Omnipotence.

I started with true confidence, That I could achieve my goals, That I could quietly persuade, And all would gradually unfold, Each in its own compartment, Each growing slow but sure, Nothing would be impossible, Everything would have its cure, But one by one came obstacles, Increasingly difficult to surmount, And although I managed to prevail, I accumulated debits on my account, Each one took a little more effort, Each needed a bit more to say, And my imagination started filling, The little gaps along way, But longer I got used to it, The more it seemed quite normal, The easier it came naturally, Being circumspect instead of formal, And more I went undetected, The more invulnerable I felt, It seemed no matter how hard it was, Once I had spoken it would melt, And joint between fact and fiction, Became indistinct and blurred, Until I couldn’t tell truth, Amongst all other words, But yet still I seemed infallible,

The Hard Facts about Editing

The Hard Facts about Editing by Jennifer Minar Whether you're interviewing for a new job, trying to woo a love interest on a first date, selling your work on Internet, or submitting a query to an editor, you can never make a second first impression. It's true. It's just one of life's hard facts. To sell your article, novel, product, or yourself, you need to work on that very critical first impression--and a surefire way to make a bad impression is to present poorly edited work. All hours of researching, outlining, and writing are squandered if final version of your manuscript is not tightly written and error-free. How can you possibly convince an editor, agent, or customer that you can produce a great product when there are errors in your queries, on your web site, or in your marketing materials? I don't know about you, but I lose trust in what I'm reading once I've seen more than one error. In some cases (e.g., a web site for an editing service) even that one error is enough. I think it's careless and it leads me to wonder if creator is as careless with quality of his products or services. Okay, now that we've made it clear that you will be judged harshly by your errors, let's work on ways to error-proof your work. Editing Cures More than Typos. Proper editing cures not only typographical errors, but also inconsistent statements, ambiguities, poorly written sentences, and weak word choices. Appropriate attention to these aspects of writing make all difference between a mediocre piece of work and an excellent one. Spelling and Grammar Checks. Standard spelling and grammar checks are available to you, so use them! Remember, however, they won't catch everything. Print Your Work. Print a copy of your manuscript and whip out red pen. Generally, you will find mistakes you weren't able to detect when reading on monitor. Let It Simmer. Put your manuscript away for a period of time so that you can look at it later with fresh eyes. After established time period, print another copy of your work and again, pull out red pen. Tighten your sentences, examine your word choices, and hunt down any errors you couldn't find before. I find this step to be invaluable!