At work today, I received an e-mail from Meghan requesting that we discuss the book edits by telephone, so I’m guessing that the Team didn’t agree with at least some of my editing comments. Meghan and I set up a time for her to call me this evening.
When she did call, I really enjoyed talking to her. I could tell that she and the rest of the editing team really do care about FV and want to help sculpt it into the best novel it can be. Pretty cool. They could consider the novel as just another school assignment but instead seem to recognize its larger scope and are putting extra effort into assuring the best possible end product. Thanks Team!
Meghan brought up the issue of the commas, saying she was a stickler for putting them in all of the technically “correct” locations. I explained that I’d recently been taught to eliminate as many commas as possible, since they inserted unnecessary pauses into the sentences and slowed down the pace of the writing. So, we agreed to a compromise, inserting commas only where absolutely necessary in order to assure the correct interpretation of the text.
As far as Anna Jensen and her Swedish phrases/translations, Meghan and Co. made a good point: she said that Anna probably thinks entirely in Swedish. Therefore, to have Swedish phrases stated and then translated within her interior dialogue sections is somewhat redundant. If I’m already translating all of her thoughts into English, why would these phrases be given in Swedish and then in English versus being just in English, to begin with? After a rather lengthy discussion, Meghan and I agreed that Anna’s thoughts would be strictly in English but that all of the Swedish phrases and their translations would remain in her exterior dialogue, even when speaking to her husband, John, and her daughter, Louise.
Meghan and I chatted for a long time about many other aspects of the novel and about writing, in general. Then we digressed into a discussion about our lives. She said that once she completes the Certificate in Editing Program at MSU Moorhead, she plans to go into book editing as a career. She also mentioned that she enjoys writing children’s books, too. What a delightful young woman!