I really heart my publishers. Lyrical has instituted a pre-editing stage, when your work has been accepted, but before the editors get their claws–ahem, hands on it. During this stage, they give you a handbook and a checklist, and you do a LOT of work on the piece to correct errors that authors frequently make.
What a hugely valuable tool. Who would have thought it was helpful to do a search-and-destroy on words like ‘and’ or ‘the’? Yet it really, really is. And that’s only one example of this brilliant checklist.
I am humbled, shocked and mildly dismayed to find out how many ‘frequently made’ errors I am still making. I feel wrung out, and yet confident that my writing will be much improved.
In short, I’m learning how much I still have to learn. Yes, I’ve said that before, and I’ve learned it before. As a writer, as a woman, as a mother, as a human. I am still learning that I am still learning.
All I ask is the opportunity to go on learning that, for as long as I live.
