Outlander
question
Editing question
Julia
Dec 11, 2013 06:45PM
If you please,
I am finishing the second personal edit of a manuscript that I hope to submit soon.
After reading some different perspectives on things, I rewrote some of the prose and placed it in point of view narrative rather than omniscient description. This required the use of lots of italics for thoughts. As a matter of fact, as the novel is a time travel historical fantasy with a psych/telepathy element, there is quite a bit of italicizing.
Tonight, I have been reading a book on how to get your m/s rejected. (Obviously, with the intent of getting it accepted instead). The author states that agents and editors hate italicizing and will reject a manuscript on that basis alone.
Now I am in a quandary, and feel as if I cannot continue editing until I get this resolved, because while there is a lot of italicizing, I clearly would prefer not to have the m/s rejected out of hand.
I would love to hear people's opinions on this matter - especially those with first hand experience.
Thank you so much,
Julie Hoover
I am finishing the second personal edit of a manuscript that I hope to submit soon.
After reading some different perspectives on things, I rewrote some of the prose and placed it in point of view narrative rather than omniscient description. This required the use of lots of italics for thoughts. As a matter of fact, as the novel is a time travel historical fantasy with a psych/telepathy element, there is quite a bit of italicizing.
Tonight, I have been reading a book on how to get your m/s rejected. (Obviously, with the intent of getting it accepted instead). The author states that agents and editors hate italicizing and will reject a manuscript on that basis alone.
Now I am in a quandary, and feel as if I cannot continue editing until I get this resolved, because while there is a lot of italicizing, I clearly would prefer not to have the m/s rejected out of hand.
I would love to hear people's opinions on this matter - especially those with first hand experience.
Thank you so much,
Julie Hoover
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If you're in Deep Point of View (you can look up more on the technique online) everything said in narration is said and thought and seen and felt through the POV of the character, so there's little need for thought italics. I personally think it reads more smoothly and can even cut down on word count. As an added bonus, it lets you get rid of a lot of pesky words like "realized, saw, thought, felt."
Example:
Non deep POV with italics:
The mountain sloped up steeply to the sky, but Julie saw it only went for another three hundred feet. She knew she would need a good walking stick. Pine's too soft, Julie. Find something stronger. After a few minutes of hunting, she found the perfect stick, lying there right in plain sight. Did some weary traveler drop it here? She picked it up and started climbing, stabbing it into the ground over and over. I only have two hundred feet to go. I can make it.
Deep POV, more concise, with no need for thought italics:
The mountain sloped up steeply to the sky, but it only went for another three hundred feet. She'd need a good walking stick. Pine was too soft. After a few minutes of hunting, she found the perfect stick, lying there right in plain sight. Did some weary traveler drop it here? She picked it up and started climbing, stabbing it into the ground over and over. Only two hundred feet to go.
When I write third person, it's almost always Deep POV, so if you want, you can send me a page or two of your manuscript and I could give suggestions. Send me a PM if you're interested.
Example:
Non deep POV with italics:
The mountain sloped up steeply to the sky, but Julie saw it only went for another three hundred feet. She knew she would need a good walking stick. Pine's too soft, Julie. Find something stronger. After a few minutes of hunting, she found the perfect stick, lying there right in plain sight. Did some weary traveler drop it here? She picked it up and started climbing, stabbing it into the ground over and over. I only have two hundred feet to go. I can make it.
Deep POV, more concise, with no need for thought italics:
The mountain sloped up steeply to the sky, but it only went for another three hundred feet. She'd need a good walking stick. Pine was too soft. After a few minutes of hunting, she found the perfect stick, lying there right in plain sight. Did some weary traveler drop it here? She picked it up and started climbing, stabbing it into the ground over and over. Only two hundred feet to go.
When I write third person, it's almost always Deep POV, so if you want, you can send me a page or two of your manuscript and I could give suggestions. Send me a PM if you're interested.
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