Copyedits, The Heyer Binge, And Headhopping
A few minutes ago, unwashed and severely lacking in sleep, I sent off the copyedits for Betrayals. There will be proof pages to eyeball in a little bit, of course, but I am feeling very much like the book is Put To Bed. Which makes me happy. The copyedits are about the time I get so sick of a book I just want it done so something else can eat my brain. So, I’m exhausted and drained but still feeling like a huge weight has been lifted. Now I get to please myself for the rest of the day.
Actually, I’m lying. Now I get to clean, box things, dust (don’t ask, it’s the only time in years I’ll do it) and run errands (hopefully not, did I mention I don’t want to leave the house? Waaah.) and help organize the garage. Yes, my life is a neverending cavalcade of excitement, I tell you.
My Heyer binge continues apace. My favorite so far is The Convenient Marriage, with The Devil’s Cub close behind. I am currently just starting Bath Tangle, which I like a great deal because the hero is not a paragon of fashion, though the heroine seems a bit precious. I absolutely love how Heyer does not put anachronistic views in the mouths of her hoyden heroines. That’s my main quibble with historicals–how often the hero or heroine has definitely anachronistic attitudes.
Yes, I know I’m picky and I often violate my own sensibilities. Probably just part of being human.
Another thing I love about Heyer is her dialogue. The dance of mannered politeness has never had such a sharp, skewering service done to it. There’s also the fact that she is one of the very, very few writers who can do headhopping without it being an unpardonable sin that causes a book to be tossed across the room.
There are people who argue that headhopping is perfectly all right, and others who argue it is an abomination. I agree with both, of course, but in my own way.
Part of being a writer is knowing when to break the rules. “No headhopping!” is a rule because in clumsy or inexpert hands it is a cheap shot. If you cannot find a way to show how a character is thinking within the frame of a chapter or story written from another character’s point of view, perhaps your chapter/story isn’t meant to be told from that particular POV, or it isn’t important, or you need to find a way to do it within the framework you’ve created. Heyer gets to break this rule because she does it for reasons, she does it with assurance and smoothness, and she’s just goddamn good enough to do it. (Yes, I know she’s passed on–but I’m reading her now. Forgive my verb tenses.) But this is not an argument for other writers doing it without good reason, and you had better be sure your reasons are good, your technique is sound–and be prepared for editors or readers to take issue with it.
This reminds me of one of my favorite scenes in any movie, from Eddie Murphy’s 1986 vehicle The Golden Child. Long story short: The hero is sent down underground to obtain a magical item; he leaves the path. A bridge explodes, and the hero addresses the teacher who sent him into the situation–”I THOUGHT YOU SAID TO STAY ON THE PATH!”
“Yes,” comes the disembodied voice, floating back. “But you must know when to break the rules!”
I often think of this when it comes to “writing advice.” There are hard and fast rules that end up being, well, not so hard and fast once you’ve reached a certain point. But here’s the rub: you must know and internalize the rules in order to break them effectively. It is not enough to just break rules. You have to do so effectively, and you cannot do that without study and practice. Long practice–there is no shortcut–will eventually teach you how to be effective when breaking the rules.
At that point, Rules become like the Pirate’s Code. More like…guidelines.
Also, I’m still thinking about the difference between service to story and service to damage. There may be a Friday post in that. I’ll have to think some more.
So I leave you this fine Thursday, having said nothing of real import. My brain is once again oatmeal, between the changes in my living space and the nitpicky work of looking over copyedits. If you’ll pardon me, I have some exciting unloading-of-the-dishwasher to get to. I may even get supplies to try this Bolognese sauce.
Related posts:
May 21st, 2009 at 12:57 pm
The main problem I have with “headhopping” in books is when the author seems to be doing it out of laziness. Like, they will use it as an excuse to tell us what each character is feeling because they’re being too lazy to show it. So annoying! In the right story, with the right writing style and for the right reason, though, it can really work.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Interesting link. I agree with the comments, it’s more a continuum, sort of. Also, the headhopping thing, gah, the headhopping! Even when well done I tend to dislike it. I get really involved in my reading and I don’t like being jostled like that.
May 21st, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Besides being a Heyer-addict myself (well, not her crime fiction, I find that rather artificial), your comment about knowing the rules before breaking them reminds me of a passage from Caroline Stevermer’s _A College of Magics_.
[The heroine is at etiquette lesson and doing poorly.]
“There’s nothing to be good at. It’s just an arbitrary set of standards. Why should I waste time learning to point my toes in a way that went out of fashion three hundred years ago? Why shouldn’t I set my own fashions?”
“You must form your own fashions in a way which demonstrates that you flout the standards from knowledge, not from ignorance,” replied Dame Brachet. “When you leave Greenlaw College, you may or may not be able to practice magic. That is a matter of talent and skill. But you will certainly be a witch of Greenlaw, and that station in the world carries expectations with it. You will be expected to speak with those of high degree and to speak fair to high and low. Your manner will be as vital as your matter, and in some sad cases, your matter will not amount to much. So you had better learn a manner to make up for your other shortcomings.”
From the first words, Faris followed this speech with eyes narrowed. “But I may flout the standards?”
“Of course,” said Dame Brachet, with some asperity. “What do you think standards are for?”
May 21st, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I adore Georgette Heyer! I own all of her romances. And my favorite is Powder and Patch, with a close second being Devil’s Cub. I hope you enjoy your binge!
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:03 pm
The recipe for the Bolognese sauce is my style. I use reciopes as guidelines and tend to have a hard tiome writing anything down because the measurements are like: enough salt to cover the bottom of the well in your palm. I can pretty accurately measure teaspoon and tablespoon (and gradation of them) by how much is in the palm of my hand. *laugh*
I have started to try to come up with some kind of written record of a lot of my recipes since my son lives in CA now and is always asking me, “Mom, how do you make” X. Obviously managed to inspire in him a love of food made from scratch as he wants to go back to school to become a chef.