Five Kinds of Screw-ups

So, today I thought I'd list five different kinds of screw-ups that a person can make while writing.

Screw-up Number One - Typos

This is a misspelled word or a grammatical error. These are so frequent that online archives will chew you out for not at least attempting to do this one right. So, you can report abuse on ff.net if someone really doesn't do this well and they'll probably get their stuff removed for playing poorly. Anyway, this is stuff on the small word or sentence level.

This is the biggest reason I'm a lazy author. Meaning, that I try to do this one well, but frankly, if I don't catch the mistake and my beta reader, Kaytala, doesn't catch it than I probably don't care. I'm not nit picky and the longer my chapters get (by demand) than the more room for error there is. Looking for these sorts of mistakes bores me, and not only that, but after I have read a chapter a certain number of times - the mistake starts to look right. There are arguments that I could probably use another beta reader besides Kaytala in order to catch any and all teensy mistakes that may or may not occur in my writing. Blah! Even thinking about this bores me as well. I have had more than one person beta read chapters before - far in the distant past - and even thinking about wading through two people's notes on the chapter sounds ... unpleasant. Don't get me wrong though - I love Kaytala and her comments. She's a gem! But without the reassurance that the second beta reader would be EXACTLY like her I'd rather not participate.

However, right now I have a couple people beta reading chapters for DM. If one of them turns out to impress me than maybe I'll think about it.

Screw-up Number 2 - Order of Events

When I was a little munchkin I remember learning how to write instructions for things in the form of a paragraph in language arts class. So, this is when someone screws up on the order of events. This is to describe an error in the order of sentences - once again on a pretty small scale. So this is errors in paragraphs. Basically, to describe this more accurately, this is when someone arranges their sentences in an order that disrupts the logic of the reader.

I remember that I used to have a lot of trouble with this when I was in my teens and writing on loose-leaf paper instead of on a computer. I'd write something and then I would be too lazy to rearrange the order of events so that the paragraph would make more sense. There wasn't room and often I didn't have enough paper. But since the advance of 'point and click' this has become a much smaller problem.

Also, since my adult life I have written a multitude of procedures manuals and oddly enough - this has helped me tame this problem. The thing is when I write a procedures manual, I write it so clearly and so thoroughly (explaining what is done and why so completely) that ANYONE off the street should be able to come in and do the job the manual was written for without screwing everything up or setting the building on fire. Needless to say - updating these things used to make me want to die, but if I was gone, I always left plenty of information so my boss or replacement weren't left in the dark about what needed to be done.

Apparently, sometimes I still make this mistake - and it really pisses me off since I've come so far with it.

Screw-up Number 3 - Scenario

This is a screw-up on a larger scale. This is bigger than sentences or paragraphs - this is a screw-up the size of a chapter. This is when a scenario (or subplot) of a story has a bad premise. This usually occurs when the author misreads a character and designs a plot around circumstances that wouldn't occur because of a character's personality. This also can occur when there is a gigantic break in the story where a bunch of time has passed, and when the author picks it up again - the heart and soul of the story is gone. This screw-up has the ability to pour tomato juice down your brand new white dress (ruin the rest of the story), but not necessarily.

I think my biggest example of this was a certain chapter in 'Mystic Wings' called 'Heart of the Dragon'. This is the chapter where Van is sitting by the pool talking to himself. Man alive! That was a majorly unpopular chapter. There were a few people who liked Van and lot of really vocal ones who didn't. There were lots of people who didn't like certain things he said, or the way he said them, or - the list goes on. Personally, I like Van in that chapter. Maybe it's not my favourite chapter to highlight him, but I like that he's uncertain and feeling lost. So, I wouldn't change it - no matter how many people complained. At best, I think it was an accurate depiction of what girls that age want in a man - weakness is not acceptable. At worst - I write crappy romance and need some more practice. The thing about that is that when I write romance I can't write:

• Something I've read in someone else's book;
• Something I've experienced myself; or
• Something skanky.

That leaves precious little.

Screw-up Number Four - Mythology

This is when you are making up your own world, your own power system, your own mythology and to screw it up is when you haven't got your facts straight. This is sad, because you made them up yourself.

Yep - I do this sometimes. There are a couple screw-ups in my Escaflowne series and I know where they are. I know there are at least two - maybe more. DON'T LOOK FOR THEM! As far as I'm concerned this kind of screw-up is permitted in fanfiction, because you can't market fanfiction or sell it. To go fix these two mistakes would be so much work that even thinking about it makes me want to cry. I'm not going to fix them, and I'm not particularly bothered that they are there - it doesn't ruin the story or the plot. It's just my own private screw-up. However, I have to say that this is not okay in original fiction. If I found errors like this in something I could sell - I would be really disturbed - really disturbed. But for fanfiction -- it's hardly worth the effort. If anyone noticed - goodie for them.

Screw-up Number Five - Overall Plot

This is the biggest screw-up anyone can possibly make and yet it's amazing how often this one happens. This happens the most often when authors neglect their stories and go do something else for months on end. This also happens when authors don't have storyboards and have no direction for a piece. They end up getting dictated to by tiny details they threw in during the first chapters when they had the premise and introduction all worked out. In the end, they are not in control of their story and end up getting pushed around by it instead of reining it in - if they finish it at all.

This happens all over the place on ff.net. It's probably the most common problem, but this is the area where I truly shine. The only piece that I can say had this problem was a Slayers novella I wrote called 'Shadow Magic: Xellos and Filia'. I wrote nine chapters and planned on cutting it off, but it was more popular than anything else I'd ever written on ff.net at the time, so I continued it for a few more chapters, but I HATED IT! I only did it cause it was popular. I only posted it on ff.net because it was popular enough on my website to warrant it. I got requests from fans for me to post it. BUT I HATE THAT STORY! It was SO weak, and honestly pathetic. The Slayers audience isn't as big as the Escaflowne audience, so it has a lot fewer reviews than my Escaflowne stuff, but for the Slayers section - it did very well.

So, just to finish off I'd like to say one thing - I usually know when I screw-up, thanks.