Friday, I spent most of the day doing final edits to An Eye for Detail. How many times can I read and re-read a story and find more typos, sentences to rewrite or silly mistakes? Well, more than I would have hoped, actually. This is the frustrating and less glamourous task in writing. This is where I really find out if I actually like my characters. This one is a keeper; she will be returning in other short stories I am certain. I am not sick of her as yet.
I have now read the story about fifteen to twenty times ( I actually lost count) and my proof-reading for the week has read it about seven, including four times just today! I think he is a bit 'over it' as well. Each time, he found errant commas, missed words or doubled up words (I was getting tired when I last re-worked it). My favourite was one of the main characters greeting the other with "Good morning," when it was actually in the late afternoon. Hmmm... that was corrected promptly.
On the penultimate pass, I decided that those few sentences that had been really annoying me, as they did not quite track, were toast! I rewrote them and finally I am at peace with them. Interestingly, my proof reader had mentioned that there was something nagging him but he could not quite pin it down. On the final read through, he admitted that it was no longer an issue; I then told him about the rewrite (just a couple of words changed and re-shuffled). "Ah!" was the response.
So, that was my exciting Friday. Polishing up a short story. While I still think it is not perfect (I never do), it is at a point where I had to either send it off for judging or ditch it and rewrite the entirety. For better or for worse, it is done. I faced my fear of rejection; It has been sent and now I can rest while my brain subconsciously tries to find another scene to add to my next short story...
Onward and upward.
No comments:
Post a Comment