Monday, July 12, 2010

From LiLa-ctionary: Edit Brain


 1edit brain 
Pronunciation: \ˈe-dət\ \ˈbrān\
Function: transitive verb
Etymology: Skype conversation between the sister-writers Lisa and Laura Roecker, commonly referred to as LiLa
Date: July 2009
1: complete inability for normal brain function following excessive editing of manuscripts 
2 : emotional detachment and inability to interact socially while consumed by editing your novel 
3: inability to come up with thought provoking or entertaining blog posts while engaging in the act of editing  
4: a temporary affliction caused by removing an excessive number of gerunds from an 80,000 word manuscript
5 : the direct result of living off of Diet Coke and Twizzlers for weeks at a time while attempting to make constructive changes to a manuscript
6 : the complete and utter neglect of wifely and motherly duties in order to improve a manuscript. Common symptoms include large piles of laundry, dirty floors and bringing your laptop to the gym

Suffering from edit brain is a bitch. (See that, Loretta? Another gerund!) As a result our posts may be particularly disjointed and random this week. Enjoy.

30 comments:

Lenny Lee said...

hi miss lila! i like that combo name. its cool! im more lucky than you cause one of my brothers edits all my writing. so editing doesnt get in the way of me doing stuff like swimming playing baseball and going to the movies. i even went on a cruise for three days last week. you guys just gotta loosen up on that editing stuff so you could get more done and have some fun.
...smiles and hugs from lenny

Anonymous said...

Most of those things aren't just symptoms of editing, fyi. And unless you're taking the laptop or notepad into the bathroom with you because hey, it's five minutes or so to sit down and write/brainstorm undisturbed, I think you'll be okay. Yes.

Katie Anderson said...

Oh man, edit brain scares me.

Dianne K. Salerni said...

I'm pretty sure I suffer from #2 and #6 at *every* stage of the writing process.

Matthew MacNish said...

Are you trying to pretend you don't LOVE editing? Who do you think you're fooling?

Martina Boone said...

You girls constantly keep us laughing! Love it!!! Thanks for the entertainment that all writers can relate to!

S.A. Larsenッ said...

Love this!! Hey, have another Twizzler. Hee...

Tess said...

edit brain ... oh yes, I know it well. thanks for the giggle and good luck w/ the work!

Amanda Bonilla said...

HAHAHAHA! You guys CRACK me up! That made my too early Monday!

Stina said...

LOL I'm sending this link to my hubby, though he knows the signs by now.

Okay, off to the edit cave I go *grabs her six pack of Diet Coke*

B.E. Sanderson said...

So that's what's wrong with me. Edit Brain. Thanks. Now I can explain to my husband why the kitchen looks like a disaster area. And why it isn't my fault. ;o)

Candyland said...

Is this any different than Mommy brain? I've suffered from that since before pregnancy:/

storyqueen said...

Ahhhh edit brain!!


Methinks I have revision brain...and methinks it could be worse than edit brain.

(Obviously, it is, since I thought it was okay to use methinks TWICE...er, um, THREE times within this post.)

Shelley

Zoe C. Courtman said...

*snarfs* "inability to interact socially while consumed by editing your novel". Yep, that's me. In fact, I apologized to my hubs yesterday because if I'm not wandering the house in a novel daze, I interrupt our conversations to talk incessantly about my MS. Sigh.

Jemi Fraser said...

I know how your brain feels - mine's in the same zone. It's not pretty around here!

Elissa J. Hoole said...

I'm going in right now! *buys twizzlers* (don't worry, neither my family nor my home will know the difference between my edit brain and my "just gotta finish this first draft before I start on edits of the other book" brain.)

JEM said...

The worst part is when you change something so significantly during edits (what? no, of course I'm not talking about me) that you have to go back and EDIT your EDITS. Yay....

Lisa Desrochers said...

I feel your pain. Wait till the sequel, when your marketing bk 1, editing bk 2 and writing bk 3 all at the same time.

Pass me the Advil, please. O_O

Tere Kirkland said...

Oh, those pesky gerunds! DO they multiply when you're not looking? What the hey?!

Lucky for me, I'm living in drafting land after spending months in edit-brain-mode. My brain is pleased.

Conda Douglas said...

Oh, you have my sympathy, empathy and laughter!

Marsha Sigman said...

I am in shock that your actually going to the gym still.

I am boycotting all exercise. I want to sit on my couch until my muscles atrophe...except for my hands 'cause I have to type.

XiXi said...

Haha, secretly you are pleased that you have edit brain.

Okay, I know that excessive gerunds are bad, but can someone explain to me the precise literary reason that gerunds are bad? Just curious.

Carolyn V. said...

Oh my gosh! I think I might have caught it! I was wondering why I had such a large pile of laundry. =) hee hee.

Susan Kaye Quinn said...

Love it! Now, if I could just get the hubby to understand this affliction ... ! :)

kah said...

Edit Brain is worse than a brain freeze.

Take two shots and write til early morning! :)

Loretta Nyhan said...

Hey, Icy Roses!

My bad! The term I was looking for was "participle phrases." Gerunds are --ing words too, but they function as nouns. Participle phrases kind of function as adjectives. Here's an example:

Climbing into my car, I dialed my boyfriend on my cell phone.

The problem with these is they can get tedious and repetitive.

Lori W. said...

Eeww. Not fun. Were you taking your laptop into the gym for the free child care by chance? Hope you recover soon.

Sharon K. Mayhew said...

You guys are sooo funny!

Little Ms J said...

I had to log on to Dictionary.com to search gerund. Sadly, I'm still not sure how to use it or if I would be doing so effectively should I try.

Books Dudes Will Read said...

Are we sure "edit brain" is a transitive verb? It sounds more like a common noun to me. Not to add more pain to the brain entry here...

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