Some Thoughts on Line Editing

Jemma Hartman is finally moving on to line editing! Now, for our viewers who aren't authors, editors, or for that matter, involved in bookmaking at all, you may be wondering what line editing is. Mom explained that all her revisions up to this point dealt with the content of the story. She had to make the story the best it could be. With line editing you focus, not on the story, but on the writing element. For example, you may correct:

Sentence Structure

Paragraph Breaks

Punctuation

Good Vocabulary Words (I sound like my language arts teacher)

and Other Stuff That I Really Don't Know

Basically, you need to make the writing as good as the story. It's a pretty big job, but luckily, Mom doesn't have to do any of it. That's all up to her editor, Beverly. All Mom will have to do is look over Beverly's changes and approve them or suggest something different. Mom really likes that arrangement, and I don't blame her. Imagine if I had a line editor clean my room. I could just sit back, read a book, and nod my approval every once in a while. "You missed a spot there... and there... and one more over there."

If you could have a line editor do your work, what would you have him do?

Well that's it for now. Sammy Ferber, signing off!

My New Year's Resolutions

Well it's a new year, a new beginning. Since Faith asked me about my resolutions for Rosh Hashana, here they are:

First, I have a confession... I am a little bit of a liar. :( I wish to change that this year. *Cheers and thunderous applause* Truthful Sammy once more!

I also want to improve my skills as a performer. It's not as if I don't like being in front of people, I LOVE THAT! But I would like to work on my acting, singing, and dancing skills. So far I have been in about 12 productions. It's so much fun!

So those are my resolutions. What about you? Even if you're not Jewish, which I'm sure refers to lots of you... make a resolution anyhow. (My dad makes new resolutions about his diet all the time. Lookin' good, Dad!)

Mom Takes Dictation

I have a confession to make... I'm not actually writing this blog entry. My mom is. I'm dictating to her while I polish silverware. "Why am I polishing silver?" you ask. Because we are having Rosh Hashana dinner on Wednesday. (That's the Jewish New Year)

My mom can be really really annoying sometimes. As I am polishing this silver I am thinking what can I be doing that's better right now? The answer: everything. Mom's answer: nothing.

Rosh Hashana is great because you get to eat really really good food, have fun with your family, eat really really good food, skip school, and eat really really good food.

Please don't hate me for being a lazy blogger. I am slow and I always procrastinate. I am also just plain lazy. Here are the ways I've procrastinated blogging lately:

1. There's nothing good to write about.

2. I say, "I'm busy."

3. I say, "Later."

4. I say, "It's Sammy's turn."

Mom says I don't have to blog anymore if I don't want to. But I want to keep blogging because I think it's really cool when people that I don't even know give me positive comments about my writing. Also, my teacher, Mr. S., is looking at this blog, and I want to impress him. Hi Mr. S!

Just an update... I am now polishing a spoon.

The other day, Mom made challah. Yay! She doesn't make challah that often. The best part of her making challah is that she makes three loaves each time: one poppyseed (yuck! They get stuck in your teeth and then you look ugly), one plain (yum!), and one monkeybread. "What is monkeybread?" you ask. It's the most amazing bread in the world made with challah dough, tons of margarine, and Pinch of Herbs seasoning. But here's the bad news... they don't make Pinch of Herbs seasoning anymore, and Mom just used the last bit of it on this loaf of monkeybread. (Wah!) That's supposed to be a crying sound but Mom isn't very good at typing out sounds.

Empty container of Pinch of Herbs. :-(

Now it's Faith. Mom's on the phone with my great grandma. I gave up on polishing silverware. My fingers are prunes! To go off topic, online bullying is not cool! :) Well, yeah I think this pretty much sums it up. Happy New Year!

P.S.
Sammy - next blog entry: Tell me what your Jewish New Year's Resolutions are.