Thursday, July 20, 2006

What page are you on?

Okay, I admit the thought process is a bit stifled this morning and coming up with a blog topic just isn't brewing in the old noggin. Whenever my daughter calls, her first words are "What are you doing?" I'm working. Sitting here, behind the computer, making things up. Sigh...
So, I thought I'd show you what I'm doing. To be exact, this is where I am right now.

I'm right there, on page 59. This is the stage where, after I've spent a week of editing the first draft with a red pen, I then sit down before the computer and type in the corrections. I've got 400 hundreds pages of this stuff. I already have a headache. The crossouts are the best. Highlight. Delete. Whoopee! But those small red chicken scratch marks? Can you read them? Now, I know this copy is much smaller than the original, so of course you can't read them. But trust me, I still can't read them at actual size. What the heck did I write there? Anyone? Betina? Bueller? :-)
It's one of my biggest problems during edits. I always remind myself as I'm writing in corrections to be slow, careful, neat. Ha! So now here I am, trying to figure out what I was thinking at the time, and at least try to come up with a semblance of the former idea. Ah heck, I give up. If it was all that good, I'd just know it, right? On to the next page!
So that's what I'm doing. I've got the iTunes blasting. My feet are up. I'm already half way through the Choxie Warm Spiced Caramels. And I'm still in my jammies.
Do you want to be on the same page as I am? I'll trade you a day in my shoes for a day behind your desk under the flourescent lights with the angry boss breathing down your neck while you search the files for that document that you know you made in triplicate but are now sure has been eaten by cyber dogs.

Nope. I tease. :-) I like this gig, red chicken scratches and all.
Michele

4 comments:

anne frasier said...

here you go, michele.

easy as conlis.


"He took the stairs down into destrus of conlis underyrs. Hardly two himself, he dove autonto the play to see as a bybar coutbads. He made the cane car, but the door snipped his elbows thidstay. The cin was packed. He bye to polite through, but no one was cooperative."

Michele Hauf said...

Ah! See, I knew someone would work it out. I think I should hire Anne to do my translations from chicken scratch for me.

:-)

M

Unknown said...

LOL! Anne, you're wonderful! And Michelle, what a hoot to see a page in progress in your next blockbuster! I tried to read it and succeeded (mostly) with the typed part. But the handwritten part. . . hmmmm. . . I see what you mean.

I make most of my corrections at the computer now. I get impatient with pen and pencil and I want to see how it will look in print!

This is fun. We should get everyone to pub one of their pages-in-process.

Helen Brenna said...

I'm doing the same thing right now, trying to finish before conference.

Fun, idnit?