I am Indiana Jones: Revision Update . . . sort of

[jpskewedthrone]

So last night, after teaching, I intended to go home, sit down, and work on revisions until chapter 12 was finished. I've only got 2 more chapters. A good push would finish things off.

So I turn the computer on, begin reading . . . and the phone rings. I answer, not for me, start revising again . . . and the phone rings again. THIS time it's my editor. She's got the preliminary cover art for the book and needs to ask some detailed questions about my world. We chat, I answer all the questions (Do the men have tattoos on their faces? Is it metal armor or leather armor? How long is their hair? We need to get across that magic is going on here, so any ideas how to do that when the magic is invisible?), and hang up. Back to revisions. Phone rings. Editor again. The artist is having problems with the new standing position of the woman. In particular, he's confused about exactly what her dress looks like. Could I send a detailed, head-to-toe description of the dress?

Of course.

She needs it right away, she'd like to go home sometime that night.

OK. Hang up. Sit down . . . and immediately realize I know absolutely nothing about women's dresses. No technical terms, nothing. I only mentioned two unique features of the dress in the book because I thought they sounded cool. Notice the total lack of practicality in that statement. So I do a rough sketch of the dress (I can hear you laughing comixboy), then try to describe it. The only thing remotely close to a real dress term used is "bodice". Perhaps "sleeves". I did take into account that women have breasts and tried to work around those, although my experience in this department is limited to non-existent. I tried to make her sound sexy and powerful and arrogant and a bitch. Using only clothing. I think I did a pretty good job.

It took me half an hour.

So I emailed that to my editor, who said it sounded good to her. By then, my urge to revise had been squashed and spat upon, so I played Ticket To Ride online for the next hour with evil, evil jennifer_dunne. (Evil because she tempts me away from revising with games.) I won 2 of the 5 games. Jennifer won 2 of the 4 we played. The fifth game was us along with 2 others we didn't know. We both lost that one.

In any case, I woke up early this morning and got busy with revisions because last night was such a bust and got 2/3 of the way through chapter 12. It's a 50 page chapter, so that was pretty good. Hopefully I'll have the revisions done this weekend. That's the goal anyway.

And now for the Indiana Jones moment of the day: After revising this morning, I got around for work. I locked the front door, made sure the back was locked, then went to the garage and opened the garage door. I park outside, so I usually hit the garage door button, duck under the closing door, and walk to my car as it closes. I do this, but as I straighten up outside, reach into my pocket . . . and realize I don't have my keys. I don't have any keys. If the garage door closes, I'll be locked out of my car and the house.

I spin, I lay down flat on the ground, and I roll under the last closing foot of the garage door. DAY SAVED!

After dodging the rolling ball of death on the stairs and replacing my keys with a bag of sand, then dodging poison darts back out through the garage door, I managed to get to my day job on time.

All in a day's work, eh?

Comments

[rugor.livejournal.com]

Nice one,

I like the quick spin and roll. Quick thinking saves the day. Though I wonder how your clothes looked after the roll (I know I would have rolled into a puddle of oil if it were me even if I was successful).

Congrats, and I hope the revisions go well.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Actually it was pretty quick thinking for me. I hope that means in an emergency situation I might survive.

No puddles of oil, thankfully.

Revisions are going good. Almost done, which is a relief. All the really hard scenes to fix are done, so . . .

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

"I did take into account that women have breasts and tried to work around those,"

Sorry man, *dies laughing*!

"By then, my urge to revise had been squashed and spat upon, so I played..."

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not alone in that pattern. :-)

Way to go Indiana Josh! That made a fun story. :-)

[krteilman.livejournal.com]

Hey darlin. just for your info, you do have a costume designer for a friend.

Feel free to pick my brain anytime you want.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Ooo! Didn't know this. I'll keep it in mind for the future. Would have been extremely helpful last night.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Actually, if you had a recommendation for a really good book with lots of different styles of dress and such throughout time, that could come in handy for me in the future. Something with lots of pictures of the clothes.

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Here's what I use:

What People Wore: 1,800 Illustrations from Ancient Times to the Early Twentieth Century by Douglas Gorsline

A Pictorial History of Costume From Ancient Times to the Nineteenth Century : With Over 1900 Illustrated Costumes, Including 1000 in Full Color by Max Tilke, Wolfgang Bruhn

Plus a few specific to the eras I'm writing about-- I did a bunch of Greek/Roman research for The Chronicles of Josan.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the reference material. What People Wore seems to be very popular. I'll have to check them all out.

