Snippety Snip April 3, 2007
Posted by Jen in : Journal, Novel , trackbackCrikey! Kate has finished the first draft of her novel which is making me feel rather ashamed of myself.
So. Serious words to be written today. I was going to say that I am worrying too much about the words I actually have written being worthy but the upshot being that there won’t be too much editing to do. I am clearly talking utter twaddle.
Tetleys Extra-Strong brewing for its obligatory seven minutes, I scoured the cupboards for hangover-curing food. A bendy carrot and some syrup. A square of chocolate. A bottle of rum. A box of soggy Cheerios. I could dip the carrot in the syrup, I thought. Then sprinkle the Cheerios over it and roast it. But it would probably come out of the oven looking a shrivelled, warty willy. I didn’t think even mad Nigel Slater would get excited over that.
Utter twaddle doesn’t cover it really. This lot is going to need far more than a subtle pruning.
Comments»
Tea brewed for seven minutes? You are a girl after my own heart! Please can I have one too?
JJ
There’s always tea for you, JJ! Shall we go wild and have a chocolate digestive too??! Funnily enough, I find it almost impossible to write without a big mug of tea by my side. Or wine – emergency measure taken only when the teabags run out. Really!!
X
Yes, please. But only if you don’t mind if I dunk….
Hmm. That’s my kind of pruning.
Would you like to borrow our brushcutter thingy? Is really quite exciting: the metal blade could chop through a tree. Although, on second thoughts, given the copious quantity of bollocks in my current thesis chapter, I might be needing its subtleties myself shortly…
Someone I read recently, Stephen King I think, said words to the effect that you write the first draft to tell yourself the story, then you rewrite a second draft to tell it to other people. Made sense to me. And I don’t think the paragraph you cite necessarily needs a complete chop, it has good comic potential – at least, bits of it made me smile.
JJ: Dunking? Compulsory. That is surely what biccies are for?
KW: Ooh, your equipment sounds most impressive! Not sure metal blades, bollocks and chopping should all be in one paragraph though?
Zinnia: Your are my official saviour of the day. I have just spent the past hour moaning to lovely bf about my novel not being quite right. But the options I have seem not quite right either.
I came down from my moan to discover your comment – talk about timely advice! I like my story so I shall carry on and worry about how other people see it afterwards. Thank you! Am re-inspired!!
I am ashamed. I haven’t written for two weeks. I am a bad novel racer.