This Book is Brought to You by the Letter 'C'

For me, the editing process is one of the most exciting aspects of writing.  Not only do you have the opportunity to really make your work shine, but if you have a bit of a sense of humor, it's a great opportunity to laugh at yourself.

There's always that one sentence that no matter how many times you've read your manuscript, someone else is going to catch.  In Ragtown, the line was:

 "Art lit his cigarette off Lance's butt."  (That is one hot butt!)

Then of course there is that one word that you didn't realize you used ten thousand times in a two hundred page manuscript.  In Ragtown it was 'exit'.  In Call Me Crazy it was 'just'. 

   

 So I've been looking for those sentences, those words and recently  discovered that my problem now is a letter. The letter 'C'.

As if the title Call Me Crazy isn't loaded with enough C's, I have characters named Cass, Clay, Benny Cloud, Claire and Clive.  The worst is Claire, because she is married to Benny. Yes. Claire Cloud.  Luckily, there isn't a scene where they all meet up.  Maybe if there had been, I would have noticed sooner:

Claire Cloud sat next to Clive at the cafe counter. She motioned to Cass who was chatting with Clay, the cook. "I could use a cold Coke like Clive's." (cluck, cluck, cluck)

Yes, I may have noticed my 'C' addiction had a sCene like this been in the book.  (I also would have thrown away my book of ideas and jabbed myself in the eye with a pencil).

So again, the benefit of editors, beta readers and not just rereading your manuscript, but analyzing it a bit for the little things.  Then laugh it off, reword a sentence, use another verb or, in this case, change a few names.

Trust me. You'll C a difference.