Eva Pasco's Blog - Posts Tagged "editing"
One Step Further along the WRITE Direction
Having previously alluded to the 8-plus-year journey of writing my second novel in the genre of Women’s Fiction, I’m one step further along the WRITE direction in 2016:
March 31st - Submitted AN ENLIGHTENING QUICHE for publication.
May 13th – Received the first electronic galley proof to read, revise, and edit.
May 31st - Submitted the first proof along with an accompanying master correction list of 93 edits.
June 24th - Received the second electronic galley proof to pour through.
June 27th – Submitted the second proof along with an accompanying master correction list of 9 edits.
July 27th – Received the third electronic galley proof, and thus far, have come across 5 minor “hyphen” bugaboos.
Mind you, all of my edits are minor and more than likely unnoticeable.
Yet, to the exclusion of much else, I intend to hunker down until I read the entire document with the magnifying lens of an editor’s third eye. Far from perfect, I’m undaunted in affecting the obsessive compulsiveness of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, exorcising my pangs of conscience:
“Out, damn'd spot! Out, I say!”
March 31st - Submitted AN ENLIGHTENING QUICHE for publication.
May 13th – Received the first electronic galley proof to read, revise, and edit.
May 31st - Submitted the first proof along with an accompanying master correction list of 93 edits.
June 24th - Received the second electronic galley proof to pour through.
June 27th – Submitted the second proof along with an accompanying master correction list of 9 edits.
July 27th – Received the third electronic galley proof, and thus far, have come across 5 minor “hyphen” bugaboos.
Mind you, all of my edits are minor and more than likely unnoticeable.
Yet, to the exclusion of much else, I intend to hunker down until I read the entire document with the magnifying lens of an editor’s third eye. Far from perfect, I’m undaunted in affecting the obsessive compulsiveness of Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth, exorcising my pangs of conscience:
“Out, damn'd spot! Out, I say!”
My Last WRITES
Ave mundi spes Maria, ave mitis, ave pia, ave plena gratia--the reverberating Latin lyrics from a Gregorian chant accompany my adieu as I conduct the third and last read-through of the final eProof for my upcoming Women’s Fiction novel, ,An Enlightening Quiche.'
A perfectionist who has never claimed holier-than-thou status, “My Last WRITES” is a euphemistic blog title at this stage of production. Meaning, any picayune peccadillo pertaining to punctuation or hyphenation will remain intact posthumously for all eternity. Even though I’ve unearthed a case scenario for a comma being neither here nor there, I will not hold up publication for two weeks just because I’d feel better if the correction team removed a comma after “plaid” in this sentence:
I placed all of my eggs in one basket, ultimately basing my decision on an opinion rendered by the man clad in a plaid, flannel shirt.
Anticipating the final send-off, and a waiting period of approximately four weeks for eBook and Print conversions, I’ll soon send out an open invitation on social media asking for a few volunteers to read the PDF file and write a review ready for posting at Amazon on the date of my book release.
Meantime, in support of kindred indie authors, I’m reading and reviewing books written by those I’ve befriended or interact with in my groups at Facebook. Likewise, I’m hitting the “like” button, commenting, and even better—sharing posts on my wall to celebrate a cover reveal, new release, author interview, book review, giveaway, or other milestone event.
To all other indie authors immersed in the proofing process, may you minister the last WRITES through pragmatic editing short of overkill.
A perfectionist who has never claimed holier-than-thou status, “My Last WRITES” is a euphemistic blog title at this stage of production. Meaning, any picayune peccadillo pertaining to punctuation or hyphenation will remain intact posthumously for all eternity. Even though I’ve unearthed a case scenario for a comma being neither here nor there, I will not hold up publication for two weeks just because I’d feel better if the correction team removed a comma after “plaid” in this sentence:
I placed all of my eggs in one basket, ultimately basing my decision on an opinion rendered by the man clad in a plaid, flannel shirt.
Anticipating the final send-off, and a waiting period of approximately four weeks for eBook and Print conversions, I’ll soon send out an open invitation on social media asking for a few volunteers to read the PDF file and write a review ready for posting at Amazon on the date of my book release.
Meantime, in support of kindred indie authors, I’m reading and reviewing books written by those I’ve befriended or interact with in my groups at Facebook. Likewise, I’m hitting the “like” button, commenting, and even better—sharing posts on my wall to celebrate a cover reveal, new release, author interview, book review, giveaway, or other milestone event.
To all other indie authors immersed in the proofing process, may you minister the last WRITES through pragmatic editing short of overkill.
A Writer’s Wrinkle Z-app-er!
An Indie author who foregoes the latest “editing” tools, preferring to rely on my own analytic powers, I came across the grandmaster of editing apps the other day.
http://blog.bookbaby.com/2018/07/how-...
“More than just a grammar and punctuation checker, it’s also a writing coach that can point out your weaknesses and help you turn them into strengths”—such as—and, I’m slapping myself silly:
“The editing tool reports on issues that most human editors wouldn’t be able to easily track, such as readability level, inconsistencies, sticky sentences, sentence length, repetition, strong or weak tenses, unique words, transitions, and much more.”
And, the issue of “pronoun overload”. Brought out: 15% of the words in published writing are pronouns, and fewer than 30% of sentences begin with an initial pronoun. Since writing that relies too heavily on pronouns can sound stilted, the editing tool shows if your work has higher percentages than these.
Mind you, I don’t doubt the effectiveness of any “writer’s wrinkle z-app-er”. However, like Botox, heavy reliance can induce “stiffness of sentence” and detract from the writer’s unique voice.
