Timeless Romantic Saga

[mejau71]

As a writer for several years, I’ve acted as my own editor for all of my stories… but in my current fable, I am looking for a VE to help me craft my tale of romance and exquisite sex with descriptive, thought provoking prose.

The story would fall under ‘Sci-Fi and Fantasy” I suppose, and is an imaginative saga of an exotic Queen of a Middle Eastern kingdom in 989 BC faced with an imposing Army from Germany knocking at her Kingdom’s door. The leader of this grand army (this is the twist) is a magnificently powerful woman, a commanding muscular woman who, by a twist of fate, ends up falling in love with the Queen, and vice versa. Sounds odd I know, but what I am hoping that a VE could do is to help me polish this story up with descriptive, non-contemporary expressions, meaning no modern day slang or vulgarity.

So instead of the usual wording like “tits and ass”, I’d like to use a more classical style reflective of the time period. And of course, I’d like to find a VE who can help me illustrate my muscular, beautiful heroine with mouthwatering verbiage.

I have some wonderful artwork already completed for this love story, and would love to find a like minded VE who treasures the artfulness and craft of the English language. Please feel let me know if you might be interested.

Thank you for your consideration...

Peace and Love,

~Meredith

 

[Snurge]

As a writer for several years, I’ve acted as my own editor for all of my stories… but in my current fable, I am looking for a VE to help me craft my tale of romance and exquisite sex with descriptive, thought provoking prose.

The story would fall under ‘Sci-Fi and Fantasy” I suppose, and is an imaginative saga of an exotic Queen of a Middle Eastern kingdom in 989 BC faced with an imposing Army from Germany knocking at her Kingdom’s door. The leader of this grand army (this is the twist) is a magnificently powerful woman, a commanding muscular woman who, by a twist of fate, ends up falling in love with the Queen, and vice versa. Sounds odd I know, but what I am hoping that a VE could do is to help me polish this story up with descriptive, non-contemporary expressions, meaning no modern day slang or vulgarity.

So instead of the usual wording like “tits and ass”, I’d like to use a more classical style reflective of the time period. And of course, I’d like to find a VE who can help me illustrate my muscular, beautiful heroine with mouthwatering verbiage.

I have some wonderful artwork already completed for this love story, and would love to find a like minded VE who treasures the artfulness and craft of the English language. Please feel let me know if you might be interested.

Thank you for your consideration...

Peace and Love,

~Meredith

With respect, editor's are engaged to check finished work and make suggestions to improve it. What you are seeking is a co-author. There is no short cut-to authenticity, you must do research; read books about the period and novels about the subject matter, and make use of Google. You are about a century too early for the first Crusade so you may be better off thinking of a Viking queen. Those scandinavians got around all over the place at that time.
Best of luck with it.

 

[sexylaila438]

With respect, editor's are engaged to check finished work and make suggestions to improve it. What you are seeking is a co-author.

Yes, it is the editor's task to check the work and suggest how the author can improve. In line with that would be word choice/vocabulary. Often, I'm confronted with writers (we are all guilty of this) who use the same descriptive words throughout. As an editor, I try to suggest appropriate synonyms to improve the story and eliminate redundancy.

So instead of the usual wording like “tits and ass”, I’d like to use a more classical style reflective of the time period. And of course, I’d like to find a VE who can help me illustrate my muscular, beautiful heroine with mouthwatering verbiage.

Clearly, that is what Meredith is looking for.

I don't think that asking for your editor to think like a thesaurus or at least use one, is too much to ask. When I receive work, it is my job to make it the best it can be for that particular writer. I would never suggest changes or language that doesn't match the current skill level, writing style or genre of the piece. To me, those suggestions are just as valid as punctuation, structure, grammar and spelling. I don't believe that offering alternate language constitutes co-authoring. Writers, often, become engrossed in their work and are not able to view it from a critical perspective. This limits the growth and development of the piece. You have to seek help from someone who is not as close to the work as you are.

