In Other Words

Rambling about Ramblings

Poor Banana Superhero Girl is going crazy. She's typing out a book for Fish's mother in law and it is driving her absolutely up the wall. She's spending a few hours a day typing away at it and another hour complaining, groaning and rolling her eyes about what she is typing. It would be quite funny if it weren't for the fact that I get to be the target of most of the complaints, groans and eye rolling.

I can understand where she is coming from, though. I try to help her out by typing an hour or so a day (I try, anyway, its come to about two or three hours a week) and it drives me absolutely up the wall as well. Its like the woman is constantly on drugs while she is writing the book. Missing words, sentences and punctuation marks a plenty. She also has, as yet, not figured out some of the most basic rules of grammar and spelling. For instance 'your' and 'you're' is always written as your. Variations of there are also always written as there and so forth.

I mean, I realise that my grammar isn't the best in the world and I do make the 'occasional' mistake (especially with then and than), but she just takes the cake (and eats it to!).

What has annoyed me the most, however, is the character's conversations. Till now in the ten or so pages that I've typed I have not been confronted with one normal conversation. In every single conversation you just have to wander if the participants are even talking to each other at all, or if there is another unwritten party talking back to them, whom they are responding to.

Then there is the way she does conversations. Basically they are exercises of the 'he said, she said' variety. Not just once or twice, mind you, but this woman will gladly write 'he said, she said' about fifteen times in a row (with an occasional 'she replied thrown in 'to spice things up').

I mean, I'm impressed that she managed to write the book. Its always impressive that somebody can sit down and just write away for such a long time. I have trouble doing it (which is the primary reason that I'm not a very good writer), but tenacity does not make up for talent.

But then, of course, I might be completely wrong and this book might soar to the top of the charts as one of the best books about nothing ever written (it wouldn't be first time that happened).

Still, seeing Liana go cross eyed is only entertaining for so long. Especially when she starts venting (and I get to be her proverbial punching bag). I better try and help her get this thing out of the way, cause its turning into a bit of a cat in a bag metaphor, where Banana is the cat and our apartment is the bag.

'When you think you have snake in bag, but are not sure, putting hand in bag is worst way to find out.'

posted by Symbol @ 19.4.05