EDITING IS IMPORTANT--AND DIFFICULT!

  

I have completed the manuscript on which I’ve been working, RACHEL, and have heard back from my editor and beta readers. What a relief to complete this book and have it near publication. Life kicked me in the teeth and delayed finishing this book by six weeks.

I had severe vertigo that made sitting at the computer difficult. Actually, vertigo that made life seem like a permanent ride on the tilt-a-whirl made doing anything hard. You can imagine how relieved I am that my doctor and physical therapist have reduced the dizziness to a few minutes when I first get up each morning. 

When I worked for a newspaper years ago, reporters weren’t allowed to proofread their own copy. Because we knew what it was supposed to say, we could miss omissions and errors. Now that I’m writing romance novels, this is certainly true.

Coming this week

I have poured over RACHEL a dozen times, yet each beta reader and my editor found more things to correct. Then, as I’ve made changes, I found more things we missed. That sounds like the book was riddled with errors, but that's not the case. I want each release to be as perfect as possible. 

For instance, with RACHEL I used echo (something I hate) words too often. In case you don’t know what that means, it’s when a descriptive word is used in one sentence and then used again a few sentences later and later and later.

Goofy Example:
I wanted to talk to you at church this morning but there was no chance. That’s why I waited for you outside the church. There were too many people outside the church, so I had to see you later.

I seek new ways to express myself without using the same words/phrases over and over. I also hope to eliminate weak words like felt, just, seem, and other telling instead of showing words. With each book I subconsciously (or unconsciously) overuse a word. In this book, I used “just” and "so" and "all" a gazillion times and had to go back and delete each one. Perhaps that’s an exaggeration. Perhaps not. ☺

Me at work, assisted
by one of my three cats

Editing a book is not as hard as writing. However, it is an important and difficult job. A good editor is worth his/her weight in gold—and often charges that much. Each of us authors wants his/her work to be as good as humanly possible, or we should. That means an editor is a necessary part of the writing process.

That said, producing an error-free work is impossible. No matter how BIG the name, all authors have occasional errors in their published works. When humans are involved, there will always be errors.

In spite of that fact, authors strive to have our writing in a form that lets you read without having to stop and question a word or sentence or reread for clarification. We want you to immerse yourself in the story and be entertained. I recently stopped reading a western historical romance because of the anachronisms and plot errors.

In our family, we call this a wall-banger because the errors are so frustrating we want to throw the book against the wall. Since I usually read from my Kindle, throwing would not be a good thing. However, moving to the next book is easy.

What do you do when you read a book with a lot of errors? Do anachronisms and plot errors bother you? Do you finish reading a book that includes them?

I'll be giving away an e-book of RACHEL, Bride Brigade Book 5 to one person who comments on this post.

Caroline Clemmons is an Amazon bestselling and award winning author of contemporary and historical western romances. Sign up for her newsletter here to be informed of new releases, contests, and giveaways.