Editing, what is this shit? Words
October 14th 2006 13:12
Words are a writers stock in trade.
The question is, do you have the right stock?
Lets say you are writing a historical mystery set in say 7th century Ireland. In this story there is a sea voyage which involves, dread - horror, an attack by pirates.
As the author you write;
When the captain saw the pirate ship on the horizon he called all hands on deck and said, ‘Men, we have pirates after us . With the amount of cargo we have on board, they will overhaul us in less than two hours.’
Pretty straight forward isn’t it? Everyone knows what the words mean. Or do they?
Words can be slippery things at the best of times. So what’s the problem? Well, the word pirate is used twice. Once by the author describing the scene and the second time by the captain of the ship.
For the author to use the word “pirate” for describing the scene the use is acceptable.
For a 7th century character, the captain of a ship in this instance, to use the word “pirate” is not acceptable.
The reason;
pirate (n.) 1254, from O.Fr. pirate, from L. pirata ”sailor, sea robber,” from Gk. peirates ”brigand, pirate,” lit. ”one who attacks,” from peiran ”to attack, make a hostile attempt on, try,” from peira ”trial, an attempt, attack,” from PIE base *per- ”try” (cf. L. peritus ”experienced,” periculum ”trial, experiment, risk, danger,” see peril). Meaning ”one who takes another’s work without permission” first recorded 1701; sense of ”unlicensed radio broadcaster” is from 1913. The verb is first recorded 1574. Courtesy of http://www.etymonline.com/
As can be seen, the word “pirate” was not in use until some five hundred years after our story. Yes, I know it’s being picky. But the example does point out the depth of editing that needs to be done.
Fiction requires the reader to suspend belief for a period of time, to become immersed in the story. It is hard enough to maintain this suspension of belief with the pressures of daily life, without having that suspension of belief usurped by the story itself.
The question is, do you have the right stock?
Lets say you are writing a historical mystery set in say 7th century Ireland. In this story there is a sea voyage which involves, dread - horror, an attack by pirates.
As the author you write;
When the captain saw the pirate ship on the horizon he called all hands on deck and said, ‘Men, we have pirates after us . With the amount of cargo we have on board, they will overhaul us in less than two hours.’
Pretty straight forward isn’t it? Everyone knows what the words mean. Or do they?
Words can be slippery things at the best of times. So what’s the problem? Well, the word pirate is used twice. Once by the author describing the scene and the second time by the captain of the ship.
For the author to use the word “pirate” for describing the scene the use is acceptable.
For a 7th century character, the captain of a ship in this instance, to use the word “pirate” is not acceptable.
The reason;
pirate (n.) 1254, from O.Fr. pirate, from L. pirata ”sailor, sea robber,” from Gk. peirates ”brigand, pirate,” lit. ”one who attacks,” from peiran ”to attack, make a hostile attempt on, try,” from peira ”trial, an attempt, attack,” from PIE base *per- ”try” (cf. L. peritus ”experienced,” periculum ”trial, experiment, risk, danger,” see peril). Meaning ”one who takes another’s work without permission” first recorded 1701; sense of ”unlicensed radio broadcaster” is from 1913. The verb is first recorded 1574. Courtesy of http://www.etymonline.com/
As can be seen, the word “pirate” was not in use until some five hundred years after our story. Yes, I know it’s being picky. But the example does point out the depth of editing that needs to be done.
Fiction requires the reader to suspend belief for a period of time, to become immersed in the story. It is hard enough to maintain this suspension of belief with the pressures of daily life, without having that suspension of belief usurped by the story itself.
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