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Novel Drafts

By jelewis8 ⋅ November 3, 2003 ⋅ Post a comment

I’ve had a number of nitpicks with my first entry, one of which is in the comments. Chris rightly points out that Hemi is a Chrysler engine, and would not probably be in a Chevelle unless it was modified, and this is unlikely in 1951. Brian notes that a Colt .45 is automatic, not semi-automatic, that a sawed off shotgun would be difficult to conceal. His suggestions were to replace it with a .38 special, a .357 Magnum, or something else I don’t quite remember (Brian, please refresh my memory).
These are the kind of editorial comments I need, and will be vital come rewrite time. However, as a general rule, I will not be editing any of my draft excerpts until November is over – it will allow me to write without having to hassle over details. My goal is 50,000 words, and not all of them have to be right the first time.
So, I’ll be leaving comments on for every entry – if you spot something that’s wrong, confusing, or downright stupid, let me know. It’s the only way this will work.
Hope you enjoyed the prologue, and prepare yourself for a rockin’ beginning to Turnpike Blues (title tentative).

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Discussion

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  1. More nitpick…the Chevelle wasn’t introduced until 1964. http://peachstatechevelles.com/history.html
    1951 would have pretty much entirely different style cars than the traditional 60’s/70’s muscle car. For instance, http://classiccar.chooseyouritem.com/classics/files/58500/58941.html

    Posted by Chris | November 3, 2003, 10:29 am

  2. Actually automatic/semiautomatic are often used to indicate the same thing in a handgun. Either the phrase ‘the chamber rolled around’, specifically “roll” would indicate a revolver, hence the suggestion for something with a revolver caliber (.357 magnum, .38 special, .44 magnum) or a different phrase (‘the hammer fell on an empty chamber’) that can be used with an automatic. I’m fairly certain the .357 magnum was available in 1951, I’m not sure about the .44. The Colt .45 (ACP) was around in 1951, having been adopted by the military for the official sidearm in 1911 (hence colt model 1911).

    Posted by Brian | November 3, 2003, 3:50 pm

  3. Word. This is immensely helpful, gentlemen.
    re: Chevelle – I wrote the car in on the fly, not really thinking about the 50’s being a non-muscle car era, so good point there. Good thing I’ve got you as a fact checker.
    re: guns – I’m about as familiar with guns as I am with women (not at all) so I’ll be coming to you more with other gun quetions, if I should need it.
    At any rate, you guys are gonna get a free meal out of this when I’m done.

    Posted by Jeremiah | November 3, 2003, 5:13 pm