Friday, August 30, 2013

Celebrate the Small Things: 8/30

I'm supposed to be celebrating small things, but all I want to do is whine ... so I'll try to whine in a celebratory way,  okay?

1) I got my line edits from my publisher last week.  Yay.  o_o
2) Doing line edits makes me appreciate the good old days of content edits.
3) I'm forging my way through and only occasionally want to poke out my eyes with a sharp stick.
4) It seems my line editor and I may subscribe to different schools of thought when it comes to grammar.  But hey,  at least we went to school.
5) In an effort not to think about line edits or stubbornly look up grammar rules,  I've been contemplating my new WIP and coming up with some good ideas!
6) Line edits have to end sometime ... don't they?

Does anyone have any words of wisdom about getting through line edits?




This post is part of VikLit's blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things. To be part of this blog hop, all you have to do is follow the link and put your name on the Mr.Linky list, and then be sure to post every Friday about something you're grateful  for that week.  It can be about writing or family or school or general life.  This is the funnest and easiest blog hop ever! 



48 comments:

Kate Larkindale said...

Awww... Sorry the line edits are so tough. But just think, when they're done, you can look forward to the fun stuff like getting a cover and actually seeing your book out into the world.

Little Gothic Horrors said...

Crossing my fingers that you get through your line edits swiftly and yay for great WIP ideas! :)

Misha Gerrick said...

Can't give advice, but I'll want some too. About to go into my first round of line edits...

Shah Wharton said...

As an indie author without the support of a publisher, or their editing team, I'd like to say this: Be grateful, learn from the experience, eat lots of chocolate, and watch your MS turn all shiny before your eyes without having to spend a fortune, or searching for eons to find great editors your can actually afford.

There, that my 4 peneth (sp?). :)

In other words - YEY! You are going to be published soon and all this work will totally pay off!

All the best with the rest of those edits. :D XX

Shah

http://bit.ly/19SbNoo

Unknown said...

It's so funny the different things we like or dislike. I love doing line edits. It's the time to make everything all pretty and elegant, like a woman in an evening dress with lots of diamonds!

I'm happy for you and proud of you, Lexa. You keep pushing on until it's done. Many folks throw in the towel long before now.

M.L. Swift, Writer

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I enjoy line edits as well - and all parts of editing. Different schools of grammar - that's funny. Hey, at least they are simple changes, right? You'll get through it!

Melancholy and Menace said...

Sorry, I can't offer any words of wisdom,
but hopefully you'll get throughyour line edits soon : )

Natalie Aguirre said...

Glad you got them done. You're making me nervous about line edits because I'm not a great grammar person.

Rhonda Albom said...

You haven't poked your eyes out with a stick, I guess that's worth celebrating. Your list somehow made me smile. Thanks.

Rhonda @Laugh Quotes
Visiting today from the Celebrate blogfest

stephen Hayes said...

You're forging the way for many of us. No advice but I imagine line edits are like labor pains--necessary before giving birth.

mshatch said...

Too funny. I'm waiting to get mine :)

Luanne G. Smith said...

Um, the writer is always right?

Nice way to look at the bright side of the suckfest called line edits. LOL.

Cherie Reich said...

Just keep working at it, and the line edits will end before you know it. After all, line edits mean you are one step closer to the book being done and published. :)

Yay for new ideas!

Deanie Humphrys-Dunne said...

Good job, you'll get to the end of the editing and then you'll see the rewards of your dedication. Have a lovely weekend.

Rachna Chhabria said...

I had fun doing my line edits (though I was dreading it). Have a lovely weekend.

Crystal Collier said...

LOL. Eat more cheese. ;)

It's amazing how many ways you can twist the exact same sentence. As writers we're supposed to be flexible, right? So flex, feel the burn, and love it! :P

cleemckenzie said...

Have something special to enjoy after you get X number of line edits done at a time. Take it in chunks, or you'll make more mistakes! Speaking from experience on that one. :-(

You can do it. You'll look back and think, "Piece of cake, those line edits."

Robin said...

This is something I have never done. I hope you post something about it when it is all over. Like maybe it was better than you thought...

SK Anthony said...

Only occasionally wanting to poke your eyes with a sharp stick? I'll celebrate that! Let's not actually do it, though, okay? lol

At least you went to school.. hehe... and yes, they have to end sometime! I have nothing clever to write I just laughed the whole time!

Dianne K. Salerni said...

Line edits ... my advice is choose your battles.

If the editor wants to change em-dashes into ellipses and ellipses into em-dashes, so be it.

If it's a matter of subjective case, I surrender -- because I just don't get that.