Even suggesting complete rewrites or offering plot ideas does not, in my mind, constitute co-authoring. To me, an author is there from the conception of the idea, puts everything on 'paper' and sees it through to the end. Editors critique this process, look for inconsistencies, 'holes' if you will; with the aim to improve the piece. If that requires complete chapter rewrites, then so be it. But the writing is done by the author, not the editor.

If I receive work that is poorly written, i.e. no punctuation, 12 line run-on sentences, no paragraphs, I try my best to reorganize things into sentences that make sense. I would argue that if done correctly, that still would not constitute co-authoring. However, when the writer lacks the ability to create a coherent piece of work, has inconsistencies throughout, and simply doesn't make sense, then co-authoring is required.

There is a fine line here that editors walk. The last thing I want is to make such significant changes that the author's voice is lost. That is the reason I will not, under any circumstances, edit for non-native English writers. Usually, to make the work correct, requires complete rewrites, changes in phrasing and sentence structure, even slang sometimes doesn't fit.

There is no short cut-to authenticity, you must do research; read books about the period and novels about the subject matter, and make use of Google.

I would agree with this completely, however, I think it applicable to EVERY point in a story. If the writer is discussing things that s/he has no knowledge of, from how to milk a cow to piercings to bondage to painting, etc., research MUST be done. Inevitably, someone is going to read the story who does have knowledge of the subject matter and say, 'That is not the case' or 'This description of [blank] is not realistic.' So I would suggest to all writers to research everything, as you suggest, EVERYTHING!

SL

 

[mejau71]

I would agree with this completely, however, I think it applicable to EVERY point in a story. If the writer is discussing things that s/he has no knowledge of, from how to milk a cow to piercings to bondage to painting, etc., research MUST be done. Inevitably, someone is going to read the story who does have knowledge of the subject matter and say, 'That is not the case' or 'This description of [blank] is not realistic.' So I would suggest to all writers to research everything, as you suggest, EVERYTHING!

SL

Very good suggestion. It’s a good thing I am taking my time on this one, making sure it is right. In looking at it objectively, I do agree that in order to take the reader inside the story, the author must present its realm in a believable context.

Thank you for the honest critique.

Peace and Love,

~Meredith

 

[snooper]

... 989 BC ...

... You are about a century too early for the first Crusade ...

Er ... wasn't the first crusade in 1095, so the date cited is about 2000 years too early, rather than just a century?

And wasn't Germany created by Henry I who died in 936AD?

And didn't the Vikings depend on sea-going troops, using their superior ships to ensure success?

And in 989BC would any group of people have travelled very far to attack another group?

... research everything ... EVERYTHING!

 

[Snurge]

Er ... wasn't the first crusade in 1095, so the date cited is about 2000 years too early, rather than just a century?

And wasn't Germany created by Henry I who died in 936AD?

And didn't the Vikings depend on sea-going troops, using their superior ships to ensure success?

And in 989BC would any group of people have travelled very far to attack another group?

You're right. I missed the BC bit, and at the time mentioned the population of Germany would probably have been just independant forest-dwelling tribes.

But perhaps we're going off at a tangent. Meridith was looking at sci-fi fantasy where history could be reshaped and anything would be possible.
Best to skip the date completely I reckon and invent an alternative time-frame.

 

[mejau71]

Hello again,

Well it seems I have lost my editor for reasons I’ll probably never know. I’ve e-mailed her a number of times, and have had no luck whatsoever.

Is there anyone that might be interested in taking a look at my story?

Any consideration would be greatly appreciated.

Peace and Love,

~Mimi

 

[Lalah]

What I would suggest is reading some historical romance novels set in those ages. They'd be a good inspiration for the kind of vocabulary you're looking for.

There's plenty of romance happening in the Roman/barbarian era, there's also the Regency era that seem to be a favorite of the genre, etc.

At the top of my head you could try "Enslaved" by Virginia Henley or "Virgin Slave, Barbarian King" by Louise Allen. I haven't read either but I've heard about them and both are about a woman ending up at the mercy of a leader/general.