Friday, February 18, 2005

Not My Best Week


Just as I expected, I forgot all about the Point-of-View talk at the YA Authors Cafe Tuesday night. They don't have a log of the event posted yet. So I still know only a fraction of what I need to know about point-of-view.

I wish someone would do a discussion on verb tenses, too. I've been obsessing about them this past week. I've been obsessing about many things this past week.

I received the copyedited manuscript for Happy Kid! over a week ago. Now, I think that all I'm supposed to do with a copyedited manuscript is go over what the copyeditor has changed and approve or not. The copyeditor does true line editing, by the way, versus editing for content, which is what my other editor does. Anyway, when I get a copyedited manuscript I go nuts reading the whole thing and finding masses of little tiny things I've written that may be truly wrong or may be just me going over the edge. For instance, finding that I had spelled some Korean words wrong--truly wrong. Worrying that in one scene the boys are sitting in chairs in the art room and in all the others they're sitting on stools? I'm not so sure. I also get all hyped up over parallel construction. If you don't know what it is, don't ask. You don't want to end up like me.

The end result of all this nitpicking about copy is that this past Tuesday morning I was at my taekwondo school before class. I'm the first one there and I'm walking toward the women's locker room when I notice a very clear handprint on one of the mirrors. I think "I can't stand knowing that's there for a whole hour" so as soon as I change into my dobok I run to get the Windex and paper towels (I don't mean to brag, but I do know where that stuff is stored) and clean the mirror before anyone, including the instructor, can catch me and tell me to get a grip. Then I'm warming up, still before class starts, and start picking lint off the mat that covers the floor. That's when I start getting scared.

Oh, yes. I am so glad that copyedited manuscript is making its way back to New York. Of course, I do worry about what kind of reputation I have in the Putnam editorial offices. But, hey, what I don't know won't hurt me, right?

1 comment:

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