So What Exactly Are Copyedits?
We'll get to that. But first, let me give you a glimpse into my day yesterday and my morning so far. Yesterday: Overwhelmed. No way. There's NO WAY I can do all this. Okay, I can, but holy CRAP, it's going to be HARD. This morning: Denial. Copyedits? What copyedits? Oh, I'm sure they'll be easier than I thought yesterday. Plenty of time. Oooh! Let's read blogs! Then, after a quick glimpse at the manuscript. Or...maybe I should sit down right now and make a list of the changes. As a matter of fact, I'm facing two major things (a timeline issue and a whodunnit issue)...maybe I'll work on everything but them right now, then fix those later.
So...what are they? Well, a spiffy copy of the manuscript, covered in various notes and Post-Its that your editor and copyeditor believe will improve your manuscript, basically. As you can see, it's not pretty.
But I'm grateful for every sticky note--I'm one of those sick individuals that loves to be edited, to be taught what I'm doing wrong and how to make it better. For instance...apparently, I don't use enough commas--which is weird, because I've always thought I used too many.
So now that I've reviewed the notes, I'll add my own Post-Its with any changes I want, stet anything that I don't want changed ("stet" is latin for "let it stand"--it's what you write when you want them to leave something unchanged), and with any luck, turn in a gorgeous manuscript by my deadline (I'm actually hoping to beat it by about a week--two reasons: 1) family is coming to town and 2) I like impressing people by beating deadlines).
But first I'll need three things: 1) my trusty orange pencil, 2) a can of Diet Pepsi (okay...several cans), and 3) my desk...because I'm sure I'll be banging my head against it several times this week. Okay, back to staring at my copyedits and willing them to correct themselves.
So...what are they? Well, a spiffy copy of the manuscript, covered in various notes and Post-Its that your editor and copyeditor believe will improve your manuscript, basically. As you can see, it's not pretty.
But I'm grateful for every sticky note--I'm one of those sick individuals that loves to be edited, to be taught what I'm doing wrong and how to make it better. For instance...apparently, I don't use enough commas--which is weird, because I've always thought I used too many. So now that I've reviewed the notes, I'll add my own Post-Its with any changes I want, stet anything that I don't want changed ("stet" is latin for "let it stand"--it's what you write when you want them to leave something unchanged), and with any luck, turn in a gorgeous manuscript by my deadline (I'm actually hoping to beat it by about a week--two reasons: 1) family is coming to town and 2) I like impressing people by beating deadlines).
But first I'll need three things: 1) my trusty orange pencil, 2) a can of Diet Pepsi (okay...several cans), and 3) my desk...because I'm sure I'll be banging my head against it several times this week. Okay, back to staring at my copyedits and willing them to correct themselves.
posted by Heather Brewer at 7:35 AM
9 Comments:
You can do it! And, I'm sure you'll beat the deadline by more than a week ;)
Nice to know someone believes in me :)
I'm not sure what's worse your stack of post-its, or staring at the first ten pages you've written and realizing you need to go back and restucture it from word one and thinking the whole time that this rough start does not bode well for things to come... blech. You know what sailors say about red skies at morning.
Oh my god just the picture scares me. Good luck.
Chris--both have their share of horrors. Hmmm...red sky at morning, sailor take warning? I should be good--my hubby was Air Force. :)
LA--the really scary part is what's written on those Post-Its...*shivers* ;)
Something I have to look forward to I guess.
With any luck!
So, how's it going, sweetie?
It's going--32 items left on my list, as well as the timeline issue. Onward!
Post a Comment
<< Home