I have learned a new respect for the publishing industry. I am currently in the process of ordering my third and (hopefully) final proof for the print version of The Spirit of Resistance. I consider myself a reasonably good speller and “grammatician” (translation: I ‘kin rite gud), but this process has had me flummoxed! I knew there’d be a second proof when I ordered the first one. I even expected it, knowing how many corrections and changes I might need to make. One of those included a font change that required a complete reformat of the entire book!
What I did not expect was, after ordering that second proof, that I’d find so many spelling errors in the new version. I suppose that’s one of the challenges of writing, though. The advice I’ve given and received always flows along the lines of “turn off your inner editor during the creative process.” All well and good when it comes to creating the story. But you’d better turn that editor on full once the story is finished!
That being said, I just finished reading the third installment of Stephen Donaldson’s Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant. Some enterprising reader at the Penfield library took it upon themselves to edit the printed book. I counted no less than five separate spelling errors throughout the book. I suppose that’s not bad, given that this tome was 575 pages long, but still.
There’s no such thing as perfection this side of eternity, I guess.