I\u2019m still putting the finishing touches on my Klepto Cat Mystery number 3\u2014Sleight of Paw<\/i>. Yesterday, I was stunned to discover that my chapter numbers weren\u2019t matching up.<\/p>\n
Now this is something I often catch in manuscripts when I\u2019m editing for others. Somewhere along the process, the author moves a chapter, deletes one, adds one, shortens one, etc. And then he goes along his merry way writing. Sure, he reads through the manuscript another twelve, twenty-five or eighty times, but he may not notice that he has two Chapter Tens or that Chapter Three is missing\u2014it jumps from Chapter Two to Chapter Four. It\u2019s easy to miss. And I had been missing it in my own manuscript. I had two Chapter Sevens.<\/p>\n
I caught it, though. Yay! Only now I wonder what else have I missed that I haven\u2019t stumbled upon, yet? I\u2019ve been saying the author\u2019s prayer\u2014\u201cPlease don\u2019t let me overlook something in my manuscript that will come back to haunt me or embarrass me.\u201d<\/p>\n
My message to you today is be ultra-diligent in your self-editing. Edit, edit, edit and then edit some more. Let your manuscript rest for a while and then look at it again. Invite those extra sets of eyes. They will catch things you have missed. Why does the author often miss crucial errors or flub-ups in his\/her own manuscript? As a writer-friend often says, \u201cYour eyes see what your brain expects to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Do you sometimes wonder how you could have overlooked a glaring mistake over and over and over again? That\u2019s it. \u201cYour eyes see what your brain expects to see.\u201d Some say we actually see with our brain\u2014our eyes are just the brain\u2019s tools. Interesting concept, huh?<\/p>\n
Okay, so you know I\u2019m about to publish another novel. I\u2019m also in promotion mode with the novels and other books I\u2019ve already published over the years. This month, I\u2019ve been revving up my social media standing. I\u2019m gathering more Facebook friends and Twitter followers. I\u2019ve also had two more reviews for Catnapped<\/i> and Cat-Eye Witness<\/i> just this week. Reviews and our responses to them are interesting. When I get a negative review, I say, \u201cOh well, that\u2019s just an opinion.\u201d And I shake it off.<\/p>\n
When it is a rave review, I take it at face value as if it was some sort of truth or fact.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m Patricia Fry. I\u2019ve been writing for publication for 40 years and I have 40 published books. I\u2019ve been guiding authors through the writing, publishing and book promotion process for nearly 20 years. And I\u2019ve been writing fiction now for a little over a year. Check out my Klepto Cat Mysteries at Amazon.com. They are on Kindle only. Visit me at Facebook. https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kleptocatmysteries\u00a0 <\/a>and follow me on Twitter. https:\/\/Twitter.com\/authorplf<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m still putting the finishing touches on my Klepto Cat Mystery number 3\u2014Sleight of Paw. Yesterday, I was stunned to discover that my chapter numbers weren\u2019t matching up. Now this is something I often catch in manuscripts when I\u2019m editing for others. Somewhere along the process, the author moves a chapter, deletes one, adds one, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,4],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t