editor
Editing For Dialect
My biggest concern when editing a story that uses a specific dialect, is that not everyone may understand that is what is going on, and think I am a terrible, hack-job editor.
I am currently editing a story that uses dialect different than you find in the majority of English written books. The dialect being used is not a heavy accent that portrays someone who lives in the Deep South, or New England, or the likes. It is not a play on the words so much, as it is that there are words missing.
Words are missing because the characters in the story use English as a second language. I am sure we have all had the pleasure of meeting an interesting person who did not use English as their main way of communicating. So you have a conversation that seems almost abbreviated, with the ‘extra’ words that are used in the English language not being used when someone is using English as their second language.
Have you heard that the English language is the hardest language to learn? It is true. More than any other language, the English language has so many “rules and regulations” concerning the use of it, that it can be difficult for pretty much anyone to use it correctly, even if it is the only language they know.
So for an example, what you might read is the following; “She found him at bus station.” If I were writing the story, I would say “She found him at the bus station.” I see nothing wrong with writing a story this way, when it is necessary to set the scene and make it authentic.
I am currently editing a story by a very talented author, and it took about 3 sentences into the second chapter where the characters were having a conversation for me to realize that what I thought were errors, were intentional. The main characters use English as their second language. I think if the author did not write it using this dialect, it would take away from the story.
Which brings me back to my main concern; will everyone who reads this story understand that it is supposed to be written in that style? I think I am pretty safe, as it is a very in-depth story and one that will interest a specific genre.
If you are a writer, do you use dialect in specific novels you write to lend authenticity to your story?
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Mr. Mercedes – Stephen King
I absolutely loved this book! I can honestly say this is one of my favorites by Stephen King. I have not read all of his stories, but I have read most of them. I still think my all-time favorite of his is “From a Buick 8”. Have you read it? If not, you need to go to your local library and check it out (pun intended)! From what I understand, this is not the only story we will be seeing involving Bill Hodges. That makes me a very happy reader!
Bill Hodges is a retired detective, not coping well with sitting at home. When the perp (perk if you’ve read the story) decides to send him a letter, it gives Bill a new sense of purpose. This is one that he cannot let go, nor turn over to his former partner.
He goes back over everything he did involving this case, and the things he ignored that he shouldn’t have. You get to see Bill come to terms with the mistakes he has made, both at work and in his personal life. He tries to right the wrongs, when he can.
Brady Hartsfield (the jacket sleeve said Brady Hartfield, the spelling error surprised me. On the sleeve? Really?) is a brilliant mind from a troubled childhood. Still living at home with his alcoholic mother, he works two jobs while planning his next big kill.
Bill has two unlikely people working with him, which makes this story even more interesting. It is full of suspense, mystery, and even a few laugh out loud moments. I was literally holding my breath more than once while reading this! There were a couple spots where Mr. King mentioned two of his previous books; it fit right in with the story and was a nice touch.
If you haven’t read this, I highly recommend it. If you have, I would love to hear what you thought about it!
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Tuesday’s Thought For The Day!
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I Could Live With This Plan!
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Capital Offence – Robert S. Scott
Have you ever done something when you were young that you regret?
Well, of course you have; we all have.
Do you hate politics? Do you love politics? Are you sure the government of wherever you may live is out to get the “little man?” Yeah; most of us are.
But what do you do when you are involved in something horrible as a young teenager, yet you become the Prime Minister of your country?
Yep. You hide it all. You build a new life; you ignore those who stood by you.
Flesh and blood? No Matter. You have to do what you have to do to protect yourself, your family, and your image.
But when you are the Prime Minister, and your brother is going to face the death penalty in 30 days; then what do you do?
This is a fast-paced, long read. But it is worth every second of it. The story moves quickly, and you will not want to put it down. This was another story where I kept telling myself, “just one more chapter”. That one more chapter usually became 3 more chapters.
For this story, I am standing by my “no-spoilers” clause. But this story definitely deserves your attention. You want to read it. And once you start, you will not want to put it down.
Trust me, I know. I wake up at 2 am like clockwork, and I was grabbing this story to continue reading.
You definitely want to get to know this author. You can do so here: https://robertsscott.wordpress.com/tag/political-thriller-capital-offence/
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Gene.Sys – Aaron Denius Garcia
A spectacular YA novel, this Dystopian story will have you waiting anxiously for the next book by Aaron Denius Garcia.
