Pointless Announcements

It was a thiol, specifically hexanethiol. Thiol - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

I was recently brought in on a project at its final stage. I'm more or less filling in for an editor colleague who's out of town for the net few days. She warned me that it was a convoluted thing that she's been helping out with. They hired her to help them "finalize" the project. It's been a few months now. It's a great example of why you should add an editor to your team at the beginning of a project, not the end.

 

PSA:

Hire an editor, folks. We see shit you didn't even know existed. We find shit you didn't know was missing. Every. Single. Piece. Of. Shit.

 

Obvs. I spend a lot of time reading over my own writing and editing accordingly as I go. However, it's difficult for a writer to look at their own work objectively. I know there are things I miss. I'm not just talking about conventional errors, either. I know there are pieces of my narrative that could be stronger if someone prompted me to make them stronger; sometimes I go back and do that. Mostly, I'm writing for my own enjoyment, so I don't bother.

Recently, my book club decided to read the novel a member had written. I declined when he offered to send me an electronic copy. Initially, he was puzzled, but then I explained that I prefer to avoid reading the writing of friends given what I do for a living. I have trained myself to be critical when it comes to writing, and I do not wish to be critical to a friend.

Additionally, past experience has taught me that I often think less of a person when I read their attempts at a novel, but I did not tell my friend that.

 

Yes, yes you are.

 

I bet she's been deciding which vinyl stick family to buy for the back of the minivan she's about to pick up.....