Tuesday, April 10, 2012

The Editing Blues

Yes, I have them: the editing blues. Or rather, I have the "I wish my husband, who I asked to read my draft, would just get to it already" blues. He's buried in work, but that's nothing new.

The real trouble is, at the moment all I want is for someone to read the WiP and catch the typos and stupid word-switch errors I'm prone to. Like writing "many" when I mean "main." Or "sure" instead of "such." The problem with these kinds of errors is my eyes just whiz right over them when I'm revising.

And of course I don't have to have it done right away. But it's like an OCD thing. I think about it. I worry about it. I have to wash my hands over and over until it's dealt with.

I'm not ready, at this point, for an in depth beta-reading. It's too early to start obsessing over phrasing or word choice: I'm in first-draft sprint mode, as much as that's possible under the circumstances (with a baby who usually doesn't sleep longer than 45 minutes at a stretch--although today he's been down a while). So I don't want to beg an online writer friend to read it because I'm afraid they'll give me more feedback than I want right now/I don't want to use up favors too early on. I'm looking at you, Kathryn.

How about you? Do you feel compelled to deal with basic errors early on? Have you ever been stuck waiting for a loved one to do you a favor? What other sorts of writing or editing blues are you dealing with at the moment?

5 comments:

  1. You tagged me! You love me! OH, the validation, the rapture!
    Are you really just looking for someone to find the switchy words and typos? When would you need it by?

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  2. Hey Kathryn! Of course I love you. You are one cool chica. And I'm saving you for when I'm ready for more in-depth feedback. You're my favorite beta-reader!

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    1. You're on awesome possum, Sophia. "Possum" here means woman of the human species, synonym: chica.

      (what's a beta-reader?)

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  3. My guess is that the term "beta-reader" came from "beta-tester." When you develop software, it goes through an alpha phase, which is like a rough, rough draft, and then a beta phase, which is still a bit buggy, but pretty close to done. Beta-testers try to flush out all the bugs so it can be perfected. Beta-readers do the same to a manuscript. Alternately, you can see what wiki says:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_reader

    You, my dear, are a gem of a beta-reader. ;)

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  4. Well... I do like eating bugs. LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST!
    Thank you, Sophia.

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