A journalist friend was horrified when angry family members called his
local paper. In his haste to make deadline, he ran the sentence, “The
woman is now dead.” Ah, one little lower-case character stood between
him and the Pulitzer! The reality? “The woman is not dead.” What a
surprise for her and her friends to read an obituary for a death that
had not occurred! How crucial editing is for everyone!
In out hurried word of dead lines and panes to catch, sometimes we for
get that technology cannot yet replace a pear of human ice when it comes
to smell checkers and grammar programs. Ewe must find the thyme to
actually look over all that goats out under your name, or hire pupae hue
cane fir you. Get the idea? (FYI - my spell and grammar checker approved
that “hole” paragraph! I count 16 errors.)
Auto-correct and Word 8.0 cannot guarantee flawless typing. One method I
teach authors is to sit on anything they write for two whole weeks
before sending it out. During this time, do not fuss, edit, think about,
obsess on or change one little thing. Leave the material alone, in hard
copy format, in a sealed envelope. Since you are never “barely sliding
in under deadline” due to Covey’s book on time management, the two weeks
will be no problem. Then, re-read it with a red pen in hand. You’ll be
amazed at the dramatic improvement in your writing skills! There’s no
great writing – only great re-writing!
Wendy Keller
Keller Media, Inc.
Literary Agency & Speakers Bureau
23852 West Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 701
Malibu, CA 90265 USA
310.857.6828 voice
310.857.6373 fax
