Other than a few days of an Amazon promotion, and the occasional tweet, my promotions have all run out. I really should post an update about how it all went, but I'll wait until everything concludes.
I got to the writing cabin early this morning. Frost covered the field out my window as I landed. Lisa* already had the coffee made and a fire burning in my office. She wore her Daisy May top, tight jeans, and calf high boots.
I poured a cup and went to work.
Doubt** the raven paced across my desk. He new what the next phase was before I even got to the cabin. It was time for editing.
I opened The Playground on my iPad and started reading.
Kaw!
“Oh yeah. I'd better capitalize the Professor. It's a title, but also a nickname.” I made the change and forged ahead.
Kaw Kaw kaw!
“I missed a few, but they're all fixed. Happy?”
He paced back across my desk. Crick crick blork.
“Yes, there are multiple point of view characters. This one is like three short stories that weave together to tell a bigger story. Remember when we watched Pulp Fiction together? This is my personal challenge for this story.”
Doubt paced back and forth across my desk, waving his head side to side. Everyone is a critic it seems.
My own doubts increased as we worked through seven chapters. The raven pecked my hand when I allowed a typo to slide past.
Blork blork!
“You have to look at the whole novel. Each character has a story, but they reveal a bigger story. I don't know, maybe this was a bad idea.”
I banged my head against the desk. “Why did I use a nickname again?”
The sound of banging brought Lisa to check on me. Doubt flew over to his perch.
“Maybe it's time for a break,” she said.
“I like this story, but it's driving me crazy. Does each character get enough development? Am I going to miss one of the Professor's capital letters? Maybe I should just finish it and trunk it. There's room in the cave for another trunk novel.”
“Why don't you just do a word search and check the capitalization that way?”
“That seems like a good idea, but I've already done my word searches. Now I'm reading through, and don't want to lose my place.”
“Just make a note and search it after you read through. You could mark your place, search, then go back to reading.”
“Maybe I should just chuck the whole thing in the fireplace.”
“It's an electronic file.”
“Maybe there's an app for that. Some kind of e-fireplace.”
“There isn't, but I know what might help. Remember your editing jacket? It always helps you sort through the rough places. You wear it for a while, think things through, and come back for round two later.”
“This is round two. That would be round three.”
“Stick out your arms.”
Lisa placed her hands on her hips. “There, all better now. I'll make you some soup, and you can work on it later.”
*Lisa Burton is my personal assistant, and a robot. She is also the spokesmodel for Entertaining Stories.
**Doubt is a raven. He was a gift from my Muse to help me work through the editing process.
Ha! Looooove the jacket. 🙂
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Does this make me look fat?
No it makes you look insane.
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I am loving your Raven! I’m not sure if you’re aware of it, but he’s a little faithless… I’m pretty sure I see him around my place regularly.
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He does get around. I’ve even tried to give him away a few times. He just keeps coming back.
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And I thought I was having a bad day! Loved it!
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Seven chapters though, nothing to sneeze at. Now I have to work up some critiques, and stalk a blog talk radio program I’ve been asked to appear on.
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I think there’s an app with a burning log or something. Not sure that would help. Something I do with the capitalization issue is the Find/Replace function. You can make it case sensitive. As long as there are no ‘Professors’ that have to be lower case, you can change all of them by doing a ‘find professor’ and ‘replace Professor’. Good luck keeping Doubt at bay.
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I think I’ll keep plugging along, after Lisa lets me out of my editing jacket.
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Looks warm though.
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Furnace guy can’t come until Monday. Good point.
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Ouch. I’ll try and convince our unseasonable warmth to head your way.
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Haha! I love the meme you made 😀
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Thanks. I try.
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Wow! I need to get me one of those jackets… looks cosy! And does it really do all the editing for you? Amazing!
Btw, you really need to send doubt to the clay pigeon range, you can do without that kind of negativity.
Great post, Craig!
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He is well named, that’s for sure. Since he was from my Muse, I’m afraid he might be immortal. It would be like Captain Jack’s undead monkey. Still, might be fun.
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Well then I guess you’re stuck with him. You could always wrap tape around his beak and glue him to a perch in the corner of the room…
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Absolutely a great jacket! I like hearing about your editing challenges; it puts my own in perspective.
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I’ll get through it… Eventually. I always do. It isn’t as much fun as drafting new material though.
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There’s something both cool and disturbing about that picture of you in the jacket! Like some of your stories I guess 🙂
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Cool and disturbing, I’ll take it. Thanks.
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Ravens are the smartest of all birds, or so I’ve read. So you should probably take cues from him (her). Just don’t let him crap on your desk!
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He’s done that too. Sometimes he really doesn’t like my manuscript.
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Hahaha. “But I don’t know Bob!” That’s hilarious! I need one of those jackets.
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It’s been put back in the closet now. I woke up with a short story, and have to write it out before I forget it. I might get back to editing later today.
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HA! I love your editing jacket! LOL! 😀
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