In that regard, I’ll continue to exercise my own critical judgment in assessing the effectiveness of grammar, punctuation, and use of pronouns. Steering clear of artificial intelligence, I’ll persevere by writing and editing without intervention.
Eva’s Byte #332 – Bending the Rules
Five years in the making, I’ve finished drafting the manuscript of my novel in the genre of Contemporary Women’s Fiction. I’m currently in the throes of my second round for giving 104,073 words a thorough going over.
In the process of reading it aloud to proofread, edit, and revise—pesky flies in the manifestation of grammar peccadilloes have been bugging me.
For instance:
Marital title abbreviations in writing dialogue
Paraphrasing The Chicago Manual of Style--the fact that dialogue is spoken doesn’t mean everything has to be spelled out for the reader. If the word is normally abbreviated, and the reader would know how to speak the line, go for it: Ms. Smith; Mrs. Smith; Mr. Smith etc.
Representing numbers in dialogue
This stemmed from my quandary over whether to write 911 or nine-one-one.
Paraphrasing The Chicago Manual of Style—in order to be rendered in speech, an expression must be spelled out. Numerals should not appear in dialogue.
In view of the fact that doing the right thing often seems wrong, this piece of Chicago advice works for me:
The general idea is to bend a rule if it isn’t working well—a useful tenet for all writing.
For me, consistency is key, even when bending the rules to my own justification.
*When deemed necessary, may bending rules of grammar better our efforts in conveying the story we aim to tell.
My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
In the process of reading it aloud to proofread, edit, and revise—pesky flies in the manifestation of grammar peccadilloes have been bugging me.
For instance:
Marital title abbreviations in writing dialogue
Paraphrasing The Chicago Manual of Style--the fact that dialogue is spoken doesn’t mean everything has to be spelled out for the reader. If the word is normally abbreviated, and the reader would know how to speak the line, go for it: Ms. Smith; Mrs. Smith; Mr. Smith etc.
Representing numbers in dialogue
This stemmed from my quandary over whether to write 911 or nine-one-one.
Paraphrasing The Chicago Manual of Style—in order to be rendered in speech, an expression must be spelled out. Numerals should not appear in dialogue.
In view of the fact that doing the right thing often seems wrong, this piece of Chicago advice works for me:
The general idea is to bend a rule if it isn’t working well—a useful tenet for all writing.
For me, consistency is key, even when bending the rules to my own justification.
*When deemed necessary, may bending rules of grammar better our efforts in conveying the story we aim to tell.
My sincere appreciation if you’ve read this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: https://tinyurl.com/yycm7d2w
Eva’s Byte #479 – A First Time for Everything
Although the movement to go braless gained momentum in the 1960s, this conventional child of the Sixties never did—until the other day.
There’s a first time for everything!
While out and about, a mishap occurred. I’d become unhinged. Rather than conduct the rest of my business in a half-hearted, lopsided manner, I discreetly gave the offender the slip inside my vehicle, with no one the wiser.
Spurn, baby! Spurn!
Then, getting over myself, I cruised the aisles of the supermarket in blissful anonymity.
NEWS FLASH: In the capacity of a writer, I finished drafting my Contemporary work in progress. I’m in the process of editing.
*May each of us defy conventions which no longer fit our mindset.
My sincere appreciation to you for reading this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: http://www.authorsden.com/evapasco
There’s a first time for everything!
While out and about, a mishap occurred. I’d become unhinged. Rather than conduct the rest of my business in a half-hearted, lopsided manner, I discreetly gave the offender the slip inside my vehicle, with no one the wiser.
Spurn, baby! Spurn!
Then, getting over myself, I cruised the aisles of the supermarket in blissful anonymity.
NEWS FLASH: In the capacity of a writer, I finished drafting my Contemporary work in progress. I’m in the process of editing.
*May each of us defy conventions which no longer fit our mindset.
My sincere appreciation to you for reading this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: http://www.authorsden.com/evapasco
Eva’s Byte #480 – Round Two
Not a knock-down-drag-out fight!
It’s round two for editing my finished draft in the genre of Contemporary. Nearly three years in the making right after I’d published Etta’s Fishing Ground on October 11, 1921, my latest writing endeavor is coming to fruition.
A pantser all the way from beginning to end, part of my lengthy writing process entails fine tuning every nuance along the way because it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!
The method to my madness makes the editing process fly through the air with the greatest of ease. I’m basically trimming the fat, and tweaking here and there.
I won’t be ready to submit for publication until I’ve given the document at least one more round of editing.
One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready for this cat to go!
*Blue suede shoes notwithstanding, may each of us put our best foot forward in any creative undertaking.
My sincere appreciation to you for reading this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: http://www.authorsden.com/evapasco
It’s round two for editing my finished draft in the genre of Contemporary. Nearly three years in the making right after I’d published Etta’s Fishing Ground on October 11, 1921, my latest writing endeavor is coming to fruition.
A pantser all the way from beginning to end, part of my lengthy writing process entails fine tuning every nuance along the way because it don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing!
The method to my madness makes the editing process fly through the air with the greatest of ease. I’m basically trimming the fat, and tweaking here and there.
I won’t be ready to submit for publication until I’ve given the document at least one more round of editing.
One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready for this cat to go!
*Blue suede shoes notwithstanding, may each of us put our best foot forward in any creative undertaking.
My sincere appreciation to you for reading this far.
Eva’s Authors Den Page: http://www.authorsden.com/evapasco
