Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Factotum 1st Draft is DONE!

Yes, just as the title says, it is true, finally (*rolls eyes*) filled with self-doubt and trepidation, I am finished climbing the mountain. Factotum MBT Book3 1st Draft is complete! Now all that is left is to climb all the way down the other side.

Now for some celebratory answers!

Sylvenger was wondering ... 'in the video from Youtube for Lamplighter, it pronounces Europe's name exactly like the continent "YUR-up". I don't know, when I read the books I just thought it would be pronounced with a little more sophistication, like "yoo-ROE-puh".'

Actually, when used ordinarily it is said "YOO-rup", though for more formal situations you will find it written Europa and said "yoo-ROE-puh".

Ben Bryddia was wondering "... how nearly the present editions of Books 1 and 2 match their original drafts. In hindsight, would you have written them very differently?"

The final volumes you all have read bear marked differences from the very first drafts, pace, detail, the fleshing out of a situation to enrich events and characters, the reduction or moving of detail to the Explicarium, the tightening of my language, refining refining refining have been the usual process for making a final draft of both of the previous two MBTs. Friends how have had the dubious 'honour' of reading the first and final drafts inevitably comment on the general air of tightness and little improvements throughout the final text. I am looking forward to the process of improvement for Factotum upon whose threshold I now stand.

We are getting there folks; thank you all for sticking in there with me and for you most excellent minds and your support.

42 comments:

portals said...

Excellent Work!
Hope the rest of the process is bearable.

tanita✿davis said...

Whoo HOO! Congratulations!
I am ninety-nine point nine percent to my own first draft finish line, and can't wait to feel the glee. Yay for you! (And yay for us! Can't wait to read it!)

Anonymous said...

Good morning Mr. Cornish,

Now that's news that we all love to hear! I'm sure you're just as excited as we all are for the new release! Congratulations, and remember, it is a first draft! That means you can still include a character or nicker named ellorneo in it!

Cheers!

cinemble - outfit worn by bogles pieced together from the outfits of teratologists that weren't quite successful in vanquishing them!

ms_ventress said...

Happy Dance. :)

Anonymous said...

I´m jumping up and down on the bench pulling my hair (Hope I don´t have to get a wig in 2010). I can hardly wait to read how it all turns out for the people in the book. I still have my fingers crossed that it will be a somewhat happy ending.

a Norway-story I learnt from an archevist: Do you know how you save a norwegian that´s drowning?

you don´t?

that´s good.


Well, it´s a bit raw, I know.

Anonymous said...

that's awesome, Mr Cornish! :D *congratulatory scream*
Now you only have a year or so of editing staring you in the face!
we await with optimistoc expectation.

meteg: a primitive apparatus made from a bucket and a plunger, used for washing clothes

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Mr Cornish! Always good to hear of a finished draft! Wishing you much enjoyment for the work to come on the Explicarium, character sketches etc.

Differlot said...

YEEEEEY. That rocks. Good job. hope we are not bothering you from thinking of ideas.
dinco- An award given to prestigious
authors that have the following words in the title, Monster, blodd, or tattoo

the Moribund Rose said...

Congratulations, Mr Cornish! I am looking forward tremendously to the release of Factotum.

RottenPocket said...

WhooHoo!

Now...

Another year to wait...

**faint**

portals said...

Anna- I love those Norwegian jokes. Tell me more if you can.

pearl said...

Hurray!


2010 seems too faraway. D:

Who made the MBT youtube trailer, btw?

Undway: A slang for "another solution"

Klesita said...

Congrats Master Cornish!! Just one step closer...

About Europe's name somehow (I guess because in its most formal way is Europa) I always end up pronouncing it in Spanish even in my mind... The phonetics you and Sylvenger write goes over the top of my head, sorry.

How you decide the length of the book? Is it a compromise between all the information you want to put there and what is commercially viable or more a question of the actual handling of the book that past certain amount of pages is not feasible to put together in just one volume?

Anonymous said...

Ok, I found a site on internet with jokes.

A norwegian proverb: what a norwegian knows isn´t worth knowing.

why doesn´t the norwegian find the icecubes?
He has washed them in hot water.

why isn´t there a roof over Norways aslylum for maniacs+
It´s hard to put a roof over whole Norway.

