More Bloody Words
October 17th 2006 10:34
I’m sorry, I just can’t help myself. Words are what we write for others to read.
Why do so many writers seem to deliberately set out to insult their readers intelligence?
For the moment let’s stay in 7th century Ireland. The story in question is “Act of Mercy” by Peter Tremayne.
* Map in front of book - Scale in miles
* Pg.2 - Length of ship given in metres (The metric system of measurement did not come into existence until the 1860s) Continued mixing of metric and imperial measurements throughout the book.
* Pg.9 - “The ship caught the tide.” - Surely the ship sailed on the tide, but the sail’s caught the wind.
* Pg.33 - “Missal” (a religious book) described as measuring fourteen by eleven mm. (approx. 3/8 of an inch by 5/8 of an inch) A very small book indeed
* Pg.33 - “Missals” as a religious books date from c.1330
* Pg.45 - “Pirate” for the author to describe these sea raiders as pirates is justified. For a character in the story to use the term is not. The term “Pirate” dates from around 1250
* Pg.54 - “Wedlock, Padlock” as used by one of the characters. Padlock c.1479
* Pg. 18. - Cabin described as being below deck. Pg.58 - Window described as looking out over the rail then the same window is looking out over the deck.
* Pg.77 -“For the first time since she had seen Cian again, Fidelma realised that his right hand hung loosely at his side and that he did everything with his left hand.” Pg.258 - “Cian sat back and folded his arms with an air of defiance.
I like Peter Tremayne’s stories. He spins a good tale.
He also tries my patience sorely.
How do you treat your readers?
My point is that you need to edit, and that editing is far more than just using the spell check. In this day and age publishers assume that you have had your work edited professionally.
Any editing required by a publisher is mostly to meet a house style guide.
If your work was not up to basic editing standards, it would be rejected out of hand.
The standard of editing is assessed on the first page of your work, if you’re lucky, most likely it will be assessed on the first paragraph.
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