A "Few Minor" Changes
I hate messing with my fiction once it’s “done,” but this was worth it.
After re-reading MORTAL COILS, I realized my two main characters acted older than they were—especially the way they dealt with familial treachery, violence, and the opposite sex!
So I ran the idea of bumping their ages from 14 to 15 years old by my editor at TOR books (the genius Eric Raab), and he agreed.
As I went through the manuscript, however, it wasn’t a simple matter of turning every “14” into a “15.” There were a hundred little things that had to be changed along the way to reflect this one-year bump. And in a 200,000 word novel, any little change snowballs into larger ones (as you can see in the picture).
The new corrected edition is now off to the copyeditor and we’ll have bound galleys to send out to reviewers soon.
One step closer to publication!
After re-reading MORTAL COILS, I realized my two main characters acted older than they were—especially the way they dealt with familial treachery, violence, and the opposite sex!
So I ran the idea of bumping their ages from 14 to 15 years old by my editor at TOR books (the genius Eric Raab), and he agreed.
As I went through the manuscript, however, it wasn’t a simple matter of turning every “14” into a “15.” There were a hundred little things that had to be changed along the way to reflect this one-year bump. And in a 200,000 word novel, any little change snowballs into larger ones (as you can see in the picture).
The new corrected edition is now off to the copyeditor and we’ll have bound galleys to send out to reviewers soon.
One step closer to publication!
posted by Eric Nylund at 7:16 AM
23 Comments:
Wow, that's one hell of a re-edit! But I assume that when you know every little detail about your story and the exact location where you can find it, it's a bit easier to change things.
Hello Eric! Just found your blog! Very nice! Glad to see you've got another project going on! I look forward to being able to read it in the near future! PS - I love your Halo books (big fan)
That's actually a nice thing that you have them act their age. I know I'm getting over the "they're kids but we make them act like adults!" wagon. I'm definitely looking forward to reading it. I vote for a launch party at the EMP Science Fiction Museum. Break the Queen out of her bubble and have her serve some drinks, make Neal Stephenson replace his exhibit with your stuff. I think it's doable. ;o)
Unsc trooper – nah, it wasn’t that bad. Only about 200 little red flag there. Besides, I enjoyed reading it again.
Odieturbo – thanks! Nice to meet you.
Nikoda – The EMP is a great idea. I wonder what an extravaganza like that would cost? Hmmm.
Anything that gets it one step closer to publication is a good thing.
Wow. Man, that had to have required a LARGE amount of attention to detail!
Looking forward to reading it one day!
That's very true about the attention to detail. I think that that might just kill me, though I suppose there are certain things that you just have to do in order to be able to make it as a writer.
man, and i thought the edits on my honors comp papers where rough...any way, im going to ask a question that im sure you have been asked a thousand times, (and have heard that line a thousand and one...) BUT, here i go anyway...if i have a short story set in the Halo universe, where should i send it for consideration for publication?
Hello Eric!
Do you think it's better to edit a chapter before you proceed to the next? That should at least cut down the mess.(I think)
Speaking of fanfics... yeah, where can I send them? And do I need an agent?
Angel – it’s not that bad. You work on something for a year, you get to know it pretty good.
Dangerusdave—remember this is a 200k novel. You work up to a project this size.
Nasty—Microsoft’s licensing / Bungie have previously handled all the decisions on what HALO fiction is published. At this time (as far as I know) there is no place to send in fiction for consideration. In the past Microsoft’s licensing / Bungie have approached established writers to work for them and have not been open to receiving unsolicited submissions.
Arthur – everyone works differently when it comes to writing. Some just plow ahead on their rough draft to the very end. I tend to give things a quick chapter by chapter edit. Then I do a larger edit on sections (about an eight of the novel) before I hand those chunks off to my first reader. RE: fanfic. I don’t know. I would suggest asking on the forums of one of the fan sites like halo.bungie.org.
Man that really sucks you gotta go and revise it again. Cant wait till it gets Published though.
BTW, if you get an email that says "Requesting Permission" that is from me
It's been some time for me since my last visit. Concerning the blog, thank God everything is digitized, eh?
While I have no intention to encourage spamming of your blog, I saw this and thought you might find it humorous. It's an Engineer's Guide to Cats. Pretty funny stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXBL6bzAR4
I just read Halo First Strike for the second time but not yet done. I feel sorry for those Spartans who died,(what a waste) I hope they don't go extinct.
Say, Eric, in case bungie hires you to write lyrics for any Halo Franchise(movie or video game) to serve as an OST, would you accept it, and how's Mortal Coils Doing?
Benjamin Scott – hey man. Nice to see you!
Nikoda – thanks!
Arthur – lyrics? I think you mean write story/dialogue for their videos games. I can’t see myself coming up for lyrics to Marty’s scores ;) (sorry I can’t answer hypothetical questions like if I would go work for Bungie while I’m employed at Microsoft Game Studios! Hope you understand.)
Mortal Coils is great! We’re starting to gear up the publicity/marketing campaign. It’s a long road ahead before publication date...and I have another novel due before then, so I’m staying extremely busy.
Do you know when you'll do another part of that audio interview that you started doing for Mortal Coils? Also, do you think that you'll do any sort of book tour or marketing tour throughout the country?
another novel? what is this that we have to look forward to? can you even hint at it yet, or is it too far away?
and thank you for the answer. i cant tell you how great it is to actually be able to "talk" with one of my all time favorite artists through their blog. thank you for taking the time.
Dangerusdave—yeah, I know I need to get the next part of that interview out. Just so much actual writing to do! Syne and I have been toying with the idea of doing a video interview for the second portion.
Re: Book tour. The truth is that doing book signings is a sad affair for most of us less-than-famous authors. You show up, do your reading or talk, and maybe three people show up over the course of two hours. Or people come up to you thinking you work at the bookstore and ask where the bathroom is. Or they’ll pick up your book, ask what it’s about, and then set it back down saying it doesn’t sound that interesting to them. By and large these are not healthy experiences for the author.
On the other hand, I had a great time at last year’s comic con where about a hundred people showed up to have me sign books.
I’ll discuss with my editor and see what kind of strategic events we can do.
Nasty—no hints yet. It’s going to be a while before even Moral Coils is out, so no need to talk about the book that comes out _after_ that one. Happy to chat anytime, btw.
Just wondering.
What particular book is Halo 1(video game) based on?
Or are the video games independent of the books? I'm confused.
The books are based on the video games.
Good to see the book getting closer to being published, Eric. Can't wait to see it out!
And Arthur, the tie-in book to Halo 1 is Halo: The Flood, by William C. Dietz. The other Halo novels written by Eric and Staten are in fact side-stories, but they're not independent from the games.
You're already working on your next book? Now there's a writer we all have to learn from.
As long as Mortal Coils is coming out this year, i think we can wait.
For you to mention those experiences of yours at your book signing events, Mr Nylund, just shows how strong a personality you possess. For this, i beleive a day will come when you'll have fans in long queues waiting to get their books signed.
Besides this, my publisher has just confirmed that my book will be out this month. It's titled INVADER.
And like I said, VERY HIGH expectations.
Let me know if you ever come out to Pennsylvania for any sort of book signing or anything, because I would travel anywhere in the state for that.
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