Why hasn´t norwegians water in their pools+
They are afraid of drowningaccidents.

Why does norwegian crawl around on the floor in the supermarket?
they are looking for low prices.

why does norwegian ride moterbikes in pyjamas?
they lie down in the curbs.

Why doesn´t norwegians write text on their cakes?
They can´t fit them in a typewriter.

Do you know why norwegian surgeons always wears rubbergloves?
They don´t want to leave fingerprints.

noelle said...

Congratulations Mr. Cornish! This calls for a celebratory cake. Unfortunately, I can't write "congratulations" on it like I wanted to because I can't fit the cake in my typewriter...

(love the jokes, Anna!)

Inghtho: a shockingly pink flower that tends to stain anything that comes into contact with it. Inghtho is extremely hard to wash out and it would make a very good dye, except that it starts to smell within one or two days of applying it. Beware of mixing it up with your white laundry!

Anonymous said...

Why does norwegian have the door open when they sit on the toilet?
So noone won´t look in the keyhole.

Why does the norwegian dress up when it´s lightning (and thunder).
Cause they think someone is taking a picture.

Why does the norwegians have 2 cardoors with them in the desert?
So he can open both to get a draft (?) if it gets too hot.

Why wasn´t Jesus born in Norway?
They couldn´t fin 3 wise men.

Why does the norwegians put their head in the washer?
They want to watch Soap.

Why does the norwegians sneak around in the pharmacy?
They don´t want to wake up the sleepingpills.

Why does norwegians put pregnancy-prevention pills in the windscreen washer fluid?
Cause they don´t want to have rubber on the windscreen wipers.

Why do they write norwegian books so slow`?
Cause they don´t read that fast.

What do you call a norwegian skeleton in the closet?
Last years hide-and-seek winner.


I was in town today on the annual booksale week. I had decided not to buy books this year but I got a wave of abstinence so I went and bought 4 books. I´m weak!

Pluffo said...

Huzzah!
There should be a song about book editors.
I happened to finish Lamplighter today, how lovely~
On a final note, I drew a sketch thing of Europe. Quite fun to draw, interestingly enough. Should post it on my deviant art sometime.

Keep up the fantastical work, Mr. Cornish. Much love from a relatively new fan.

Nate said...

I can't wait!
-coz

Anonymous said...

Well Master Cornish, tis is fantastic news. I eagerly await the release of Factotum, which I will buy and then sit down and read, oblivious to the world, until I have finished it.

Anna- the jokes are very amusing, thankyou for giving me a laugh.

Anonymous said...

I´ve got some more jokes if you´re interested.

They say a laugh prolongs the life.

portals said...

I love those norwegian jokes. Please tell us more, they really make me laugh.

Anonymous said...

Yes, more Norwegian jokes would be great.

Anonymous said...

ditto.


Mr Cornish- do you have a harder time writing something from scratch, or is it more frustrating to re-write it over and over?

Anonymous said...

Why do they bury norwegians with their butt above ground?
Cause they don´t have many places to park the bike.

“i would like to buy invisible ink” said the norwegian.
That´s ok, what coulor?

What´s the difference between a norwegian and a computer?
The computer only needs instructions once.

What is it that´s 1o km long and has an IQ on 23?
Norwegians in an demonstration.

Do you know what the norwegian said who was shot in forehead?
?
that was a close eye (not sure how to translate it correctly, says anna)

Do you know what it says on a norwegian calculation device when you take1+1?
Please, hold.

How do you recognize a norwegian aircraft in a snowblizzard?
They have snowchains on the propellars.

Sign over norwegian fireextinguisher: Please, try a week before fire.

Obligatory sign in norwegian lighthouses:
The last one who goes to bed turns out the light.

how could the norwegian ride his bike to death?
He tried to ride his exercisebike to work.

Norwegian to swede:
If you can guess how many cookies I have in this bag you can have all 4 of them.

How many norwegian is needed to wash a car?
2. One that hold the spunge and one that drive the car back and forward.

