j_cheney: (Black and White)
J. Kathleen Cheney ([personal profile] j_cheney) wrote2007-08-07 04:46 pm
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Revision...

So, I started back at the revision of The King's Daughter last night. After not touching it for a couple of months because I've been working on short stories, I was actually rather pleased.

I revised the first quarter of the book earlier this year. (Most of the revisions have to come in the first half of the book. The second half just needs to be compacted). I redid a couple of POV things, and found that the focus of Q1 shifted nicely. I did leave out a plot point that I have to go back and stick in, but I think I can do that After ArmadilloCon. Then I'll tackle Q2, which needs some restructuring that will be made farily easy by the POV switch (plus I have to work some foreshadowing in). All in all, I'm relieved, because I recall being frustrated with this earlier this year.

I need a better French-English dictionary. I got a bit annoyed with mine last night when a couple of words that I needed did not appear within its microscopically printed pages. For some reason, Chasseurs de sorciers read quite easily, but I'm grinding down while reading La mort du necromant. More description, I think, causes this. ::sigh::

I must go feed dogs....

[identity profile] kara-gnome.livejournal.com 2007-08-07 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Have you tried babelfish.altavista.com/? I could not have survived four semesters of Spanish without it, but they do all sorts of languages. It might not be comprehensive enough, either, but I was wondering :)

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2007-08-08 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, but I was reading....in bed, not on-line. Actually, the one thing that babelfish can't handle very well is the main thing I have problems with....idioms. At least my dictionary does pretty well for those. ;o)

French

[identity profile] namelessarchon.livejournal.com 2007-08-08 01:09 am (UTC)(link)
Did you ever finish The Black Company in French? That is one of my favorite books of all time.

Re: French

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2007-08-08 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Nope. I'm putting it off until I finish this one. Sorry...

(Anonymous) 2007-08-08 11:42 pm (UTC)(link)
It's great to come back to something and find you still like it. Extra points when you actually get impressed with yourself. :D
You sound like you know where you're going with this book.

Am I reading this post correctly? You read in French? Is there any particular reason for this?

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2007-08-09 12:35 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, I once (in college) minored in French (but ended up 1 hour short). I'm NOT fluent. But I feel guilty if I don't practice on occasion (worried that what minor ability I have might fade away).

As I never speak French with anyone, the only practice I get is reading it. This makes me feel like I'm taking part in a constructive activity. ;o)

I generally find that I do better if it's a book I've read in English. That way I know the context as I read. (And since I really loved the two above listed books in English, they have been great reads.) I also have Glen Cook's La Compagnie Noire, which I intend to read after I finish with this one. Eventually....

[identity profile] displacedtexan.livejournal.com 2007-08-09 09:57 am (UTC)(link)
I'm feeling guilty here. Now I need to find something in German (not Nietzsche, though) and practice.

[identity profile] theladywolf.livejournal.com 2007-08-08 11:43 pm (UTC)(link)
The above comment is mine. Forgot I wasn't logged in.

[identity profile] j-cheney.livejournal.com 2007-08-09 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
No problem. I do that on another board all the time. ;o)