Nov 27 2007
If you want my advice…
Upon finishing a manuscript to the best of your ability, before you send it to any agents, editors, or contests, put it away. Write another book. Put that first one completely from your mind. After a couple of months, you will no longer remember word for word what is supposed to be on the page, and typos overlooked the last 50 times you read the thing will leap to your attention.
In the event you ignore the “before you send it” portion of this advice and discover, months later, after writing that other book and re-reading the first for a continuity check, a veritable plague of typographical errors, no matter how distraught and filled with self-loathing you become, do not chuck the offending manuscript across the room. You won’t feel better about wasted postage and lost opportunities after you’ve broken something and have to pick up a ream of paper.
If you thought the bet/bed typo was funny, get this one: gut instead of tug.
Yes, poor Lia has entrails in her hair. She’s the kind of gal who would be fussy about that sort of thing, so her reaction as written was entirely inappropriate…
Fear not. I am in no condition to inflict more poetry upon you.
This was particularly crushing because, with the exception of a few unnecessary speech tags that had to die, I was thinking, “Cool. I’d read this.”
And I know, realistically, five typos in 100,000 words isn’t going to stop somone who is otherwise impressed from reading more, but it’s sloppy and certainly can’t help.
Off to remove desk splinters from my forehead…
9/30
11/4
11/4
11/25