A US Copy Editor's Perspective: About Nine Thousand Rules in 16CMS?

I've made several Internet searches trying to find out the exact number of rules that are listed in 16CMS. Haven't found it yet.

But, considering there are about nine hundred pages, not counting the bibliography and the index, and there seems to be an average of about ten rules per page, that is how I ended up with the nine thousand figure. And that's not separating out the exceptions from the rules.

Wow.

Yes, it's a lot to fathom all at once. Yet it's kinda like the dictionary. You don't need to already know all the spellings/answers, just where to look them up.

That's why I like to share these 16CMS tips in some of my posts. Hope you Indie authors out there find something useful here.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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Time = Stress

We live in a dimension with time. God doesn't. Once we get to heaven, there is eternity instead.

But while we are in these bodies, earthbound, time kinda rules us. I found this great quote today:

Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time. Steven Wright

And I had to laugh. If we take "time" out of our equations, doesn't it take away the stress? I know it does for me.

Time equals stress.

If it is 1:20 p.m. and you were supposed to be at work by 1:00 p.m., you may feel stressed.

If it is April 15 nearing midnight, you might be feeling stressed.

If it is your fiftieth birthday coming up on Sunday, you could be feeling stressed.

But if you work for yourself, and can claim any hours of the day (or night) to dive in, then you probably don't mind the delay one bit.

And if you filed your income taxes early, then 04.15 has no effect upon you.

Plus, once you are eternal, you won't be celebrating birthdays that end in zeros.

So take time out of the equation (as in, work for yourself and throw that alarm clock in the trash).

Or let time work for you instead of against you (like saving money monthly starting when you are young instead of waiting until you are sixty).

For me, that means no more trying to be a marketing guru or even just understanding today's particular trends, which change anyway.

No more.

I love my blogging. I love Pinterest. I have done both for a while now. I will continue with it.

And my intended readership will find my books via the passage of enough time. To me, marketing is trying to get there faster. Kudos to you who know how to work that system.

Why am I trying to hurry the process? 

Yes, I will dance in my kitchen when I become a self-sustaining author. But I have (and love) my freelancing projects, which pay my bills. 

So why would I choose to add stress to my day by trying to learn something that is forever changing and for which I am not adapted or have no natural inclination?

I'm surprised I'm just now realizing this. Ha!

So, I'm not gonna try anymore.
 
Marketing is a weak area of mine. I'm letting it go. I'm saving my attentions for those things I love doing and over which I have control: my writing process.

And letting time take over.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

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Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors by Brandilyn Collins

I just finished reading this book.  It gives a good overall view of the main elements used in writing.  I love acronynms and she gives us a few that will serve me well.  She also has a way of explaining things that simplifies why we do what we instinctively do, and yet still could not tell another how we do it.  Except now I can.  Her insights are useful.

Plus her examples were fun to check out which I personally enjoy when accompanying the instructive text.  Samples seem to make it more vivid for me.  This book was a fast read and only 206 pages--if you continue on to her recommended reading section.  I have ten handwritten pages (both sides) full of her tips.  My typewritten version is eleven pages long.  So lots of noteworthy stuff. 

Having ingested her book, I am now left with the desire to carry on with some of the other books she notes at the end.  And to compile lists.  About eleven of them.  You know, the shortcuts that we authors just love to have on hand.  Like for instance, for me, it is having Baby Name books from which I can choose my characters' names.  Which I should narrow down to selections I actually like and would possibly use.  Such a condensed preapproved character name list would be of great value to me.

A book that prods me to action is always a good thing.

I don't want to give away her book contents here, but one quote I would like to leave you with.  On page 147, Ms. Collins states:  "Novelists as a rule hate rules."  Amen.

The Dreaded "Final Edit"

As I stated in an earlier post, I am doing a Final Edit on my debut novel.  Being a workaholic and a perfectionist, I want my book to be the best it can be.  In light of the current changes in publishing, I want my book to be the best it can be--especially since I will be releasing it as an Indie-published e-book.  As an author, I want my book to be the best it can be because it carries not only my name but also my words, my thoughts, my philosophy on life.

But I was having no fun editing with all this pressure.

I had to remind myself of a very famous writer with her seven-book series whose later books show her growth as an author.

We should all show our growth as authors.

Yet, her books were published and enjoyed by millions before she reached increased levels of perfection.

Kind of like a physician's practice (emphasis on the word "practice") connotes a lifetime of learning his art, so does it with us creators using our imagination and words to tell a tale with the art of written communication.

Plus, isn't this daily road trip on my way to my goals supposed to be fun?

Here's the distillation of these random musings.  I am not perfect (Gasp!) and should relax a little--hard for us workaholics to do.  Instead of waiting to publish when I have studied and learned all that is out there, not to mention implementing the entirety of that knowledge, I have realized that I would never be published in my lifetime.  No one would with that criteria.  Obviously, this does not mean putting up slop to sell.  I take great pride in my work. 

Besides there are those brilliant authors who break the rules and win over the readers and critics alike, all the while presenting their storytelling in such a way so as to effectively share it with us all.

So why take decades to study these "rules" if you can be persuasive with the written word without them?  I'm reminded of that oft repeated axiom to stop the research, stop the studying, and just act.  Good advice.

I'm taking it.

Again, I'm not advocating to ignore the Web11 spellings and definitions of words, nor the standard English grammar usages that encourage the art of successful communication.  I am saying there is no "perfect" time and I will yet to be perfect myself, so we should take the sum of our knowledge AT THIS POINT and use it wisely.  Go for it!
 
And for those who are interested, I'm enjoying my process so much more now.  With my new improved mind-set (yes, this is the Webster's 11th Edition way to spell it), I have worked through the first fifty-four pages of my two-hundred-twenty-page novel.  I'm not sure how many rounds I will need to polish my work, but I'm feeling my way to finding out.  For this book.  I'm sure each one poses its own set of guidelines and needs.

After all, I am a work in progress myself, just like my books.