back through the novel trying to winkle out typos and 'am-I-entirely-sure-that-makes-sense' moments. I'm nearly there. Probably about 30% left to go through, according the Mr Kindle.
I downloaded (uploaded?) the manuscript as a pdf onto the Kindle to make it nice and transportable, initially for hubs, but it worked pretty well for me too. I have to admit it's a bit fiddly noting down the sentence and what it needs to be changed to in the accompanying notebook but I'll see how it goes when I get to the transcribing part. I'll let you know!
So, no great news but I thought I'd just give you an update on things. I'm itching to finish now but almost dreading it too because then it comes to the point where it has to go out into the big old world on its own and possibly get maimed by editors. But what can you do? I suppose that's all part of the process. And I know that. And I know that people like John Grisham and JK Rowling were turned out a tonne of times, just as most of us have been, but it doesn't make it any easier or less painful, if we're being honest!
I'll be back - hopefully soon - to say I'm finished!
I hope everyone else's projects are going well in the meantime and wish you lots of luck if you're in the sending out stage already!
Keep writing!
Once upon a time, hubby worked in London and had an hour's commute on the train. This allowed time for a kip on the way up and any reading I needed him to do on the way home. These days he no longer works in London and so doesn't have that commute. He also runs his own business which means that work doesn't stop at the door. So, whilst he did try and do some, it was pretty obvious that it wasn't going to be the ideal set up.
After some pondering, I took over the job and once more am going back through the novel trying to winkle out typos and 'am-I-entirely-sure-that-makes-sense' moments. I'm nearly there. Probably about 30% left to go through, according the Mr Kindle.
I downloaded (uploaded?) the manuscript as a pdf onto the Kindle to make it nice and transportable, initially for hubs, but it worked pretty well for me too. I have to admit it's a bit fiddly noting down the sentence and what it needs to be changed to in the accompanying notebook but I'll see how it goes when I get to the transcribing part. I'll let you know!
So, no great news but I thought I'd just give you an update on things. I'm itching to finish now but almost dreading it too because then it comes to the point where it has to go out into the big old world on its own and possibly get maimed by editors. But what can you do? I suppose that's all part of the process. And I know that. And I know that people like John Grisham and JK Rowling were turned out a tonne of times, just as most of us have been, but it doesn't make it any easier or less painful, if we're being honest!
I'll be back - hopefully soon - to say I'm finished!
I hope everyone else's projects are going well in the meantime and wish you lots of luck if you're in the sending out stage already!
Keep writing!
Tuesday, 8 April 2014
Paper Edit 1 Complete
Phew! Have finally finished Paper Edit Number One. I say finished. I've finished making a hideous scribbly mess on the paper manuscript but now have the joyful task of transposing all those squiggles on to the computer version. Fun!
I'm feeling quite good about the changes I've made - at the moment. Probably, like most writers, if you come back to me in about, ooh, say five minutes, I'll be of the opposite opinion and the belief that what I have written and/or changed is terrible and what was I even thinking? But that's all par for the course, isn't it? (Isn't it?!)
I've got to page 56 so far, and obviously still have plenty to go. The thing that did strike me as I've been doing all of these edits is that I've been enjoying going through the novel again, and spending time with my characters. I'm really hoping that may suggest that if I've enjoyed reading it, then there might be other people out there that will feel the same way...fingers crossed!
The plan is to finish transferring all these changes onto the main document and then give it a few days before doing another read through myself. I'll make any changes then that I feel need to be done and then I'll be passing it onto my First Reader (also known as hubby) for an opinion and another pair of eyes for picking up random letters and bits of punctuation that I've left lying around. After that, well, we'll see!
I'm aware that it may seem strange to some that a man is my 'first reader' when it's a romantic novel. Whilst I can understand that, I also think it's good to get a fresh perspective for me. I realise that there are some men who wouldn't be in the slightest bit interested in reading a novel like this and I understand that too, completely! And I have to say, if he was picking out a book to read, it wouldn't be in this genre, and that's fine. But in this case, I've found that it works for me. He'll tell me what he likes and what he doesn't, or what he felt wasn't clear, for example and I trust him to do so. He won't say 'Oh, it's wonderful, darling!' if he thinks it stinks because he knows that I wouldn't want him to do that. Conversely he's not going to nit pick at every tiny thing as I have heard of happening at various writing groups. Personally, I think the two most important things you need in your 'first reader' are trust and honesty. That isn't determined by gender, or genre preference.
