My IWSG: Re-edits. Arrgghh! I released Salem’s Daughters in October 2015. I thought I had all my edits finished. But it was brought to my attention by an Amazon Reviewer that my overuse of “...” made him think there were missing words and wondered if it was an author or an upload problem.
The usages of “...” was meant to show broken dialogue when a character stuttered or was interrupted. Examples:
“Wait a minute. Phil, you promised. You ... my father worked here.”
“I did better than that. I quit. And I’m so happy. I feel so ... I’m not sure."
I did a search and there were about a hundred such usages. I see now it’s awkward so I went through and go rid of all but about three. And I found a few more typos and corrected them. Reads much better now.
2016 Sky Watching Events: This year has so many amazing astronomical events on top. Many you can see with the naked eye, a good set of binoculars, or a cheap telescope from your backyard (as long as the night time skies are clear). Here are January’s amazing and awesome celestial events:
January 6th Venus, Saturn and the Moon A close grouping of two planets and the moon in the dawn sky. The following morning, the moon will have moved to the other side of Venus and Saturn.
January 9th Venus and Saturn A rare chance to view two planets in the same telescopic field in the dawn sky.
January 20th A Planet Party Ask any sky-watching enthusiast and they'll tell you it will be pretty cool to see Venus and Saturn as close together as they will be on Jan. 9. Once they've drifted apart later in the month, however, they'll have company. Mercury, Mars and Jupiter will also appear in the early morning sky starting around January 20th.
January 24th Full Moon.
January 27th Jupiter and the Moon Both are close in the sky, and rise together around 10 p.m. local time.
Question How was your holiday? Are you glad it's over?
Glad you were able to fix those. I have things I overuse as well. Like exclamation points.
ReplyDeleteI'll be up early tomorrow for the IWSG and just might see those planets align.
Wow! I never knew that! Thanks for sharing!
DeleteRe-editing can be a tough process, but it can pay off in the end. I tend to use ". . ." in my writing too, and I also struggle with overusing it.
ReplyDeleteI love it when Venus and Saturn make an appearance together! Thanks for the info!
Stopped by to say i finished "Salem's Daughters" and enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteThanks joeh for taking the time to read Salem's Daughters! I greatly appreciate it.
DeleteWe are due to have winter weather with lots of snow over the next few days so probably will be cloudy skies to see the stars, but I'll give it a try :)
ReplyDeleteI am glad the holidays are over; I struggle getting through them since December has not been a kind month with several deaths in years past in that month, so I'm relieved when the holidays wind down and we ring in the new year.
betty
At least you were able to improve things. Wishing you a good month.
ReplyDeleteI hate when the holidays end, it means the world forgets to be kind for eleven more months. Errors and over use, oh my, will there ever be a cure. :) I've so many over uses it isn't funny. I should make a collage of them as a reminder. Happy 2016!
ReplyDeleteYolanda, I can see the spike in kindness then the immediate drop. Especially on the streets during rush hour traffic.
DeleteI'm always glad for the "holidays" to be over.
ReplyDeleteCool you are willing to do re-editing. Seems more errors are caught after publication than during editing. Wonder why that is?
Hi Stephen - well I'm glad it's sorted ... but frustatingly irritating! Glad to see the Stars are back - and we'll know what's going on - I hope we have clear nights ... good luck this year with all your projects and new ideas - cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHi Stephen. I think it's awesome that a reviewer brought that problem to your attention and you were able to fix it. Usually interruptions are shown with a 'n' dash or an 'em' dash. Ellipsis is usually to show time passing, but can be used to slow down a sentence at times, but like anything, these get repetitive at times. I was told by an editor to only use them once per chapter. Maybe that's extreme, but not too much.
ReplyDeleteHave a great year. I hope Salem's Daughters in going gangbusters.
Denise :-)
We tend to miss those overused items.
ReplyDeleteDo you have the Sky Walk app? That's my favorite for viewing the night sky.
I think we all have things we overuse and need to avoid. Glad you fixed yours. I really enjoyed the holidays, but am glad to get back into a schedule.
ReplyDeleteAw man, I wish I had a telescope! We spent much of my Astronomy lab looking at Saturn, so I'm good on that front, lol, but I'd love to see the other planets!
ReplyDeleteThere's nothing wrong with the way you're using ellipsis. The reviewer doesn't know what he/she is talking about. And don't beat yourself up abut a few typos. No matter what you do it seems a few sneak in there. My opinion is there are Typo Gremlins that go into everyone's ms at night and put them in there!
ReplyDeleteMy life is a holiday that never ends.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Tossing It Out
Great holiday here! I could use some more. Good luck with getting those. . .under control. :-)
ReplyDeleteHere's to a productive 2016! I was unbothered by the use of ellipses when I read Salem's Daughters. The book was great and very addictive. At least it's quite straightforward to fix things if we want to. Cool to read about the astronomical events. I had no idea there was an annual meteor shower; I just thought they occurred randomly. It must attract a lot of attention.
ReplyDeleteEllipses (...) can be tricky. I do limit my use of them. The only one out of the three you mentioned I would've changed is the first. I would've made it: "What the-?" I'm glad you were able to catch those little errors, fix them, and that you are happy with the edits. :) Happy 2016!!!
ReplyDeleteWhy do so many celestial events occur at dawn? I want to see them but I don't want to get up early. Good job on fixing the manuscript.
ReplyDeleteNow you have me self-conscious about my ellipses usage! Glad you were able to fix up your story though. :)
ReplyDeleteAt least you were able to quickly fix them. I had my hubby point out a few errors in one of my books after I hit publish. I was like DOH!
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, definitely a self-pub nightmare! I somehow have managed to escape unscathed so far, but I only have one novelette out. Nice of you to change it.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had a telescope or something cool... love the night sky. Meteor shows are at least fun even without special equipment.
I like Lexa's theory about Typo Gremlins. They've visited me many times. One of my crit partners pointed out how many times I use the word just. Yikes! Way too many. You do the best you can before letting the public see your work. Best wishes for 2016!
ReplyDeleteOh, ouch, but I'm glad you were able to fix 'em up and republish!
ReplyDeleteIt was pointed out to me that I use look, glance, and see too much. So now when I write, I'm watching that. It freezes me up a little because most of what we do is looking at other people, staring at other people, and seeing what's going on around us!
ReplyDeleteMy editor pointed out that my characters murmured a lot in one of my books. We removed all but one or two of those. It's easier for others to notice these things than for the writer. Glad you were able to revise and re-publish.
ReplyDeleteI just finished reading your book over the weekend. I didn't notice it at all and I'm sure my digital copy is an older version. I absolutely loved your book. It scared the hell out of me. I read it at the hospital while I was sitting with my dad. I am not exaggerating about how terrified I was. I just finished positing my review on Amazon. Hope you have a great 2016.
ReplyDeleteI miss star gazing. Yeah, some techniques are cool, but are distracting when overused. Cool that are able to go back and fix that. Happy New Year, Stephen! :)
ReplyDeleteMan- I already missed such good stuff! I gotta get my butt out there and stare up at that sky!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the re-edits, Stephen!