A very drunk norwegian is sitting in a bar staring on a fan.
Suddenly he burst out:
Jesus, how fast that watch is going.



This is the last of what I found on the joke site I found. As you see there is some spelling misstakes but I hope you get the meaning. some I wasn´t sure how to translate correctly.

RottenPocket said...

Hahah, yeah They're good, but some might need to be rephrased for the English Language.

Favourites:

What did the Norwegian say when someone's shot in the forehead?
That's a Bull's Eye!

A Norwegian sitting in a Bar was staring at a Fan. Suddenly he bursts out:
Jesus, how fast is that clock going?!

I still think it's funny how many of these are identical to Blonde jokes.

Delistei: Name of a prestigious family with dark secrets. Some say the entire line has history with Black Trades >_>

Oooooweeeeeeoooooooooooooo

Anonymous said...

'Norwegian to Swede: 'If you can guess how many cookies I have in this bag, you can have all four of them.'' XD

[not to ramble, but me and a few friends were playing the board game Clue one afternoon--it was very hot, so there may have been some excusable brain-frying going on--. Friend 2 made her suspicions known: place, weapon, and person.
friend 1 decided to share her dilemna with us both: 'I have to show her one of these cards, but I don't know which she needs more. Should I show the place, the weapon, or the person?'
sorry. it was funny.]


egastous: a miniature bellows-pump, carried in a discerning woman's handbag, to be tactfully used in dispelling flatulence-related odors

portals said...

Awesome, thanks Anna, I love them all.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Anna, those are hilarious.

Klesita said...

Hey everyone,

You think they are jokes but I have it from a swedish friend of mine that they are all anecdotes! LOL

Anonymous said...

Mr. Cornish.
Congradulations on finishing hte first draft!How many pages/words is it?

Query: Why did you name the South Pole of your little world Magog? What's the North Pole?

Ingelog: A nicker that, like a parrot, replicates everyman speech eloquently, but has absolutely no idea what the strange human noises mean. More than once do-gooders have followed cries for help and found a rather tempermental nasty amusing itself by making 'people calls.' Reports of such critters are, understandably, rare.

Anonymous said...

We have to see if a norwegian find this site, then you get swede-jokes.

To speak of jokes and such. There is a saying in Germany (I think) that to sit behind swedish curtains, is that you are in prison. well, to kill off that myth, swedish curtains aren´t always striped.

Anonymous said...

ENR, here when something almost gone wrong we say that it was "close to the eye" but it didn´/don´t sound right in english. Thanks for helping me correct them. It´s always hard to know how it sounds to and are understood by someone that has english as first language.

portals said...

I need to look for some good jokes...

Anonymous said...

Ben- if the H-c South Pole is Magog, possibly the North Pole is Gog? :)

xenes: the strange, fleeting feeling you get when talking to a friend, as if you'd never seen them before in your life

D.M. Cornish said...

Monday is a genius! Absolutely correct Gog is one of the names for the Harthe Alle 'north pole'.

portals said...

Interesting. On that matter, how are their cartography skills? Do they use their own system, or do they use a similar system to us?

Vahlaeity said...

Congratulations Mr Cornish!
Somewhat regularly throwing us lollies in the form of a choose our own adventure while we wait (desperately)for the goodie basket that is book 3 is a deliciously tasty idea :)

Reaster: THe feeling of frustration when one is prevented from achieving one's desired aim due to the interference of a supposedly inanimate and non-sentient object...
(grrr visual word request processor)

Anonymous said...

I have to buy a wig soon. I´m pulling my hair in frustratuion! 1 year and 2 months...sigh..

I think I´d look great in purple or green hair..hmm, got to think about that.

A, D and E said...

Wonderful news Mr Cornish!! I have no complete final draft, and am due to submit in July... me thinks you are in a better position!

Bring on the red ink,
:)

Jeffrey L Riffe said...

Right on, man. I wish you ease and good fortune on the remaining part of the process.
May your editing and revisions be swift and painless....

Michael said...

I fear that by the time Factotum comes out I shall be as bald as Dolours...or any other wit for that matter.

I need to break out a pencil and start some fan art

Kathryn said...

woooo! well done and congratulations!