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Scifi and Fantasy Forum: Writer's Discussion: Questions :
A Couple Dumb Quesions..
A Couple Dumb Quesions..
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I'm typing my epic novel off, and some questions have come up. I've been known to say things that, well, don't make any sense. Below are a couple lines that I'm unsure of. Do you think that I can keep them the way they are?
"None too friendly of nature." (Meaning: bad natured.)
"Looked about himself." (Meaning: Looked about the area.)
"On some foul errand." (Meaning: On a foul task.)
"Threw out his staff." (Meaning: Waved out his staff, not throwing it away!)
I am also wondering if I can use the word "bull----"? I know it's not really a word. What if I used "bull ----" (as two words)?
VERY IMPORTANT: Can you please tell me the proper procedure for indicating indentation on a novel manuscript?? I believe you underline words and don't actually indent them yourself. Is this right?
Posted By:  woody000 Dec 28, 2004 - 06:41 am |       | Well you cant take my word for it, ask others but heres what I THINK.
>"None too friendly of nature." (Meaning: bad
>natured.)
If this means none of a particular group of people were overly friendly in nature, then its fine, though not as a separate sentence. It should be attached to another via a comma or semi-colon. It really depends how it fits into the text whether its valid or not.
>"Looked about himself." (Meaning: Looked about
>the area.)
I would be inclined to say no. It might be valid as a figure of speech, but it seems clumsy to me at the very least.
>"On some foul errand." (Meaning: On a foul
>task.)
Again, obviously not as a separate sentance, but I dont see anything wrong with that otherwise. Of course, use of the word "some" should only be if the reader, or person speaking doesnt know what the task is.
>"Threw out his staff." (Meaning: Waved out his
>staff, not throwing it away!)
Personally I would rate that as a figure of speech and would try to avoid it unless it fits in with the way a certain character speaks.
>I am also wondering if I can use the word "bull-
>---"? I know it's not really a word. What if I
>used "bull ----" (as two words)?
I think thats a matter of opinion, personally id hyphonate it.
>VERY IMPORTANT: Can you please tell me the
>proper procedure for indicating indentation on
>a novel manuscript?? I believe you underline
>words and don't actually indent them yourself.
>Is this right?
I think different people are companies tell you different things. Ive actually never heard this, I was always told to indent yourself. (I assume you mean paragraphs, not any other kind of indentation.) Though you probably know this, you dont indent at the start of sections by the way: paragraphs or where you have a line break.
| Posted By: Bmat Dec 28, 2004 - 06:41 am | | My thoughts:
Of none too friendly a nature.
Looked about.
Thrust out his staff. Thrust his staff forward.
I don't know the answer to your question on identation.
| Posted By: chowder Dec 28, 2004 - 06:43 am | | None too friendly of nature--I like this, kind of different.
Looked about himself--use 'looked about' (himself is implied)
On some foul errand--unless you want to be more specific (what errand?), I don't see a problem with this.
Threw out his staff--this is misleading. Why not 'waved his staff, his arms wide' or just 'waved his staff'?
Indentation--I've heard two ways of doing this, but never underlining. You can indent every paragraph and leave it at that or indent every paragraph except the first of each chapter. Either way is fine.
| Posted By: chowder Dec 28, 2004 - 06:45 am | | Oh, and the bull****. I believe it's one word.
You have to add to the sentence to try and clean up the phrase, but the phrase written alone could be misleading.
"Neurolanis threw out his staff, blocking the foul monster's approach."
"Where is Neurolanis?"
"He's on some foul errand over in the next town."
"Neurolanis looked about himself, making sure he did not drop his car keys or his wallet."
That last one could be a challenge:
"Neurolanis is none too friendly towards nature, always starting fires and burning whole forests down."
"Neurolanis is an enemy of nature, always polluting the waters and just doing generally bad things."
"Neurolanis is not friendly towards nature, he does not play well with others."
"Neurolanis is a sinner of nature, committing all sorts of atrocities."
| Posted By: manji Dec 28, 2004 - 07:37 am | | "Looked about himself." (Meaning: Looked about the area.)
"On some foul errand." (Meaning: On a foul task.)
"Threw out his staff"
Neur, these make pretty good sense to me. Just add a little bit to parts like 'Threw out his staff' like 'Threw out his staff angrily from his body' or something along those lines.
None too friendly of nature." Is the only one that doesn't really make sens. It could be read as 'He hates nature'.
| Posted By: Magus Dec 28, 2004 - 08:47 am | | Here's my thoughts in this matter:
"None too friendly in nature."
