Maureen Bush

Phone Editing

I just spent an hour on the phone with my editor, doing one more round with the page proofs for The Veil Weavers.

I had a digital version of the page proofs so we could flip pages easily, and even do searches to see whether a particular word had been used nearby. And still I found it difficult to work aurally.

I’ve noticed this before – I think best if I can see and manipulate the text.

Some edits I managed just by reading, and some I typed into a Word file, so I could see them and play with alternative phrasings. But I tired quickly.

We were also horrified to be finding typos. Still! Arghhhhh. How can they be so elusive? As a reader I hate typos – the lack of attention to detail makes me distrust the writer and the editor. So the thought of any making it into the printed book makes me shudder. The question is: will any elude us?

Maureen

Finished Proofing

All the corrections for the page proofs are in the mail. Now I’m really almost totally done editing The Veil Weavers.

There will be the inevitable phone calls, as other people find odds and bits to correct or consider changing, but this may be it for paperwork until the book itself arrives next spring. Or not. There’s something oddly unpredictable about publishing.

Maureen

Page Proofs

I’m pouring over the page proofs for The Veil Weavers, making sure every detail is correct. It’s shocking how much still needs correcting – errors that slipped by in the editing process, late changes that weren’t reviewed, and new errors introduced in the page layout process.

I have my last version of the manuscript and the page proofs spread across the kitchen table, as I go through them, page by page. And I take frequent breaks, as my mind goes numb focusing on details

Maureen

More Editing

My editor found another error in The Veil Weavers. She called last night, concerned about a chapter opening near the end of the story. ‘Who did this?’

When I answered, she said, ‘but she’s dead’, and I realized I’d written it before I’d decided to kill her off. Oops. I’ll do a little rewriting today…

Maureen

Editing The Veil Weavers

I’ve just finished another round of editing for The Veil Weavers, and my brain is fried.

Following Art Slade’s suggestion, part of my edit involved reviewing it by reading the chapters in reverse order. This is painful and strange, something I wish I’d never heard of (thanks, Art) – and yet it’s really effective. It helped me see the story with fresh eyes, even though I’ve been immersed in editing it for a week.

I could follow threads backwards, from the end to the beginning. It also gave me a different sense of the pacing and rhythm of the story.

My last pass before sending it back to Coteau was to read it out loud. I find this remarkably useful for hearing the rhythm of the words, and catching any awkward bumps.

Now I’ve sent it off, and I’m glad to have it off my desk. I need to wade through all the debris there I’ve been ignoring, and then I can get back to my true love, writing something new.

Maureen