This post also seems extremely popular. I'm glad I can entertain occasionally. *grin*

[pbray.livejournal.com]

Oh, another reference I like is "The Chronicle of Western Fashion from Ancient Times to the Present Day" by John Peacock, with over 1,000 color illustrations. It's very good for Medieval and Renaissance era, and I like that it covers a rang eof classes from what the nobles were wearing to merchants and then peasants, farmers, etc.

By the way, Binghamton University has a decent selection of costume & fashion history books. Don't know if you still have borrowing privileges there, but it's an option.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

Browse through the art and drama sections of your local bookstore and used bookstore. You can thumb through the books to see what you like.
You could hit up your university library too and see what they have.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I'll have to do this more often now. I didn't realize these issues were that important. But I guess they would be for cover art.

[aeriedraconia.livejournal.com]

I enjoy descriptions of clothing and fabrics and hairstyles. Its one of the tiny little things that bring me depth and solid imagery. (And historical clothing is a hobby of mine). :-)

[krteilman.livejournal.com]

These are the books I have used in the past;

20,000 Years of Fashion by Boucher ISBN: 0810916932 It's a bit pricey but worth it.

Complete History of Costume and Fashion: From Ancient Egypt to the Present Day
ISBN: 0816045747

What People Wore is also a good book of overall fashion history.

Some good websites are
http://www.milieux.com/costume/
http://www.costumes.org/
http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/history.html
http://www.elizabethancostume.net/

These sites should give you a link to any time period you think you need, and some you may not.

I can help out with clothing piece names and how they were worn etc. especially with how fabric hangs, what it would do in specific situations and the like. Also if you ever want a sketch of something blah blah blah, I would be more than happy to help ya!

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Wow! A plethora of reference material! Thanks for all the suggestions.

And now you have been tagged for special favors in the future: you will be my costume designer for all future books. I will work you like the minion you are! Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!

[krteilman.livejournal.com]

That will be fun! Being a costume designer who never actually has to sew the costume is a really good thing!!! All the fun, none of the work!!

I will be your minion anytime darlin!!!

the breast line shoudl be metaquoted

[libwitch.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. I love your herosim, both about working around breasts and the garage door trick.

This looks interesting: http://www.costumepage.org/tcpinfo2.html

This is a list of catalouging terms for costume collections - it has rough sketches so it might help you decide upon the individual pieces of a costume -
http://www.costumepage.org/tcpinfo2.html

Re: the breast line shoudl be metaquoted

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the links! I'll check them out and use them for future cover art issues. (And I hope there's lots of those.)

[endelarin.livejournal.com]

That is so funny! All you need is a bullwhip to complete the picture...

And I'm glad I'm not the only one who uses a few cool-sounding details to evoke a costume but doesn't necessarily have a sketch of said outfit floating about.

A couple books I use (not that I know anything, just that they come with lots of pictures and some cool-sounding terms to throw about) are What People Wore, by Douglas Gorsline, and Medieval Costume in England and France: The 13th, 14th and 15th Centuries (because, as we know, those were cool centuries for costumes).

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

The What People Wore book has been recommended by more than one person, so I'll definitely have to check that out. And the others recommended by people as well of course. The cool thing about research books is that they're tax deductible. *grin*

Glad I could be amusing.

garage door roll

[lhynard.livejournal.com]

awesome

[lhynard.livejournal.com]

I have designed the clothing for my world rather thoroughly. But, unlike you (not to brag, just stating), I researched the proper terms for everything. My problem is that when I have tried to describe them to men or women, they often don't understand the proper terms. To me, a corset and a bodice are not the same thing, for example. When I went shopping for my fiancée for Christmas, even the women working in the stores did not understand my descriptions of what I wanted. It was frustrating. It seems that unless people design clothes, they won't know the terms.

So, basically, don't feel bad.

[jpsorrow.livejournal.com]

I'd research the terms and stuff . . . if it was important for the story. Since their clothing generally doesn't help advance the plot or character much, it doesn't really get mentioned except in general terms.

THIS dress however was supposed to exude arrogant power, so I spent a minute or two in the book trying to make it exude that by mentioning a few unique items of the dress. This is apparently what caused the problems. I couldn't use the correct terms even then, because the book is in the first person and this person wouldn't have any idea what the correct terms would be, but still . . .

[lhynard.livejournal.com]

1st person would make things difficult, yes.