Oh the terrible things the bureaucrats and politicians do to the English language. They are now talking of “enhanced interrogation”. Which is what the rest of us call “torture”. Such pussy-footing around with words shows how scared they are of calling a spade a spade.
The message used to be, keep it simple. Now perhaps we should rephrase that to, keep it short. Global best-seller Patricia Cornwell reckons it is increasingly hard for a novelist to keep their readers engaged and interested. Attention spans have shrunk. Which is why she has reduced the number of pages in each chapter to…
Well, that was some book. And for once it lived up to all the hype and praise highlighted on its covers and frontispiece. Having earlier devoured the superb The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (and now looking forward to the much-praised stage version in a few months time), I have been even…
A message came from a client who has written (compiled?) a 140,000-word manuscript that is in severe need of revision and correction: “I will do a bit of research on apostrophes etc as I dont (sic) know much about that stuff,” she wrote. Why are apostrophes such a big problem for so many people? Why…
It had to happen eventually: I have ventured into the many-worded world of the writer known as JK Rowling. I say “known as” because, fortuitously for the maintenance of her ever-growing wealth, she was revealed (with PR precision timing) as labouring also under the name of Robert Galbraith. It is through her use of this…
Today I have been handed a 107,000-word manuscript for assessment … and it provides an object lesson for so many would-be writers. It comes to me as a PDF. Why? At this early stage, a simple text document is all that is required. Why go to the trouble of creating a format that is impractical…
The thesis is done. Not mine … but that of a truly delightful client (aren’t they all?) who commissioned me to proofread and edit her 72,000-word submission for her PhD. For one whose editing work is predominantly concerned with fiction in all its genres (well, most of them) and a broad spectrum of non-fiction, this…
In the last three days I have re-written the same chapter three times. Each time I’ve cut and added characters, I’ve changed the sequence of events, I’ve added, eliminated and altered the backstory, I’ve had new ideas, discarded old ones and drank x cups of coffee. And each time it’s been a little bit better,…
Ah, the irony of it all. The past few days have seen a deluge of posts on a Facebook group’s site populated by Australian authors. The focus of their attention has been a single word: zephyr. A writer who had penned the line a zephyr of wind caressed the land was asking if there could be…
The following extract is from a manuscript I was recently asked to assess for publication: ‘All right, I’ll see to changing that, might take a while.’ Eleanor continued with her agenda. ‘Now, what about Security? Personnel? Industrial Relations? Safety?’ ‘Hey, we need those.’ Arthur made a note. ‘Security and Safety have been the contractor’s problem…