Edits, procrastination and Chicken of the Year…

I edit for a living. Not in the publishing industry, mind you—so don’t try and pitch me anything!—but in the public sector. Lots of boring non-fiction. So I’m pretty familiar with the process.

Not the receiving end of it, though.

As I mentioned in my last post, I got my first-round edits back from Turquoise Morning Press a few days ago. In her email, Shelby said, “Please don’t be discouraged when you open it and see all the comments and marks. This is the first round and I ask a lot of questions.”

Uh oh, I thought. That’s the same thing I write in my feedback emails when I’ve totally smashed a piece.

I mentioned it to a colleague, who laughed and asked me what I’d do if I opened the document and it was a wall of red. I squirmed.

I should add, everything Shelby said in the email itself made perfect sense, and some of it confirmed quiet suspicions I’d had about some of my characters (one in particular I neglected as the book went on, and I probably shouldn’t!).

I wasn’t able to open the file at first. I was still in the process of setting up my PC, and hadn’t installed Word yet (a long story that involves a product key not kept with the disc, because it was in my email, which I couldn’t access until my ADSL had been set up, which I couldn’t access because my network card wasn’t wireless—ok, not that long a story).

This is basically me, without the glasses. (Source)

But I got my Word and email set up on Sunday night. It’s now Wednesday, and I probably qualify for Chicken of the Year.

I told myself that, since I was part-way through a beta-read of Stacey’s manuscript, I really should finish that first.

I finished it yesterday evening.

Now I’m telling myself that I’ve got guests tonight, so I couldn’t possibly have time to have a quick look at Shelby’s comments. Thursday. I’ll do it Thursday.

Although I do still have to unpack the rest of my books, and sort out the garage so I actually have room to use it as a, you know, garage.

Maybe by the weekend?

You may commence making chicken noises in three, two, one—GO!