In the meantime, I hope everyone else's work is coming along well. Keep on keeping on!
I'm feeling quite good about the changes I've made - at the moment. Probably, like most writers, if you come back to me in about, ooh, say five minutes, I'll be of the opposite opinion and the belief that what I have written and/or changed is terrible and what was I even thinking? But that's all par for the course, isn't it? (Isn't it?!)
I've got to page 56 so far, and obviously still have plenty to go. The thing that did strike me as I've been doing all of these edits is that I've been enjoying going through the novel again, and spending time with my characters. I'm really hoping that may suggest that if I've enjoyed reading it, then there might be other people out there that will feel the same way...fingers crossed!
The plan is to finish transferring all these changes onto the main document and then give it a few days before doing another read through myself. I'll make any changes then that I feel need to be done and then I'll be passing it onto my First Reader (also known as hubby) for an opinion and another pair of eyes for picking up random letters and bits of punctuation that I've left lying around. After that, well, we'll see!
I'm aware that it may seem strange to some that a man is my 'first reader' when it's a romantic novel. Whilst I can understand that, I also think it's good to get a fresh perspective for me. I realise that there are some men who wouldn't be in the slightest bit interested in reading a novel like this and I understand that too, completely! And I have to say, if he was picking out a book to read, it wouldn't be in this genre, and that's fine. But in this case, I've found that it works for me. He'll tell me what he likes and what he doesn't, or what he felt wasn't clear, for example and I trust him to do so. He won't say 'Oh, it's wonderful, darling!' if he thinks it stinks because he knows that I wouldn't want him to do that. Conversely he's not going to nit pick at every tiny thing as I have heard of happening at various writing groups. Personally, I think the two most important things you need in your 'first reader' are trust and honesty. That isn't determined by gender, or genre preference.
In the meantime, I hope everyone else's work is coming along well. Keep on keeping on!
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Paper Editing
Yes, I am still editing the current novel. I'm on the paper version now, having already gone through it on screen. I'm about half way through at the moment and hoping to get a bit more done later on today. It's turning into a fairly big job as there were some scenes that needed to be moved about to stop a bit of 'time travel' and I think it'll flow better in the places that I've put them. That's the plan anyway.
I know a lot of writers really dislike editing but I'm not too worried about it. It's all part of the process to me and at least, when I print it out, even though I still know there's a tonne of work to do yet, I can still see that I've got a novel in front of me. Which is pretty exciting!
And come to think of it, it's just as well I am on the paper edit at the moment as I'm about to be offline for a little while for a computer rebuild. When I replaced my laptop a while ago, following a long and loyal service from my Sony Vaio which needed retiring thanks to the many strange noises it made, not to mention the fact that it was even slower than me at waking up in the morning, I wanted something a bit smaller and opted for a SSD. On the plus side, this is super whizzy, on the down side it has less storage. So, the time has come to upgrade its innards to give me some more space. We knew this time would come, and I'm still really happy with the machine itself. The slow start up used to drive me mad and the fact there's no moving parts is great when you're clumsy like me and it wouldn't be unheard of for you to trip over the lead...
So, I may be offline for a little while but I shall be back and hopefully I'll be reporting that Paper Draft Number One has been completed! Let's hope!
Good luck to anyone else editing at the moment.
I know a lot of writers really dislike editing but I'm not too worried about it. It's all part of the process to me and at least, when I print it out, even though I still know there's a tonne of work to do yet, I can still see that I've got a novel in front of me. Which is pretty exciting!
And come to think of it, it's just as well I am on the paper edit at the moment as I'm about to be offline for a little while for a computer rebuild. When I replaced my laptop a while ago, following a long and loyal service from my Sony Vaio which needed retiring thanks to the many strange noises it made, not to mention the fact that it was even slower than me at waking up in the morning, I wanted something a bit smaller and opted for a SSD. On the plus side, this is super whizzy, on the down side it has less storage. So, the time has come to upgrade its innards to give me some more space. We knew this time would come, and I'm still really happy with the machine itself. The slow start up used to drive me mad and the fact there's no moving parts is great when you're clumsy like me and it wouldn't be unheard of for you to trip over the lead...
So, I may be offline for a little while but I shall be back and hopefully I'll be reporting that Paper Draft Number One has been completed! Let's hope!
Good luck to anyone else editing at the moment.
Sunday, 23 March 2014
Does Spelling Matter?
