Monday, November 29, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for Readers - 75

the slush pile

the stack of manuscripts usually found under an Acquisition Editor's desk after given a cursory scan, rejecting them. They usually linger there for months to give the appearance of serious consideration and, once in an atomic moon, one might be retrieved and given a more earnest read. These slush piles are less now as Acquisition Editors become a dying breed, a distant memory of a system in its swan song.

Edward C. Patterson

Saturday, November 27, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for Readers - 74

measure

the length of a single line of text. The measure dictates legibility and choice of point size, because the human eye can easily get lost when transitioning from one line to another. This standard depends on space between lines (leading), paragraph justification (raggged right or left justified is more legible, although less traditional) and whether you're printing in American or Euopean standard type faces (in Europe the standard is san-serif, while in America, the more legible serif fonts faces reign). Measure length can kill a book and be more disturbing to a reader than a misspelled word. Author's who also publish can disengage a reader even with the highest quality material by chosing the wrong point size and measure.

Edward C. Patterson

Friday, November 26, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 73

onomatopoeia

the assignment of sound to replace description, sometimes to add a sound track to writing, sometimes humor. It sometimes adds tension, especially when timepieces are involved (tick tock). It's most effective when places, where it carries a wealth of already seeded attributes. For example (and I'll use one of my own), Clang Clang represents a San Francisco Cable car. It's imbued with an entire Cable Car ride in conjunction with the conductor yelling street names, so when, a thousand of pages later, a chapter opens - Lombard Street. Clang Clang, the reader is immediately transported to the original setting without the need to repeat the setting. This is similar to the Chinese language form called carrier words, those that visually have attributes that add sound and meaning otherwise lost when not expressed.

Edward C. Patterson

Monday, November 22, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 72

View restricting (now called camcording)

writing in first person present tense to severely restrict the point of view so that the reader can only see what the narrator sees, experiencing it as it happens. A difficult mode to sustain for both reader and writer. However, it has been done (witness Stephanie Myers' hot Vampire series . . . what's it called?) Some authors employ it as a disruptive change (in the Dark Tower series it is used, and King also writes most of The Talisman in this mode). Its most effective use is for short stretches of intense action or suspense, otherwise it exhausts the reader, or it goes limp (shades of The Blair Witch Project).

Edward C. Patterson

Sunday, November 21, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 71

Pathetic fallacy

assigning a human attribute to a inanimate object. ie. the singing wind, the weeping trees, a compassionate banana. (I'd like to see all these in one sentence).

Edward C. Patterson

Friday, November 19, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader

Cosmic irony

the portrayal of fate, destiny or the Universe as indifferent or hostile to humankind. The classic example are the many Thomas Hardy's novels and his cosmically tortured characters.

Edward C. Patterson

Thursday, November 18, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 69

Dramatic Irony

When an author makes the reader privy to information, situations and events while keep the characters in the dark. It heightens the sense of drama through anticipation by making the reader a voyeur.

Edward C. Patterson

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 68

Jargon

The specialized language of a professional, occupational, or cultural nature that is often meaningless to persons outside the group. IE: SNAFU. Situation Normal, all . . .

Edward C. Patterson

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

A Thank You

I want to thank everyone for the thoughts and prayers during this hard time for my family. Dad was laid to rest yesterday - in style - with a full military funeral and a 21 guns salute. He's laid beside Mom and is at peace. Now, because I know it is his wish, I'm getting back on the horse and refiring up my current novel project, recommencing by blogs and network posts and even some light promotion. It might take a day or two to get back in the saddle, but I'll get there.

Thanks again for all your support.

Edward C. Patterson

Monday, November 8, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 67

The split infinitive

an American grammatical error common enough, because it colloquially scans. This is when the root verb form (to be, to see, to fall) has an additional word, mostly an adverb between the to and the verb. ie. to finely see, to gloriously rule. Although it is probably good to follow this rule, because American editors and reviewers will have kittens, the truth is, it was an acceptable form of speech in England, especially among the Victorian writers. I have seen cases where a split infinite has driven a reviewer to a psychotic railing at an author, consigning the work to the fifth circle of hell. Still, der rules are der rules, even if it is some American school marm concoction. Stylewise, using the adverb is more pernicious. Better to split a nail than to sow a pernicious adverb.

Edward C. Patterson

Sunday, November 7, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 66

A POV Fringe

a word or phrase that legitimizes a clause that would otherwise violate point of view (POV). For example, in a 3rd person limited POV, where Mary is the POV, Martin thought the sun was bright, is fringed to fit POV: Martin probably thought the sun was bright, so squinted. OR Martin thought the sun was bright, no doubt, so he squinted.

Edward C. Patterson

Saturday, November 6, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 65

A Pirandello

a technique which has the characters directly constructing the novel either with or without the author's help and directly appealing to the reader. Named after Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author. In films, this is called an audience wink, where direct contact between the character and the audience is made, side-stepping a story. It can be a real story killer if not handled correctly, completely destroying suspended credibility. But it can also add brief and fleeting comedy at the right point. Who can forget Ferris Buehler? A recent example of a Pirandello in a major work is Stephen King's Dark Tower series, when two major characters show up at King's house to retrieve a discarded manuscript which, if not completed, would end those characters' existence.

Edward C. Patterson

Friday, November 5, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 64

A Horse Opera

a novel set in the wild, wild west.

Ed Patterson

Thursday, November 4, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 63

Pastoral

a novel extoling the life and ways of county living. (Shades of Martha Stewart to wearing orange as a fashion statement).

Edward C. Patterson

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 62

Zeugma (pronouned zoygma)

the use of a single word to modify more than one objects, usually to create irony or humor. The classic Zeugma is Dickens. Mr. Pickwick took his hat and his leave.

Edwarfd C. Patterson

Monday, November 1, 2010

A Guide to Author Jargon for the Reader - 61

synecdoche

using part of an entity to represent the entire entity. Useful in dialog, but in certain narative. Examples are my wheels for my car, my windows for my house, my medical degree for my doctor and my alimony payment for my ex-wife.

Edward C. Patterson