Humbled by Words

I have never been famous for my patience. Truly, you may think I must be patient to have taught two publications with 170 kids a year, and I am known for being laid-back. However, when I want something done, I want it done NOW. Ask my husband. A perfect example was my daughter's graduation party, despite the forecast of storms all weekend, I wanted an outdoor party. I didn't think my 90's outdoor furniture would suffice to make the proper impression (which was???) so I wanted new furniture. With college approaching, spending three-thousand dollars on new patio furniture was out of the question - so I found old furniture in my house and on craigslist, and for $20 plus $10 in paint, I repainted an entire outdoor set. In a weekend. Yep. A patient person would have painted each piece, waited a day, or at least several hours to let the paint dry properly. Not this girl. It has been a month, and I think the six layers of paint are FINALLY dry!

So it won't come as a surprise then that I was not patient in the writing process either. In fact, I wrote the majority of the book in the two months of summer break. It was great, I set a goal each day to write one-thousand words each day, and I kept to it strictly, there were days in which I wrote far more, and the book literally appeared before my eyes as if by someone else. It was an incredible experience.

Once it was done, I wanted it out there. I wanted to share it with the world, now. just like my deck furniture. I edited, and re-edited, I had my mother edit it, friends read it and a professional read it. I made their edits, and I was just ready to get it out there. Well, I learned a very important lesson, that when you think it is completely done, it isn't. You should give it to your OCD son, and have him read through it very slowly, and very carefully. Then he will point out all your errors - misplaced contractions, misused words, oh, and a typo on the back cover.

If you feel arrogant, you be schooled by an eighth-grader. It is so much fun. So, next time, Theo is reading my book carefully before the final print, and I am going to read it about ten times more -- once I think it is done.

The results are that the final edition (I might have had to revise it a few times) is actually pretty darn good. I look at it this way...if you were lucky enough to get one of the copies with errors, well, maybe someday it will be worth something, otherwise, maybe it will make you feel better about your own mistakes. In the meantime - lesson well learned. In the Chilling Wind will be a more polished book. Now, let me hurry and publish this so I can get my thousand words done!