{Cover of my e-book edition of Mistress of the Sun.}
In preparing to e-book publish my existing novels in the UK and beyond, I’ve had to revise, and then have them retyped and proofed. (Thank you so much, my FaceBook Fan Page readers!)
I, too, have had to carefully reread all of them, which has been quite an experience for me.
As well as timely.
In preparing to write a Young Adult novel about Josephine’s daughter Hortense, it has helped a great deal to re-read the Trilogy.
In writing This Bright Darkness (working title of The Next Novel) — a novel set in the Court of the Sun King — it’s been vital for me to reread Mistress of the Sun.
Firstly, I’ve recognized important changes I will need to make to This Bright Darkenss.
But secondly, I have had the opportunity to revise Mistress of the Sun. (The process never stops!)
At the Banff Book Discussion Weekend this last summer, a reader questioned the use of the word “shenanigan” in Mistress of the Sun.
Quite rightly! The first use of that word wasn’t until 1855.
I considered changing “No shenanigans—” to “No nonsense—”, but that didn’t quite convey the meaning I wanted. (Clorine is warning Petite not to have sex with old Gautier.)
Exploring possibilities in the on-line Oxford English Dictionary is one of the tasks I love best, so after some searching, I settled on another word. It’s quite old, quite rare and mysterious, but I think it gives more of a sense of Clorine’s meaning:
Clorine wagged a finger. “No chuffing—”
“Don’t worry!” Petite said, cutting her off before she said more.
Do you love it? It’s a word that goes back to 1200, and it means cheating, deceit, or falsehood. Plus, if you ask me, it sounds just a little bit rude.
Update: I admit I’m chuffed over how many have expressed interest in the word chuffing. (Thanks to Anita Davison for pointing out the modern English use of the word.)
Now, another change. Although “nickname” is a very old word, it feels modern to me — and, I suspect, to readers. Thus, I’m changing it to the dignified “sobriquet.”
I love the embellishment stage of writing a novel, that point at which the story is more or less (for the time being) gelling. Early on, the focus is on structure: parts, chapters, scenes. The cast; their characteristics. As the novel evolves, the focus is closer in: on the dialogue, the paragraphs, the sentences, the words.
At this stage, I work with the on-line Oxford English Dictionary: oh, the glory of it!
Yesterday, I checked the word emotion and discovered that it’s a fairly modern word. I should not have been surprised.
This morning (it’s not even 8:00 am as I write this) (I shouldn’t be writing a blog, but getting on with The Revision) I checked the word guilty. Ah, it’s an ancient word, with a delicious pallet of colours:
sakful
saked
culpable
plightful (I love this, and the variant plighty)
criminous
nocent
faultful (another good one)
blood-guilty (we’re getting into serious guilt, here)
obnoxious and noxious
guiltful (I do love all these “ful” words)
This last is the one I will use, at least for the time being. I hope to send this draft (#3) to my agent tomorrow. And so, guiltful for blogging, I return to my task.
(I know, I promised a post on titles…tomorrow: after I’ve sent IT off?)
Sorry for the absence, but I fell off the globe for a bit: deadline drop-out.
The way I’ve been working with The Task Master (editor Dan)—or, rather, the way he has been working me—is in segments, 80 to 140 pages of The Next Novel at a time. Each time, finishing a revised segment has had all the intensity of finishing an entire novel: sleepless nights, dazed expression, constant preoccupation with the story in front of me.
I sent finally sent off this last segment—all of Part III (I’m getting there!)—on Saturday afternoon, after a creatively stimulating brunch with author C.M. Mayo. I attended her writing workshop the next day at the San Miguel Writers’ Conference: I’ll be using a number of her suggestions as I begin the more refined layers of the revision.
As The Task Master prepares the next segment (might it actually be the last?), I’ve cycled back to the beginning of the novel, making changes. I’ve promised the manuscript to my agent April 1st: that’s not far off, but it’s a deadline I’d really like to meet.
I’ve so many things I want to discuss here: the feedback on my title (which I threw open to readers of my newsletter), ideas that Catherine and I tossed about about publishing and promotion, her fantastic workshop, some experiments I’ve been doing with ads on FaceBook and StumbleUpon, some great blogs I’ve discovered, great books ….
But there I go, on the amble …
Isn’t that a wonderful expression? I discovered it this morning, researching 17th century theatre vocabulary. And no, it has nothing to do with theatre.
This is just a quick post to 1) apologize for being so long between posts, and 2) to observe that “write the book” wrecks havoc with a To-Do-List. Everything gets pushed off the list until “after”—and that after can be a Very Long Time.
I’m closing in on the final second draft (officially draft 2.3). Soon I’ll send it off to one of the editors I work with—the amazing Dan Smetanka—and then I’ll dive into all the other things on my To Do List, which includes: organizing a research trip to France in May, getting my Facebook readers going on the Google Lit Trip project again, and trying to get out a newsletter.
All this in addition to the not-so-minor task of closing up my Mexico office and moving it up north! I’ve over two weeks, but I’m already suffering book anxiety: which to take back, which to leave behind.
But first: the final, final, final changes to Draft 2.3…
Note: the illustration above is from the New York Public Library, as posted on Of Goose Quills, Gloves, and Writing Booths—“A Succinct Survey of Authors’ Accessories and Accoutrements”—on one of my favorite blogs, A Journey Round My Skull. ***** Website: http://www.sandragulland.com/ Blog: http://sandragulland.blogspot.com/ Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/3xzbgv Twitter: http://twitter.com/Sandra_Gulland
