Hamburgers and Gravy?!

I just finished editing the print version of my novel, and it's a good thing I went through it again! I found a hamburger masquerading as a chicken fried steak, and we cannot have food running willy-nilly through a story pretending to be something it's not!

When I edit for other people, I try do more than fix punctuation and word usage. While that is important, what I hope to do for other writers is what I want people to do for me. Find the details that will trip up a reader, and help me fix them! I feel like I'm playing trial lawyer as I look for inconsistencies and holes in a person's stories. I do this because I am the kind of reader who will sometimes quit reading a book if the story is too hard to believe or if the details don't add up. I want the authors I work with to maintain their credibility, and I hope to do the same with my readers.

I'm learning that it's not easy to catch every detail. A novel goes through hundreds of changes from conception to publication, and sometimes when we change one thing, we forget to change something else that went with it. 

So, I'm reading through my novel for about the thousandth time this weekend, knowing this is my last chance to get it just right, and there it is! A stupid mistake that has managed to slip past me and three editors. But I bet a reader would have caught it right away.

In one minor scene, Maggie (she's the voice of wisdom in my story) finishes a meal by mopping up the rest of her gravy with her bread. Not a big deal, but this shows readers and 12-year-old Emma something about Maggie's character. First, it reminds Emma of her dad which endears Maggie to Emma. Second, it shows Maggie's nature--she digs in, she finishes what she starts, and she doesn't care what anyone thinks of her.

What's the problem with that? Well, nothing, unless you flip back to the beginning of this scene where Maggie orders a burger and fries. Oops! No bread. No gravy. No good!

The fix was a simple as changing Maggie's order, but how did I manage to read this so many times and not catch that?!

That's what's so tricky about communicating. We know what we MEAN, but we don't always deliver our messages clearly. Or we start saying one thing and change our minds half-way through. It's so easy to send mixed messages without meaning to. It's so easy to say the wrong thing or to misinterpret what others say. Relationships end every day because we mess up the details, and, unless someone points it out to us, we can often replay conversations in our heads as many times as I re-read my novel and never figure out what we said that was offensive.

What I love about working with other authors and other editors is the collaboration. We have to help each other communicate as clearly as possible. It's why we have to think before we speak and filter our thoughts before they become words. It's why I might benefit from a muzzle or really sticky duct tape! It's why I prefer writing to speaking--because I get a chance to really think about what I'm saying before I send it out there.

Does this mean I always get it right? Nope! I try, but sometimes hamburgers turn into gravy and fries become dinner rolls, and I can only hope people will give me some latitude in the human error department even as I learn to do the same for others.

The new release date for Broken by Design (because I made so many changes and had to fire a waitress who doesn't know burgers from steak!) is now JULY 29! More details to come.

Have a beautiful day!