Monday, October 20, 2008

At the coalface

I am currently doing the final edits to the Victorian governess wip. It apears to be moving in the correct direction.
On Friday, I am going on holiday for a week -- Sorrento, so there is lots to be done before that.

Yesterday, there was a lovely TV programme on about Ian Fleming on the BBC. Joanna Lumley was so obviously a fan of the books and the lifestyle. (Personally I have loved the books ever since as an 11, I discovered them in a used book near our cabin in Sierra Nevadas and snuck them home. ) It was interesting to hear how he worked -- 2k every morning for 3 months a year in Jamaica. Also, that he was highly receptive to his editor's suggestions. And some of his notebooks were shown. Sometimes it would a snatch of dialogue. Sometimes just a word or two. Quantum of Solace appears as just a phrase. I believe you can watch the programme again iplayer if you are in the UK.
Sebastian Faulks discusses some of Fleming's style which is suited to action writing. Lots of active verbs, hardly any adverbs or adjectives, short sentences and very few semi-colons. It is the sort of prose one learns from being a journalist.

2 comments:

Jen Black said...

I watched the programme too, and I laughed when I heard of his writing style - it seems to be almost exactly what editors of e-books demand these days. Can it be that they're all ex-journalists?
Jen

Anonymous said...

I saw this too. Really interesting.