First draft logic

[sarashina]

My mom is a technical writer and editor at a small company, and therefore spends five days a week reading other people's lazy writing. Which means she is not about to put up with mine.

I sent her the current draft of Grandmaster Draw, because she's the best editor I know. She hasn't sent me her notes yet, but we talked on the phone, and in our brief writing-related discussion, she pointed out that according to my first draft, the following are now true:

- A deadbolt actually = one of those slide-y chain lock things. I did not actually know that they were something different. Now I need to find out what the chains are called. Maybe just "chains."

- Steel = aluminum. YES BECKY, BASEBALL BATS ARE TTLY MADE OF STEEL. And Thom has super-strength. Where was my brain that day, I wonder.

- 14 - 6 = 6. Or Liam is secretly 12. ONE OF THE TWO.

All goes to show that no matter how much editing you do, you can still miss the most ridiculous mistakes.

Mom also suggested that I change my first line a bit, and told me that tomorrow she'd send the first of many e-mails full of notes about sentences where I decided that verbs/articles were apparently optional, and places where I "connected too many dots."

This just in: my mother is amazing and I am way spoiled.

Comments

[ruecian.livejournal.com]

Most people call them "door chains" if not just "the chain on the door".

Living in a major city schools you on locks of all sorts, so if you need any other notes on doors, let's talk.

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

Hee, thank you! ♥ I figured something like that would be okay. I will hit you up if I have any more questions.

[ruecian.livejournal.com]

I am slowly, but surely, reading Grandmaster Draw. I haven't been home, so that's why you haven't heard further from me, but I'm really enjoying the two voices I've read so far.

Looking forward.

[quatredeathlady.livejournal.com]

You are so lucky to have an awesome editor in the family. :x And also I'm glad that she can be honest with you about things--some people get really sensitive about hearing feedback, even when it's constructive, but it's clear that you're eager to get the feedback and that she's willing to provide it.

Anyway, your mom sounds awesome. XD And good luck with editing! I'm slowly working my way through Grandmaster Draw, but a lot of my free time is taken up by other things right now, so I hope I can get through it before you're ready to start shopping it around. :x I love what I've read so far!

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

One of the things that makes her a great editor is that I don't dread the feedback she gives. I've gone through a lot of writing workshops where people critique based on their prejudices and get off on tearing their classmates down, but I know with her, she really wants me to be at my best and succeed. That makes it hard to get upset about it when she has something negative to say. ♥

And thank you! :D I'm so glad you like it!

[glass-icarus.livejournal.com]

Hee! &hearts Yeah, I don't think I've ever called it anything but " door chain," I dunno. It might be worth asking someone at the hardware store or Home Depot or something if you want to see if there's an actual term for it, but that seems like a lot of effort if you just want to say chain. :P

[ruffwriter.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, if I went to too much trouble, I'd hear Thom in my head going, "Why the hell do I care? It's a chain." XD