Learn From My Mistakes: Day 4 - The Little Things

Most of the time my editor will spot a "minor correction" in my story. ("Didn't you spell her last name with two Ls?") Sometimes she misses the minor stuff. But when I go back later to re-read it, I'll catch the gaffs (Sheesh, she has blue eyes! Why did I put green here?) And worry that my readers will catch those gaffs, as well.

So I keep a journal now. (Yes, that's a real picture of it, complete with my notes on the story I'm currently writing.) In it I keep pertinent information such as my hero and heroine's full names, eye color, hair color, build, special names, words, and phrases. I also mark dates (Did they first meet three years ago or five?), chapter headings (so I don't repeat myself), and whatever else I feel I may need to refer back to. (Once the book is finished, I mark the first page with the book's title on a post-it note, in case I do a sequel and need to review.)

In short, I'm going to do my darn-dest not to make any of those small, non-grammatical mistakes.

(And, yes, those are real coffee stains. LOL!)

Learn From My Mistakes: Day 3 - Numbers

I'm very bad about spelling out numbers, especially time.

It's six o'clock, six a.m., and after six that evening.
Years are spelled out (eg: nineteen sixteen, not 1916, unless...see picture at left.)
She was eleven years old, not 11.
It's our fifteen wedding anniversary, not 15th.

I think what screws me up is that there is so much inconsistancy regarding spelling out numbers in the books I read. I've seen it both ways, and that makes me wonder about the editors.

Learn From My Mistakes: Day 2 - Show, Don't Tell

I don't do this as often as I used to. But I'm very conscious of it, and try to avoid it when necessary. Plus, by going ahead with the showing, it adds word count to my story.

Learn From My Mistakes: a Week of Tips (Day 1, The Ellipsis)

This week I'm going to post a series of boo-boos and mistakes I make when I'm writing, bad habits I need to quit, and other tips my editors are constantly getting after me about. Hopefully, if you see yourself doing the same thing, you might save yourself an editing gaff in the process.

Day 1 - The Ellipsis
Yeah, I abuse it. When I think an ellipsis is necessary, my editor says no, it's hanging. When I go back and finish the sentence, I realize she was right. In the majority of cases, I didn't need the . . .