Spelling is one of those things that seem to incite fairly different views - a bit like Marmite. Either bad spelling really bothers you or you're really not too bothered by it at all.
I fall into the first category and it seems that to some, this means I am labelled a pedant. I don't think that's necessarily true. It just means that I was taught that spelling was important and whilst I agree and accept that language changes, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse (don't even get me started on 'chillaxing'!), I still think there's a very big place for correct spelling.
When I read a book or a magazine then I expect things to be spelled correctly. After all, this is something I have paid money out for and these people are doing it for a living. And for the most part, things are, although I did come across a bit of a honker in a copy of Sew magazine a couple of issues back, and it wasn't an isolated incident. There does seem to be an issue with the production in some magazines, not so much with spelling, but with getting the 'right' version of words when there are two that sound the same. English is not an easy language as we have an abundance of such words to trip us up, but these are people who are being paid to publish something made of words. Shouldn't they therefore have higher standards?
The argument brought up against 'good' spelling is that language evolves and we shouldn't be so hung up on the idea of how something is actually written down, but should instead concentrate more on the meaning. I can see the point of this argument in that the meaning of something is obviously tantamount to the experience of reading, but to make it into a 'one or the other' choice is detrimental.
Pre school children can work smartphones and the like better than the actual owners in a lot of cases and that's understandable. They are being born into a world of technology that has moved on faster than almost, if not any, other period in history. It's part of their world. It's not 'new technology' to them, it's just there. It's normal. However, when children are handing in essays written in text speak, and are either losing the ability, or never even being taught how to really spell words, then we have a problem.
Arguing that they don't need to learn spelling because even homework is done on a computer these days, as handwriting becomes a lost art, is only a half truth. Yes, a computer can check the spelling, but is your computer set to the correct language? Not correcting 'color' for 'colour' isn't an error if the language default is still US English and you're writing for a UK audience, whether that's a teacher or a magazine readership. And of course, the other thing with computers is that they are checking for spelling but don't know the difference in context between there, their and they're, for example. All of these are correct but they don't all fit in the same hole.
Personally I don't think we're doing any favours with the lack of spelling education in the classrooms. It's like the lack of competition debate. Yes, I get the idea of not encouraging competition so that 'everyone's a winner'. That made sense in a meeting, I'm sure. But in reality? Perhaps less so. And this is coming from someone who was pretty much always in the last couple to be picked for sports teams. Teams were generally picked by the cliquey kids who were also often good at sport and I was neither cliquey not sporty, so whilst an attempt to make me feel more included would have been nice, I don't think it would have worked. Competition is part of human nature. It's going to happen. Out in the big wide world we have to fight for everything - including jobs, which is where we come back to the spelling issue.
One of my PA jobs involved opening the CVs (or resumes, depending where you are reading this) received whenever we had a employment opportunity. I had a pile that I'd hand to the boss and a pile that went to the shredder. My boss' first criteria was that he didn't want to see CVs or application letters that were full of mistakes. His view, and one held by many employers, was that if someone hadn't taken the time to get things right in the application, how much commitment would they have to their work? That might seem unfair but applicants get whittled down and that was the first hurdle. It's important to remember that, whatever technology gives us, spelling is not irrelevant.
I'm not saying choose spelling over creativity, not at all! I'm just hoping that we can have both.
As a last note, these thoughts are only about 'everyday' spelling. Issues like dyslexia, etc are obviously a lot more complex and are in no way being included in these thoughts. As someone who has both relatives and friends who deal with such struggles, I completely understand what a challenge these can be and would never trivialise such things.
I also realise that 'resume' should have an accent over the last 'e' but there doesn't seem to be any way to insert anything like this within Blogger. Perhaps I need to start writing the posts in Word and then copy and paste. If anyone does know any different, I'd love to hear from you.
So, am I being pedantic in liking things to be spelled correctly? What's your view?
I fall into the first category and it seems that to some, this means I am labelled a pedant. I don't think that's necessarily true. It just means that I was taught that spelling was important and whilst I agree and accept that language changes, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse (don't even get me started on 'chillaxing'!), I still think there's a very big place for correct spelling.
When I read a book or a magazine then I expect things to be spelled correctly. After all, this is something I have paid money out for and these people are doing it for a living. And for the most part, things are, although I did come across a bit of a honker in a copy of Sew magazine a couple of issues back, and it wasn't an isolated incident. There does seem to be an issue with the production in some magazines, not so much with spelling, but with getting the 'right' version of words when there are two that sound the same. English is not an easy language as we have an abundance of such words to trip us up, but these are people who are being paid to publish something made of words. Shouldn't they therefore have higher standards?
