The manuscript game

Bad: suddenly realizing there’s a logic error in the manuscript I just sent out.

Worse: not remembering where or what the error was.

Honestly, at this stage of writing I just hope the agent and editor will find it. Because I’m going quietly nuts trying to figure it out.

I shouldn’t, because I have done this with every single art and writing project I’ve finished and released into the world for the last two decades. Whether the project has huge mistakes or not. I cringe at the flaws I know about but didn’t fix. I obsess over the ones I didn’t find. I startle art critics and editors with my joy and gratitude when they find my gaffes. Because that proves I wasn’t imagining things.

Do sane people do this, too?

 

2 Comments on "The manuscript game"


  1. Oh, good. Not that I would wish it on anyone else, but I don’t feel quite as alone. Nothing like the lurching realization of ‘Oh, hey, there’s a *huge* mistake in that career-changing book you just sent out…but you can’t remember it!’

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