He waved what?

I was reading a book by my favorite novelist recently, and he had his protagonist turn in the front seat of his car, look back at a man and wave his hand at him. That's fine, but else would he wave at the guy? His hankie? His butt?

Why couldn't he just say that the guy turned to look at the man and waved?

It reminds me of another writer -- not one of my favorite novelists -- who once said that a man shook his head, indicating that he agreed. Shaking your head means no; nodding means yes. There's no other way around it. You can't shake your head yes or nod no.

My worst fear as a writer is that I'll do something bonehead, and it'll get through editing.

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  EMAIL: EDITORatWORK.

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

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

More 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!