Monday, February 13, 2012

Plan B or...

I have a page or three of notes. I have a file with my editor's notes. I have a manuscript dotted with my editor's notes and corrections.

What I don't have is a sane brain. I have a case of the fuzzies where the ideas and notes are all racing around like hamsters on wheels or butterflies on speed. My mind can't seem to settle on one thing. You know that line, "Oh, shiny..." That's me.

I love my story. Shadows on Stone is one of my favorites. But the edits are turning into a nightmare--not because of my editor!!!--but because I have the attention span of a microsecond.

So I suppose you're wondering what Plan B is? Plan B is simple. I'll print out the manuscript (with notes and corrections), print out my editor's note sheet and take all the papers to the dining room table while the hunk goes for a doctor's appointment tomorrow. Then with my handy-dandy red pen, I'll write out my corrections in what we used to call longhand. Quite frankly, I really think better when writing stuff by hand rather than typing. I suppose that's a holdover from my school days.

When I first started writing (BC~Before Computer) I typed my stuff on a typewriter. Every single correction meant retyping the entire page or two or three. Corrections, revisions, and edits were really serious business. Typos could give you heartburn. Especially if you had to retype a page for one letter.

When I did revisions, it meant drawing neat little arrows to point to an inserted page where I wrote all the corrections with numbers and other arcane symbols that only meant something to me. When everything was corrected to my satisfaction, I sat down at the typewriter and typed. No thinking required.

If any of you have ever worked as a typist, you'll know exactly what I mean. I suspect my brain has reached the point where it refuses to do two things at once--think and type.

So. Plan B tomorrow! Onward!

anny (retired typist!)

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