Resource (Sorta): The Mighty Thog!
Hey, everyone --
You'll have noticed that, in my (I hope) charmingly anal-retentive way, I aim my editorial red pen unerringly at sentences in which a clausal mismatch causes a character to sprout a second head (see BoP chapter 4 :-). I wasn't born recognizing such things. In fact, I am proud to say that a great deal of what I know about editing I learned from Thog the Mighty, Scourge of Misplaced Modifiers and Other Egregious Examples of Tortured Text. (That is to say, the very entertaining David Langford, initially assisted by Paul Barnett.) If you don't know Thog, I suggest you become acquainted with him here. You'll learn a lot, if you can stop laughing long enough to transfer the information from short- to long-term memory.
A sample from "Thog's Masterclass", published in every issue of the SF fanzine Ansible:
• Dept of Atmospheric Physics (or, Accretions of Black Air). `"I've only seen Dask fly when it's late," Kindan said. "My father said something about how the atmosphere condenses at night, and air gets thicker." / Master Zist nodded. "That's so. I've heard the dragonriders say that it's dangerous to fly too high at night -- the air has gotten thinner there. Perhaps the watchwhers are adapted to fly at night, and have smaller wings because the air is thicker then."' (Anne & Todd McCaffrey, Dragon's Kin, 2003) [AK]
• Read My Lips Dept. `An expression of inexpressible shock crossed his face ...' (James Blish, `There Shall Be No Darkness', 1950) [CG]
• Eyeballs in the Sky Dept. `His eyes climbed the tower of rickety scaffolding above him. It rose six stories, almost to the top of the church's rose window.' (Dan Brown, Angels & Demons, 2000) [EM]
• Dept of Fuseli's Influence. `An emotion he identified as frustration sat on his chest. He ignored it.' (Elizabeth Bear, Hammered, 2005) [HC]
• Fashion Dept. `She indicated the skintight black-spotted orange fur jumpsuit she was wearing, with open circlets on each leg revealing patches of skin up to her arms.' (Alan Dean Foster, Bloodhype, 1973) [JK]
Read enough of this and you'll become paranoid about your own syntax ... in a good way, I mean. No, really. Stop looking at me like that.
Share and enjoy!
Liz
You'll have noticed that, in my (I hope) charmingly anal-retentive way, I aim my editorial red pen unerringly at sentences in which a clausal mismatch causes a character to sprout a second head (see BoP chapter 4 :-). I wasn't born recognizing such things. In fact, I am proud to say that a great deal of what I know about editing I learned from Thog the Mighty, Scourge of Misplaced Modifiers and Other Egregious Examples of Tortured Text. (That is to say, the very entertaining David Langford, initially assisted by Paul Barnett.) If you don't know Thog, I suggest you become acquainted with him here. You'll learn a lot, if you can stop laughing long enough to transfer the information from short- to long-term memory.
A sample from "Thog's Masterclass", published in every issue of the SF fanzine Ansible:
• Dept of Atmospheric Physics (or, Accretions of Black Air). `"I've only seen Dask fly when it's late," Kindan said. "My father said something about how the atmosphere condenses at night, and air gets thicker." / Master Zist nodded. "That's so. I've heard the dragonriders say that it's dangerous to fly too high at night -- the air has gotten thinner there. Perhaps the watchwhers are adapted to fly at night, and have smaller wings because the air is thicker then."' (Anne & Todd McCaffrey, Dragon's Kin, 2003) [AK]
• Read My Lips Dept. `An expression of inexpressible shock crossed his face ...' (James Blish, `There Shall Be No Darkness', 1950) [CG]
• Eyeballs in the Sky Dept. `His eyes climbed the tower of rickety scaffolding above him. It rose six stories, almost to the top of the church's rose window.' (Dan Brown, Angels & Demons, 2000) [EM]
• Dept of Fuseli's Influence. `An emotion he identified as frustration sat on his chest. He ignored it.' (Elizabeth Bear, Hammered, 2005) [HC]
• Fashion Dept. `She indicated the skintight black-spotted orange fur jumpsuit she was wearing, with open circlets on each leg revealing patches of skin up to her arms.' (Alan Dean Foster, Bloodhype, 1973) [JK]
Read enough of this and you'll become paranoid about your own syntax ... in a good way, I mean. No, really. Stop looking at me like that.
Share and enjoy!
Liz