I haven’t written on my WIP in several days. But this is kind of a planned thing. The reason is that I’m almost finished with the first draft…maybe only one scene left. So I’ve been pondering on how I want to do this last scene. It’s going to be a love scene, and I always want to make those intense. I don’t write as graphically as most romance authors do these days, but I like the intensity and the heat without describing body parts. LOL. I don’t mind reading the works of others with more graphic scenes; I just don’t write that way. If I ever do, I would probably use another pen name. 🙂
One problem I have with this last Libby Fox novella is that it’s shorter than the other two. Really, it may come out about 2,000 words shorter than I want it to. We’ll see if that’s how it ends up after the first edit. I’m not one of those who goes back in and cuts scenes. I’m more likely to add them.
I have a question for everyone. Is there one phrase or word that you say that makes you cringe after you say it? Is it something you would never dream of doing in your writing? I’ve noticed one of my big problems is using the word “less” instead of “fewer”. I grew up in the rural south (still live there) surrounded by people with bad grammar. So from time to time, I cringe at some of the things I say. When my mom is in a restaurant ordering salad, she says “I don’t want no cheese”. That drives me crazy. (Not to mention the fact that there’s something wrong with someone who doesn’t like cheese, LOL.) So ‘fess up. What do you say that makes you cringe?
lauralynnelliott.com 
Though I don’t do it much myself, I know I am a complete fiend when it comes to correcting people on their usage of ‘good’ and ‘well.’ So when I do occasionally mess it up, it’s a big celebration for everyone to grill me about it.
I know there’s probably something else I do that makes me cringe once I do it, but I think I need a little more coffee to fully remember it.
Congrats on being almost done with the novella, though, Lauralynn! I kind of like how you’re just thinking and plotting and savoring the writing of the last paragraph. Always want to end on a fantastic note, right? : )
I think most people have a few things they say incorrectly. You know, since we’re all human. One of the things that drives me crazy in WRITING is the misuse of “lay” and “lie”.
I definitely want to end on a great note. Not only because it’s the end of the book, but the end of the series. I want to do it right.
Because I’ve been writing in the first person, I’m less correct in my writing than I am when speaking. If I say something incorrectly, either a) I meant to do that and it was for effect for some reason, or b) I just didn’t know any better and so wouldn’t recognize the error enough to cringe at it. Sometimes when I’m writing I…in-correct characters’ grammar. Oh no, that character wouldn’t know how to use whom. That kind of thing. I ended up making Joss a big reader so I could get away with better grammar for her than for her friends.
I also randomly commend TV characters when I hear instances of unusually good grammar, which my daughter probably thinks is bizarre.
Who doesn’t like cheese? That’s just not right.
I will often say something wrong for effect, too. But most of the time, you can tell I’m doing it on purpose. I know I say things wrong from time to time because my sons have corrected me. It’s not that I didn’t know better…it was that it was an old habit. I was just happy my sons recognized it was incorrect. And I never reprimanded them for it. I thanked them for it. 🙂
My mom and dad split up when I was about four years old and I lived with Mom. I grew up eating “southern cooking”. But somehow I ended up liking pizza, pasta, and other stuff that my dad likes. My mom likes none of that. LOL
First off, congrats on almost having the draft done. Love scenes are tough, and you’ve got a double whammy with it being the last one in your book. Good luck!
Um, I say “might could” a lot. It’s a bad habit I picked up from my Mom:)
Stacy, I love to write love scenes. But I want them to be just right, and it’s hard sometimes.
A very common phrase in this area of the country is “I used to could”. *cringe*
I’m on those people who often tends to answer without thinking. I leave the office for a holiday and people say. Have a good trip, then I say like, yeah, you too. It’s kind of automatic. haha. I live in a non English speaking country but with the working language of the office being English, I am always being asked to correct sentences, but from time to time find myself picking up their bad traits like using the masculine or feminine to describe object. “My computer is brokn, He just doesn’t want to start.” I catch myself but by then it is too late ha.
Way to go on reaching the final scene. I too arrived at the last scene today. My novel is a bit shorter than planned but much like you I am more likely to add then remove in the first edits. (I’m not copying you… honest 🙂 )
Oh, I’ve done that answering without thinking thing. The hostess in a restaurant says “Enjoy your meal” and I say “You, too”. LOL
I think it’s ok to attribute human qualities to a computer. After all, don’t they have minds of their own? 😉
Copycat! LOL. We just happen to be wrapping stuff up at the same time and have similar writing traits. 🙂
I say “here’s what let’s do” and my husband acts like I just walked out of a cave in a loin cloth, I say “used to could” also. I only say these things when I cross the Oklahoma border though. There must be Oklahoma air that makes my accent change and my grammar slip!
One thing I get anal about is “anyways.” I was corrected by someone as a teen, and now I always notice when someone uses it instead of “anyway.”
Heather, I think a lot of things people say are based on what’s common in their area, whether it’s right or wrong. I’ve almost broken myself from “I used to could”, but sometimes it still slips. I noticed that my best friend (who recently passed away) changed her way of speaking when she came back here to visit. When she was in Indiana, she spoke one way, then here in Tennessee, she spoke differently. Even the pronunciation of words was different. It’s something about crossing those borders….LOL.
I don’t get the anyways thing. Anyway is actually a lot easier to say. Oh, and my boss says “without” instead of “unless”.
[…] it comes to editing, much like my friend and amazingly talented writer Lauralynn Eliott I tend to add words in the first round of editing. I go through and add more detail and flesh out […]
Ooh, thanks for the mention!
“I reckon…” but coming from “the rural south” it sounds like when your car hits another car, i.e. “I wreckin’…” LOL. Oh well, it is what it is. 😉
Hey, I hear “I reckon” around here all the time. LOL
I’m from the Midwest, so I routinely end sentences with prepositions. I guess that’s pretty stereotypical of where I’m at.
Of course, in all my formal writing every word choice is intentionally made for characterization. Like my Midwestern Germans… yeah… at.
LOL. Jon Eli says that you Midwestern guys use the word “acrost” sometimes. Are you guilty?
Only when I go acrost the street to see what the sale is for.
In a strange personal tic: I say both with an “l” sound. Like bollth. I don’t know why.
🙂