Proofing the galleys, I mean.
This takes a while.
What you have is a copy of the manuscript,
your manuscript,
and YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FIX IT
your manuscript,
and YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO FIX IT
except for typos.
If I could SEE the bloody typos I wouldn't have made them in the first place, now would I?
All I can see are things that it is too late to fix. Hah!
All I can see are things that it is too late to fix. Hah!
I find this frustrating and become forlorn.So I am including a picture of my cat because my cat is a very restful and centering creature even though she has the intelligence of bovril.
Jo, it's nearly impossible to proof your own work. Your eye sees what's supposed to be there rather than what is--I don't know why brains work that way (bad brain!), but they do.
ReplyDeletePlus, you can't resist reading for substance, which is the kiss of death when you're trying to catch typos. It's an entirely different part of the brain.
I'm sure your betas have your back. And your dim kitty, of course! :D
I feel your can't-see-the-typos pain. As Annie says, our minds know what we meant to write, and kindly pretend to see it that way when we proof read.
ReplyDeleteMy bad habit is leaving out words when I get to typing too fast. Of course, I make up for it by doubling up on other words, especially the small ones like "the" or "and." So at least my word count is probably accurate.
I haven't yet had the pleasure of reading galleys, but I suspect it would be agonizing for me not to tweak minor plot points and sentence structure as I read through.
Aw, Joanna, don't become frustrated and forlorn! Typos are asexual reproducers. They bud and split off once we hit send, no matter how we try to control them. And as for the other stuff--your readers will be so sucked in to your story, they won't even notice those small details you wish you'd handled differently--and the odd reviewer who might? Well, they live to pick, so just consider it an act of generosity to them . . .
ReplyDelete:) Ev
@ Ev and Annie and Linda --
ReplyDeleteI was going to post here, but then I kept on writing and the box didn't get any bigger. So I figgered I'd take the message up and make a post about it.