January 16, 2022

The more we change, the more we stay the same.

2022. Wow. Here it is. This year we enjoy Soylent Green as a food option. Christmas 2021 is done. New Year 2022 is done. Covid, social media fake news, the conspiracists, right and left wing extremists and inept government continue to disrupt the average life (whatever that is). The draft apocalyptic novel sitting on my device from 2018 looks less and less like a novel and more like a documentary. I will get back to it later this year, especially as life has provided better research than I previously completed for the novel.
 
The past three weeks were laborious from a writer’s perspective: editing, editing, editing. Back in the October 2021 post I mentioned some of the editing matters I continue to address – especially overused words. I also worked through the degree of adjectival and adverbial description, replacing or eliminating unnecessary ‘ly’ words. In a simple example it means taking a statement like ‘moves quietly’ and replacing it with ‘crept.’ Another simple example is changing ‘passionately cried’ to ‘howled’ or similar, choosing single words that as equally or even better describe the action. It’s not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach – variety in writing is essential, but it makes me focus on possibilities with expression.
 
Another editorial matter is ensuring a sense of time and place – season, weather, physical world – is evident throughout the story. This involves exploring where smell, touch/texture, temperature and so on can be effectively included. Jaysin’s travelling aboard ships opens the maritime experience – salty and fish smells, the creaking of wooden planks and spars, the pungent stench of tar and sweat. The visceral effect of snow and rain and heat and dust can be included to enhance the reader’s experience. Marketplace sounds – rattling tins, shuffling feet, ox dung, spices – can be added to bring places alive. This is the current process for the drafts of The Last Wizard series.

 Kirsi Salonen has drafted her concept for the cover to Chasse’s Song and it looks amazing already. Lots of details to change and add, but I love how she visually captures what I write. As the work progresses, I hope to share additional images.

Don't forget to check out Kirsi's work here: http://www.kirsisalonen.com/​ 

Education work recommences tomorrow. I am walking into an unknown with the current Covid restrictions being planned around schools, students, teachers, parents and vendors. We set in place SEQTA which will ease a little of the remote learning burden for staff and students (they might not think so at first, but it will be much better than what we had last year and in 2020. No doubt Microsoft Teams will remain in play for face-to-face online learning. In forty-four years of educational experience, these have been the most challenging times for our teachers. The media and politicians focus on students and parents, because that’s where popularity, business, votes and

 sales sit, and I feel as if teachers are the forgotten warriors during the pandemic. I’ll do the little I can do to help them remain amazing people who continue to build the community and our future through our children.
 
For now, it’s Sunday – back to editing while I have the chance.