Comments on: Editing tip of the day #8

By: kate r

kate r — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:09:16 +0000

oh, damn you Chris Redding. You said that days ago.

By: kate r

kate r — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 19:08:19 +0000

well ya know she MIGHT work closing shift at a Burger King that’s been robbed enough times. Of course she’s going to automatically check every person as they walk in, past that tape measure in the door. Huh? well? How about that sort of heroine?

By: BT Keeney

BT Keeney — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 01:55:03 +0000

I dunno, I’m not sure I agree with y’all on this one. I’m five-ten and I definitely notice a man’s height and I can certainly estimate it pretty closely on first meeting or at a distance. Maybe for women of average height, it’s not big deal and they really can’t tell. If you have to crane your neck up to everyone then five-eleven isn’t that much different than six-three.

But to some of us, yeah, we notice:).

By: Candice Gilmer

Candice Gilmer — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 18:20:10 +0000

Giggle, giggle snort… Yeah, I’m thinking I agree with you on both points.

By: Chris Redding

Chris Redding — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:43:56 +0000

Maybe she met him in a Domino’s Pizza where they have part of a yard stick on the wall by the door. It’s there so that if you get robbed you can tell the police how tall he was.

And yes, because I dated all men over six foot, I actually have an uncanny ability to tell how tall they are when I stand next to them. But I realize I’m in the minority.
cmr

By: Alyssa

Alyssa — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 20:25:28 +0000

I tend to avoid naughty-bit lengths, but I’m pretty sure I have a line in my latest NaNo about the hero being six-three–and yep, it’s from the heroine’s perspective. Must do something about that.

By: Grace

Grace — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 15:05:11 +0000

Thank you! I see this a lot in romance novels and could never figure out how the heroine would know this. I always thought that was strange and why, when I described my hero’s height, I kept it very general.

By: Karen Scott

Karen Scott — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 11:52:54 +0000

Oh, and along the same line, she wouldn’t be able to give the exact length of his naughty parts either. Just saying.

And yet so many authors (especially of the erotic romance variety) do just that.

By: Elle

Elle — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 01:21:08 +0000

That describes my husband

By: Megan

Megan — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 23:02:59 +0000

And that’s what makes you a good editor, that you can spot that kind of stuff.

I’ve only said things like “He was tall, taller than X, who was the tallest guy she’d ever seen” My heroines, like me, are estimate-impaired. Explains my last boyfriend, actually.