Ep. 301: Blank Reds & Editing

Bookbinding

Today we have two blank red notebooks. Both are A5 (pocketbook) in size, about 100 pages each, and with stylish endpapers. Useful for sketching, scheduling, taking notes, or practicing ransom notes or whatever you wish to do with it.

Book one is entirely blank. Not even a Tedorigawa Bookmakers logo on the penultimate page. No page numbers, no title page. Freedom! It does have a bookmark to assist you in finding a page you find important. The bookmark is brown-purple (mostly brown) to match the endpapers. Yes, the endpaper is brown with a British empire-era-esque semi-floral design. I hope that makes it clear enough.

Book two is blank but for the title page, the Tedorigawa logo on the last page, and the page numbers. Similar to the Dibujo Sketch Book of an earlier post (296), this one has a train, rain, cloud, and umbrella on the page numbers. There are 105 numbered pages. The endpapers are a floral design with what look like pomegranates or peaches or kiwis (formerly known as Chinese gooseberries) or all three.

Fiction

I continue editing Feeding Vicki’s Corpse and formatting City of Cocks. This means other novels on my stove have been reduced to the back burner of such. Novels like The Posthumous Autobiography of Agnes Grout and Ferrell on Ferrell: An Autobiography Based on a True Story. 

In editing, the most common change I’m making – but, by far, not the only change (other changes deal with timing, clarity, and suspense) – is deleting conversation markers. Those ‘he said’ phrases such as:

“You can’t pay me enough to steal his Munch-themed underpants,” he said as he hoisted a bale of cocaine into the airplane’s cargo hold. “Know what I mean?”

I change it to:

“You can’t pay me enough to steal his Munch-themed underpants.” He hoisted a bale of cocaine into the airplane’s cargo hold. “Know what I mean?”

A small change, but I think it reads faster and more naturally. Naturally, I put the ‘she said’ or ‘Roberta said’ in if it makes understanding who is speaking clearer. If I want to make the conversation clearer; sometimes I don’t for suspense, timing, or to make the reader feel as confused as the characters. If I want to make it clear he is speaking while moving product, I divide the spoken words with some action. Like this:

“You can’t pay me enough…” He hefted a bale of cocaine onto his shoulder. “…to steal his Munch-themed underpants.” He tossed the bale into the airplane’s cargo hold and caught his breath before turning to her. “Know what I mean?”

More difficult but maybe more important is putting in the characters’ emotional thoughts into the story via actions and language.

Ya’ll’sTube

Not yet. Coming. Soon. Maybe. Don’t hold your breath.