Tuesday, April 19, 2011

10 Lies You Might Tell Yourself While Editing



10. The front door changing colour half way through the manuscript is obviously symbolic.

9. Strangely, the same symbolism seems to be at work with the colour of your protagonist's hair.

8. The three afternoons on one Wednesday explains why Wednesday seems so long.

7. The best friend that you thought was funny and wise actually comes across as snide and self-absorbed. Wow. Multi-layering.

6. Every character expresses surprise in the same way. This shows we're all the same inside.

5. The sagging of pace in the middle is compensated by the rushing of the ending.

4. You can't have too many "that"s.

3. No one will notice the giant plot hole. You didn't notice it when you were writing it.

2. That extreme coincidence which helps your protagonist leap to the necessary conclusion could really happen. It could. It could, it could, it could.

1. You'll be finished editing by the end of the week.





14 comments:

  1. Sure, bring this up now while I'm editing 3 different manuscripts. Actually, I've got professional editorial eyes on them, since I've already dealt with your 10 lies on the first go-rounds.

    Terry
    Terry's Place
    Romance with a Twist--of Mystery

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  2. Terry; You're editing three different manuscripts? My hat is off to you. Good for you for getting those professional editorial eyes.

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  3. Elspeth - I love these things to tell yourself! Here's one I always use: That character name change? It's called an alias. Characters sometimes go by aliases!

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  4. I'm in editing hell right now so I totally relate. I've probably tried to tell myself all these things at one time or another.

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  5. Margot; I *love* that! It's true, characters do go by aliases and aliases are always a surprise.

    Anne; I'm so glad I'm not alone! Best of luck with your editing.

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  6. Ha! I'm editing one now, so this is timely. :)

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  7. Yes! This could work, right? Thanks for the giggles.

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  8. I've just fallen into my plot hole :(

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  9. That's so funny! That post made me laugh.

    That's are fantastic and I think that that's should be used in abundance because that is worthy movement to champion and get behind. That is my calling in life and that is soo who I am. That post was so interesting that I think I will retweet it so that all my friends can that the lies that they are hiding behind is slowly ruining their work.

    (Stupid that's--always popping up in my work. What's with that?) Sorry couldn't help myself.

    ~Angela

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  10. 5. The sagging of pace in the middle is compensated by the rushing of the ending. ROTFL

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  11. Good one. I keep kidding myself about how soon I am going to finish. LOL

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  13. LOL. It's a fine line between laziness and frustration. Great post. Thanks for sharing.

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  14. LOL. I'm right there as I review my MIP and rewrite!

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