The argument brought up against 'good' spelling is that language evolves and we shouldn't be so hung up on the idea of how something is actually written down, but should instead concentrate more on the meaning. I can see the point of this argument in that the meaning of something is obviously tantamount to the experience of reading, but to make it into a 'one or the other' choice is detrimental.
Pre school children can work smartphones and the like better than the actual owners in a lot of cases and that's understandable. They are being born into a world of technology that has moved on faster than almost, if not any, other period in history. It's part of their world. It's not 'new technology' to them, it's just there. It's normal. However, when children are handing in essays written in text speak, and are either losing the ability, or never even being taught how to really spell words, then we have a problem.
Arguing that they don't need to learn spelling because even homework is done on a computer these days, as handwriting becomes a lost art, is only a half truth. Yes, a computer can check the spelling, but is your computer set to the correct language? Not correcting 'color' for 'colour' isn't an error if the language default is still US English and you're writing for a UK audience, whether that's a teacher or a magazine readership. And of course, the other thing with computers is that they are checking for spelling but don't know the difference in context between there, their and they're, for example. All of these are correct but they don't all fit in the same hole.
Personally I don't think we're doing any favours with the lack of spelling education in the classrooms. It's like the lack of competition debate. Yes, I get the idea of not encouraging competition so that 'everyone's a winner'. That made sense in a meeting, I'm sure. But in reality? Perhaps less so. And this is coming from someone who was pretty much always in the last couple to be picked for sports teams. Teams were generally picked by the cliquey kids who were also often good at sport and I was neither cliquey not sporty, so whilst an attempt to make me feel more included would have been nice, I don't think it would have worked. Competition is part of human nature. It's going to happen. Out in the big wide world we have to fight for everything - including jobs, which is where we come back to the spelling issue.
One of my PA jobs involved opening the CVs (or resumes, depending where you are reading this) received whenever we had a employment opportunity. I had a pile that I'd hand to the boss and a pile that went to the shredder. My boss' first criteria was that he didn't want to see CVs or application letters that were full of mistakes. His view, and one held by many employers, was that if someone hadn't taken the time to get things right in the application, how much commitment would they have to their work? That might seem unfair but applicants get whittled down and that was the first hurdle. It's important to remember that, whatever technology gives us, spelling is not irrelevant.
I'm not saying choose spelling over creativity, not at all! I'm just hoping that we can have both.
As a last note, these thoughts are only about 'everyday' spelling. Issues like dyslexia, etc are obviously a lot more complex and are in no way being included in these thoughts. As someone who has both relatives and friends who deal with such struggles, I completely understand what a challenge these can be and would never trivialise such things.
I also realise that 'resume' should have an accent over the last 'e' but there doesn't seem to be any way to insert anything like this within Blogger. Perhaps I need to start writing the posts in Word and then copy and paste. If anyone does know any different, I'd love to hear from you.
So, am I being pedantic in liking things to be spelled correctly? What's your view?
Monday, 3 March 2014
Falling in Love Again
Apologies for the absence. Any of you that have read the blog before will know that last year I had a publisher let me down on a contracted book right at the last minute and, to be honest, it put me off writing for longer than I expected. I did take a break at the time and then try and get back into it, but I don't think my heart was in it. It was the second time I'd experienced a deal being pulled, despite a contract and I think there was a lot of 'why am I bothering' still lingering around inside me.
However, I pulled out a novel that I've been trying to finish editing for ages and got stuck into it. I really enjoyed the first read through (I hope that doesn't sound too vain!) and now Screen Edit 1 is complete, I'm about to start the first paper edit - having first had to schedule in some serious paper buying!
It's taken a while but I've fallen back in love again with, not only my current novel, but also the act of writing itself. I am, once more, bumbling about with my head in the clouds and talking to people who don't exist. It's brilliant!
However, I pulled out a novel that I've been trying to finish editing for ages and got stuck into it. I really enjoyed the first read through (I hope that doesn't sound too vain!) and now Screen Edit 1 is complete, I'm about to start the first paper edit - having first had to schedule in some serious paper buying!
It's taken a while but I've fallen back in love again with, not only my current novel, but also the act of writing itself. I am, once more, bumbling about with my head in the clouds and talking to people who don't exist. It's brilliant!
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