Being a fan of religious fiction and biographies (do NOT panic if you are not religious, this story is not either) I was immediately drawn in to read the story about Atom and Ev, and how they were created to create a new life for everyone, in E.D.E.N.
Created much like I would assume a test-tube-infant was created (no offense intended here, I am not a Science or Biology student), Atom and Ev live in a secluded, monitored, high-security environment.
They are on the ‘inside’; the rest of the human race is on the ‘outside’. A select group of Doctors and Scientists are tasked with creating a new race of humans, whatever the cost. The humans on the outside are barely alive, fighting wars, famine, and plagues.
There is a lot to this story, but it is an easy read that you will not want to put down. You will immediately feel empathy to the drones, those who are genetically modified to do nothing other than protect the Gene.Sys, even at the cost of their own lives.
For Atom to befriend one, called nothing more than #80, could be the beginning of the end for all of them.
Once again, no spoilers here. To find out more about the author, you can find him on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Aaron-Denius-Garcia/e/B00L8H6VGQ
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I Wrote How Many Book Reviews?
I thought I should do a final post for 2014 of how many books I actually read, how many of those resulted in book reviews I posted, and anything else I may have thrown in.
I could really tell from my blog activity what months were the most busy for me. Or should I say, what months I was working on the toughest MBA college classes.
I did a whole lot of nothing in the summer months when it came to posting book reviews. I was really busy from September to December, and although I have every good intention of reading at least 3 more books when I finish the one I am currently on, I thought this would be a good time to do this post.
As a side note, I am off work until January 5th, and am kid free until January 4th. Which means I have a whole lot of reading-in-bed-writing-reviews-playing-with-the-cat-nap-time planned 🙂
For the year as a whole, I posted to date, 67 book reviews.
Of those 67 reviews, 18 were of books I had previously read, so for 2014 I read 49 new books. Not too shabby for being a single Mom of a whole lot of girls, working 50+ hours a week, and going to college for my MBA. The 18 on books I previously read were a combination of Halloween features, Christmas features, and books that I had read in the past that had a great impact on me.
June was the only month I did not post any book reviews, and October was my busiest month, with 12 book reviews posted. I have to add that for December I am currently at 7, and do plan on at least 5 more before the New Year, but certainly do not expect it to exceed October.
Some notables for 2014 for me:
I made the very tough decision to begin working on my MBA. After working non-stop for 2 years straight to get my BBA, I did take the entire year of 2013 off, as I promised my girls, and did not start college again until January 4th, 2014.
After many months of contemplating, searching, and debating, I became the very proud owner of Beeblebrox Bare Bottom Benjamin Blu, or Benny to me! He is a Hairless Sphynx cat and I am not ashamed to say that little ball of wrinkled-velvety-soft skin has changed my life! I like to tease my 4 girls about their “little brother’, but believe you me, that little guy has gotten me through a lot of weekends when I was wide awake all night long from being a 3rd shift worker and having the weekend off.
I made the decision to leave my Supervision position with my company and go back to a Materials Coordinator position that I had previously worked in for almost 5 years. I have worked for my company for over 18 years, and am so thankful to have such a wonderful employer.
I joined the Editorial Freelancers Association, and am currently working on getting myself set to begin editing and proofreading books for new and current authors. I have a love for books and the English language that I would probably have a very difficult time putting into words in order to get anyone to understand. (Now that is ironic, right?)
I would personally like to thank each and every single one of you for liking, following, or just commenting on a random blog post. I could not begin to tell you the excitement I have when I see that someone liked a post I made, and even better yet, left a comment, or followed my blog!
I will be setting some goals for myself for 2015, and there will be more to come on that!
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An Author Will Change Your Life!
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It’s Time To Stop Stalling…
…and start reading!
That sounds odd, especially coming from me. I usually never stall when I know I have some reading to do. I think it is more the fact that I also know I need to finish my laundry, get gifts wrapped, and other chores that I do not have the motivation to do.
So when I know I have these chores waiting to be done, I always feel that I have got to do them all before I can sit down, relax, and read a story.
Luckily, I have been asked to complete a book review on a story that I have not quite finished yet. So from where I am sitting, it looks like the most important thing I need to do today is finish that book, and get the review wrote.
That makes perfect sense to me 🙂
Wishing you a Sunday full of Blessings and great stories!
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