I've realised the reason why I don't blog all that often (yes, procrastination is one of them), is because there are a thousand and one things to do, and who knows, but that might not be an exaggeration!
Okay, this mini write up is to justify why even the most conscientious writers, of which I am definitely one, end up with mistakes in the 'final' versions of their work. Recently I took almost a day out from normal routine stuff and that includes editing, to catch up with reviews of items that I have purchased over a very long period of time and not reviewed. Reviewing anything takes time. Reviews of books, even longer. Are reviews important? I think so. I use them; to me they're as useful as verbal recommendations. During those hours that I slogged away, I came to understand that every book I've recently read, bar one, had typos. And it was the plots, the characters, the dialogue, the writing style, and the good grammar,
that kept me going to the end. However, the stories I enjoyed the most were the ones with just a few mistakes, they were also the ones that remained with me, leaving an overall 'good feel' factor.
I am getting to the point. It's not quite an epiphany, but, it is to do with most of us in one way or another.
How many times should those stories/books have been edited? Until every last error was dealt with and been annihilated of course. We owe our readers that. They pay for quality goods and we should deliver. In the days of agents and publishers there was expert help within the package deal, these days it is D.I.Y. And just like getting someone in to do your plumbing or having a go yourself, what are the odds of success?
We are advised to pay for someone (plenty of individuals/professionals/companies out there) to do it. On average the charge is about £12 per 1000 words. If you haven't got the money what do you do? If you have packed in your job, worked out your budget, stopped going out, changed your diet and living habits in order to live out your dream of being a writer, what do you do? It could be years before you would recoup the money that you fork out to have your work 'proofed/polished'.
Are writers being charged too much for these external services then? Real life says that only the few make it to the top. If I could afford a gardener, and boy do I wish I could, I would be charged £10 + an hour. If you're making money from your books, then maybe the answer is no. But if you're not making money (its a minus figure when you calculate the number of hours you've spent from the moment you wrote your first sentence to publication), then the answer is yes.
I spent over seven years working on my first novel. I didn't dash out to publish it, I wanted to get it right. It had edits and proof reads galore. I thought it was spot on and error free. I am very good at spotting mistakes...but I learned today that there is a typo in it! I was horrified. I was told not to worry and that my grammar wasn't at fault. Didn't make me feel much better. One day, when I can afford it, I will pay someone to do it. At the moment a roof over my head, paying the bills, is rather crucial because my laptop won't work without electricity and without it, I won't be able to write.
So my conclusion is, if funds are limited (and you cannot afford to pay someone more than you are likely to earn in a long time), try a few other ways. You may be doing them already because sooner or later we all get there.
If you know one honest person who willingly reads your work as if it were the fine print in a legal document, then save that person as your final reader. And because that person is worth more than gold to you, do something nice for them. In my case, I can offer to cook a meal (I'm quite a decent cook). Or, when it is a fellow writer, I can offer to proof read their work. Perhaps there is a film they'd like to go see. Tickets to the cinema are expensive, but hell of a lot cheaper than £10 + per 1000 words!
As a final read, load your work onto your e-reader - it made a difference to me. However, when you notice a mistake, be very careful when you correct it - that cut and paste action...!
Use a dictaphone, forget that you don't like the sound of your voice. By reading your work into one of these you'll not only be able to pick out errors upon playing it back, but it will help prepare you for all those book readings you will later be invited to!
So, the purpose of this post? To say I'm sorry for the typos. That I really thought I'd spotted them. That I will continue to try harder....hope there's not too many in this. Find out tomorrow!
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