EDITOR@WORK: Robert B. Parker

Sometimes editing is subtle. Same with reading.

I was just reading a Robert B. Parker novel, Night and Day, and I came across this sentence.

She held her coffee cup in both hands in front of her mouth, watching the faint wisp of stream rise from it.

Something seemed wrong, and I had to read the sentence twice before I realized that Parker probably meant steam, not stream. You can't catch everything, even though you try.

📕📕

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

I WAS RECENTLY editing an aspiring novelist who was struggling with attribution. He'd write something like this:

She stated, "You are a real dummy. "

And I'd change it to:

"You are a real dummy," she said.

The word stated is stilted. In most cases, said works fine.

Don't worry; attribution is often a problem for even experienced writers and editors. Where do you put the "he said"?

Then there's the problem with two many "saids." I was listening to a Robert B. Parker novel on CD, and we had nothing but he said, she said.

"I'm an idiot, Molly," Jesse said.

"I agree, Jesse," Molly said.

"So do I," Crow said.

Somehow, it should be possible to attribute the quotes without all of those saids.

But if writing were easy, we all could do it well.

He said.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com BLUESKY: PROFILE