"Looked about the area."
"On some foul errand." (Good as is)
"Thrust his staff foreward."
| Posted By: woody000 Dec 28, 2004 - 09:35 am | | hehe, i didnt bother correcting them in that way... dont think my post was as helpful.
Oh, and as Magus says "None too friendly in nature", didnt notice that it should be "in" somehow... even though I used it in my description.
| Posted By: woody000 Dec 28, 2004 - 09:37 am | | Though... actually, that might not be what he means now I think about it. Oh well, as I DID say, itd be better if we knew the text which surrounds them.
| Posted By: Magus Dec 28, 2004 - 09:49 am | | Yes. That's true.
| Posted By: Aldan Dec 28, 2004 - 09:48 pm | | How about BY nature? That seems to be the natural way for ME to say it... but it could be a method of speaking that wouldn't communicate well, so let me know what you think. "None to friendly by nature" would indicate that in attitude and demeanor, the person is rather surly and stand-offish.
I'd say "looked about" would be enough, but adding more would indicate a specific place or goal for his search.
"On some foul errand" would indicate a slightly archaic manner of stating the fact, but does say what you're trying to say succinctly.
"Foreward" is an archaic spelling of the directional "forward". Usually you will see the prefix "fore" included with such words "front", "thought", "sight", "skin", or just alone "to the fore".
Wow! So many replies!
Thanks you all for your feedback! It was most helpful. 
I'm so sorry one one thing: I didn't mean "indent"! Doh! I meant "italics"! What I SHOULD have said is: HOW DO YOU ITALICIZE YOUR WORDS? UNDERLINE THEM?
Sorry for the confusion. I've been caught up in my book and thought one thing and typed another.
| Posted By: Magus Dec 29, 2004 - 06:28 am | | \ i { insert words here }
This is how you italisize words.
But I mean for a professional manuscript.
| Posted By: Magus Dec 29, 2004 - 07:06 am | | Hmmmmm...
I heard somehwere that it's some sort of squiggly line or something.
But don't listen to me on this. I don't rightly know, just remembering something I barely knew to begin with.
| Posted By: Aldan Dec 29, 2004 - 07:10 am | | *Aldan reaches up and buttons his own lip*
| Posted By: woody000 Dec 29, 2004 - 09:39 am | | Erm... good one. I always assumed that you just put it in italics. But now that you mention it... I dont know.
| Posted By: Bmat Dec 29, 2004 - 10:51 am | | http://www.shunn.net/writing/coach/format.html
This seems a good summary. It mentions italics several pages down and says to underline.
I found the link in a search engine under italics manuscript, so before taking the word of one person you should probably check a few more places.
My English professor once told us that we were to underline things that should be italicized. Of course, this was after I had already written my essay...and I had italicized the italicized bits (which academics for some reason think is impossible when the essay is handwritten) rather than underlining them. Of course, my handwriting looks very similar to typed print (albeit in a sans-serif font). Luckily, she accepted it as it was.
If you underline the italicized bits, what do you do to the underlined bits...italicize them? *blink* Academic English never made sense.
| Posted By: Magus Dec 29, 2004 - 08:33 pm | | 
For italics, it really depends on the publisher. Most publishers want you to underline words that will be italicized, and to put a wavy line under words that should be underlined.
I'll handle the italics question first, you must underline italics so the copy-editor knows they are to be italics because italics themselves don't show up as a substantial difference between the normal text. It also makes for easier reading. Most MSS formats are relatively the same, except some will want a different font. Bold texts is supposed to have a hand-written curvy line beneath it. Sections that are indented, like long soliloqies should be indented every line. Paragraph beginnnings should be indented, and the entire MSS should be double-spaced, 10-12 pt font, most ediotrs prefer courier because the letters are evenly spaced. Be sure to check their guidelines when submitting to them first because some do request different guidelines, although those mention above are standard. The article referred to is commonly accepted as correct, but if you want more, here are more sites.
http://www.wildsidepress.com/OnWriting/format.htm
http://www.fictionwriters.com/tips-formatting.html
"None too friendly of nature." - I think this is fine.
"Looked about himself." - I'd omit himself and just have "Looked about." It helps reduce word count and is just as concise.
"On some foul errand." - This one is fine as far as I can tell too.
"Threw out his staff." - I must agree with BMat here, "Thrust his staff forward." is more concise.
Wow. Thanks for all your help! Underlined it is.
I'll look up those sights. I have questions with accnents, as I am not exactly sure how they are used.
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