If the editor wants to take out my italics to emphasize, okay, fine.

If the suggested edit changes the meaning of what I wanted to say, that's when I balk. Stand your ground for meaning. Stand your ground if the suggested edits cause repetition or chopped up sentence structure. Let the little grammar points go.

Kelly Hashway said...

I'm doing line edits right now too.

Some publishers have a set format so all their books look the same, so you may have to allow for that. I like Diane's advice. Pick and choose your battles.

Cathy Keaton said...

I wish I could help you, but you're way ahead of me. Maybe I can learn something from you.

Hang in there! :D

klahanie said...

Hi Lexa,

I don't even know what a line edit is. Heck, I'm still trying to find out about the mystery "WIP" I keep seeing mentioned.

Speaking of grammar. Here's some irony. I got an email from some organisation that said they could help me with grammatical errors. Their email was full of grammatical errors and heaven forbid, spelt in American English.

Hope your weekend is peaceful.

Gary :)

Heather R. Holden said...

LOL, poor you. Hopefully all your line edits will become easier to deal with soon! I couldn't help but giggle when you said only occasionally wanting to poke out your eyes. Whenever I feel the same about my artwork, I consider that a good day, too, haha...

Leandra Wallace said...

Oi, line edits sound scary! Keep on keeping on(and just put all sharp objects down...) ;)

kimlajevardi.com said...

It's great that the silver lining is that your WIP is the beneficiary of the stress of this part of the process. Chocolate should say nearby for the rest of the line edits. :)

Denise Covey said...

Lexa, I say be grateful you have an editor who does line edits. Not fun but necessary. Go celebrate!

Cathrina Constantine said...

Line edits can be mind-boggling. We hope it makes our ms better, that's a good thing. Wonderful hear you're coming up with new ideas for your wip.

VikLit said...

Good luck with your line edits!

Jess said...

I like what Diane and Kelly had to say! You'll get through them :) Congratulations on being so far along in the process!

Anonymous said...

Editing makes my eyes hurt. It will be all over...until the next project.

Chancelet said...

Like they say, no pain, no gai..., okay, I'll stop! You'll be so happy not to get a comment a year later from a friend telling you that one of your main character's injuries changed slightly further along in the book! Or get a bad review for using the wrong word once in your book because the English language is so darned crazy, there's no way to catch everything unless you have a line editor. It will be all over, and you'll be able to relax... until the next time. :) Writer’s Mark

Annalisa Crawford said...

Oh I feel your pain. Line edits are tough. Just make sure you stand up and move around regularly - keeps your brain fresh and stops the words from moving around on the page!

Unknown said...

Editing sucks. Hope the bad parts get over soon.

Jackie said...

Okay, #4 made me almost choke on my coffee. So funny!
And #5... congrats on the new ideas for WIP. I love when that happens!
You'll rock out these edits!

Steph C. Brentson said...

Yay for good ideas!! Just think once you are done with line edits you are one more step closer to having a finished book! Now that is exciting!

Maynard Morrissey said...

Although I went to school too, I have no idea what exactly line editing is. Halp?

DMS said...

Love that you are having some great ideas for your WIP. Wish I had some good advice to offer for the line edits- but at least they will be done soon. Best of luck with them! :)
~Jess

Ruth Schiffmann said...

I have no advice in regards to line edits, but I am glad to see that through it all you have retained a sense of humor =D

T.F. Walsh said...

Line edits are no fun... Let's hope they're over with really quick.

Tara Tyler said...

you cracked me up! darn tose line edits! just accept all, right? ha!
and yay for shiny new ideas!

PK HREZO said...

Oh yeah line edits suck. But they're easy compared to big story issues, so I dont usually sweat them. Altho, the only line edits I've ever received is from CPs.

Beverly Stowe McClure said...

Ah, yes! The famous line edits. But what comes next is worth the agony. :)
New ideas are good.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

chocolate is a great way of getting through line edits. Works every time. But you'll need a LOT of it.

Kim said...

You make me laugh -- in a good way! -- with these posts :) Line edits don't sound fun, but at least you have your wip to focus your energy on :)

Jocelyn Rish said...

Hee, I love the sarcastic celebration of line edits. And the different schools of grammar. I once had a short story judge tell me I used too many commas. I went back through the story and could justify every single one of them with an official comma rule. I soooo wanted to be able to tell that judge that s/he needed to brush up on his/her comma rules. :-)

Ava Quinn said...

Line edits are better than the alternative. No real book! :D

Deniz Bevan said...

Aww, I kinda enjoy line edits!
On the other hand, letting new ideas percolate is even better! Sounds like you had a great week :-)

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