March 19, 2018: Missed deadlines

   My second revision was supposed to go back to the editor a week before it actually did−my deadline, not my Editor’s; still I missed it. I finally finished my second read-through of the 383 page novel that will soon become Blood Money­−the first in the Baker Manor series, and I found edits every single time. I was thankful to find them, but horrified at what I was missing. Small mistakes−a comma where a period should be, too many “shes” beginning a sentence, (one of my downfalls!) and misplaced quotation marks abound.

I can’t help but compare the read-throughs as the difference between driving a red corvette with a souped-up engine and a rusty outer shell vs. one with a good-looking body that won’t run. If I’m chugging down the road, limping on four bald tires, and blowing smoke out the exhaust like there’s no tomorrow, what good does it matter if the face looks good? (Disclaimer: this is not intended to reference in any way, shape, or form my vast-approaching old age!)

Science tells us the mind is capable of scanning entire blocks of words in a matter of seconds, but often leads to less comprehension. Proofreaders, on the other hand, are expected to read slowly and catch every misplaced comma, every incorrectly placed word, and every incorrect verb tense.

Today’s software programs offer great tools in proofreading, i.e., spell-check, find and replace, and grade level; however, hard-copy reading is still the best way to go. At least in my humble opinion−or IMHO (what did we do before emojis and acronyms? We certainly wouldn’t be able to have a decent text conversation with our grandkids, that’s for sure). For now, Blood Money is back to the editor a’waiting the next go-round; not sure what that is, but, well, time to pursue another contract.😉