Thursday, September 23, 2010

some note on Vesper's reply

i received the manuscript red all over and i liked it :))))
it means Vesper have thoroughly combed it, and found, i suspect, all the grammar mistakes.
i don't mind my grammar corrected - i use less english these times and my knowledge is failing. i have to get back in shape.
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as for vocabulary, i'm so glad she checked it, too. at times i must have picked a words from a Hungarian- English dictionary without actually checking the words current meaning in one of the online English-English dictionaries. it is a great advice to check the words before using them the only trouble is you (=someone who's native language is not English) are never sure about which words to check... sometimes you have a rare word, you think you know the meaning, but you are wrong.
i think i've got to be more careful with rare or old words.
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reading some occassional 'very nice image' among her inserted comments pleased me quite much :)))
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and in some places my writing was not clear enough.
i will have to go through the text, which i will do gladly.
here's one example. the original text is interrupted twice by Vesper's remarks.

The stand [V1] was still soaked in the darkness of the night and the trees kept hissing [V2]

[V1] I’m not sure what you want to say here.

[V2] Interesting choice of words…

for V1, the stand refers to the place where Hail (the main character) spent his night. this stand is mentioned in a couple of sentences before. Hail has already left it. perhaps this reference is late and should be inserted a bit earlier. 'being soaked in the darkness...' is supposed to mean that it is still dark. i know 'soak' refers to a thing/object/material/textile being saturated by some liquid, but i thought it would make a nice and fresh expression.

for V2, for 'hissing trees', i went for something to express how the small branches and leaves kept rustling, crackling among one another. i wanted to add a sense of danger.
perhaps i was wrong with that idea.... perhaps this just doesn't work in English.
:)
i will have to revise and possibly re-place this sentence.
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finally, i would like to express my thanks again for her.
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2 comments:

Charles Gramlich said...

I kind of like the "hissing trees." It's a mood thing. It suggests a certain malevolence.

SzélsőFa said...

it does, doesn't it, Charles?
some words and word combinations are still out ther, waiting for us to make them...

thank you for reading this somehow lazy summary...