Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Going Cross-Eyed!

Okay, I'm going to make this short. I'm in the middle of final round proofs, and I have to say I feel a bit squirrelly right now!
I don't know if I mentioned it, but the release date for Yesterday's Tomorrow is March 15th!
One day I will stop talking about my book, I promise!

Do you know that no matter how many times you read through something, you will never pick up on all the mistakes you should. Isn't that awful?
That's why I'm so thankful to have a really good editor.

Here are some things I am learning.
1. I still love my book.
2. I really love the word inch/inched
3. I really love the word 'swallow'
4. Search, find and destroy, are my friends.

AND I will have the trailer posted SOON. I just got a first glimpse today,
and I'm SO EXCITED!
I have to admit, as an unpublished author I never anticipated just how much work there was to do in getting a book into print. I'm pretty sure I never want to be an editor.

So how do you proof-read your work? Do you think you ever reach 'perfection'?

13 comments:

Melanie said...

I'm a big fan of 'so', 'very', and 'really'.... this is not a good thing ;)

Good luck! Hope you have a great day!
Melanie

Keli Gwyn said...

It's fun to feel your enthusiasm, Cathy. No wonder you're excited. Your Release Day is exactly one month away. Wow!

I'm an odd duck in that I enjoy editing almost as much as I do writing. Since I worked as a copy editor in my pre-motherhood days, I guess it makes sense. Just call me the diva of detials. =)

Lindi said...

Cathy,

I like the 'search and destroy' method.
My fav words are but, and, that. I have to constantly look for them. And Yeah on your book coming out!!

Cindy R. Wilson said...

Hey Cathy, I haven't had the chance yet to stop by and say congrats again now that you have your release date. How exciting! Oh, and I like the look of your Web site, too. I'm happy to help with any book promoting if you need any more influencers :)

Lisa Jordan said...

Cathy, don't ever stop talking about your book! You don't know whose heart may be needing to hear about it at that particular moment!

Your enthusiasm is wonderful. I know this has been a long journey for you, and it's finally paying off.

We all have our pet words. And you're so right about the search feature!

D. U. Okonkwo said...

I totally get what you're saying in this post. Fact is, nothing can ever be perfect - especially not something we create. I've found that striving for excellence instead of perfection is the way forward!

Looking forward to seeing your video trailer for your book - who did it for you?

DUO

Catherine West said...

I have to say that TOO much editing can be dangerous. By the time I got done last night, around midnight, I was starting to think I'd written a boatload of steaming sewage. And all the words start to look the same after a while!! But I'm amazed, given the amount of times I've been through it, the stuff I didn't see. But oh well, it's done now and off we go!!!

Rosslyn Elliott said...

Wow, Cathy, I can't believe how quickly everything is moving for you! It's exciting!

No, we will never reach perfection. I was shocked when I saw my galleys. Thank goodness I had one last chance to correct stuff.

Heidi Willis said...

Hi Cathy! Wow! Congratulations! Sounds like everything is coming up on you fast, in such a good way!

I remember the editing phase at the end, and the read-throughs. I don't think I saw my family for two weeks! And I cried every single time I hit a certain chapter, so I figured that was a good sign. :)

Thanks for stopping by my blog! I can't wait to watch the next months unfold for you! :)

Unknown said...

Repeated words are one of my most dreaded tics - mostly because I'm so ridiculously blind to them. I rely on the sharp eyes of my critique partners - and also tools like WordCounter.

Catherine West said...

Ah, yes, those word counters are great! i have one in my word program - yesterday I searched for 'shrugged'. I got 27. LOL. I could go on but it's way too embarrassing!

Beth said...

Catherine, what you said "Do you know no matter how many times you read through something you'll find all the mistakes..." My CP and I have been talking about this forever. That is so true, so how do you know when it's time to query?

And by the way don't ever stop talking about your book.
bethfred.com aka ur newest follower

G Blechman said...

I actually kind of love editing. I make a list of all the words that I think I use too much and put them in the word finder. I'm currently editing my most recent novel, and I just got it back from my friend who is ridiculously good at editing, so I enjoy going through all of her edits. It's such a great opportunity to learn about ones own writing.