Yesterday I pulled a late-nighter.
I was on deadline for a book editing project. My normally reliable
computer had decided it was time for my word-processing software to
begin freezing—requiring a system restart each time.
Because the nonfiction project tipped the scales at just under 34,000
words, I'd scheduled myself to nibble away at the manuscript each day
over the course of a month.
So by the time I finished editing the back-matter and began my final
polishing pass through the entire manuscript, it had been some time
since I'd reviewed much of it.
I knew that as I'd gone along, I'd used Track Changes to mark for the
author the places where I felt an expanded example would help.
But I wasn't prepared for the surprise some of those insertions
brought me. It's not that they were off-topic. Just the opposite. As
the writer examined different fiction genres' special demands for
dialogue, setting, research, and the like, I'd been able to pull
examples out of my hat.
I hadn't particularly realized I was doing it. I'd just been applying
the principle of FOKSIC (fingers on keyboard, seat in chair). But
there on the screen in front of me last night I found an insertion
about the use of symbolism in Frank Herbert's Dune—a book
I've not read in thirty years. I'm grateful I had that in me, along
with all the other memorable books I've read.
Amazing what you can accomplish a little at a time—especially with
a looming deadline.
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