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Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Small hurrah on Shrove Tuesday

Yesterday I finished the draft of a novel. For me, it is quite long--358 pages of text, plus the usual front matter and divisions. And it has a glossary. I'm not sure whether I'll include the glossary. It glosses dialect words and clears up some common misconceptions. Maybe I'll just post it.... I'll take a break from the manuscript, and then start to revise it and also do some  persnickety research to make sure there are no stray historical errors.

12 comments:

  1. Brava! As a once-upon-a-time OCD researcher, I suggest "persnickety research" is an oxymoron. No detail it too small. And glosses are splendid signposts for lost readers. May your Lenten season be beautiful and grace-filled.

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    1. Thank you, kind Tim! And I do like fiddly research when in the mood...

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    2. BTW: I'm back to blogging at new address.
      http://informalinquiries.blogspot.com/
      I hope you will drop by every now and then.

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    3. You wild man! I'm barely back from Paris and will take a look once I get a bit organized.

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  2. Big hurrah! I'm happy to know there's another Marly Youmans novel in my reading future, someday.

    I'm about halfway through the first read of a MS I finished late last year. It seems okay for a first draft. There are some deliberate historical errors. I guess that deliberateness makes them not-errors?

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Scott.

      Well, you knew what you were doing, so... Maybe call it a slightly alternative historical novel!

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  3. Congrats on getting that draft done! Wonderful news.

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    Replies
    1. Whee! Was a great relief, as I will have to take a longish break to do something else, and I hated to lose my thread.

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  4. Bravo! I say that you should include the glossary. I guess that in the age of Google and Wikipedia this is less pressing. Still, the glossary would put readers on notice that you use words not found in modern English, or found only with a different meaning.

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    Replies
    1. As well as vocabulary, it has all sorts of little clarifications about things commonly misrepresented, so... I might!

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  5. Yay, you! Anxious to hear more about it!

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Alas, I must once again remind large numbers of Chinese salesmen and other worldwide peddlers that if they fall into the Gulf of Spam, they will be eaten by roaming Balrogs. The rest of you, lovers of grace, poetry, and horses (nod to Yeats--you do not have to be fond of horses), feel free to leave fascinating missives and curious arguments.