Lesson #548 - A Good Editor is Crucial

I've heard this countless times. Every book I've read on how to sell your script, they say "make sure there are no typos". Every contest that I've entered, they say "make sure there are no typos".

I was convinced that I was typo-free. I had several people check it, and I fixed all that they reported. In fact, I was so confident that I was good to go, that I've been sending and entering this script all over the place. Then a friend, who turns out to be an amazing editor, read it. And he found a shameful number of typos. And phrase repetition. And characters who were not CAP'ed when first introduced. And more that I'm just too embarrased to share.

After a huge dose of gratitude to him, I realized that a good editor is gold. Not everyone is going to spot these indescresions. In fact, I venture to say, the average person reading a script won't catch much. Or they will notice, but not take the time and effort (and it is time consuming, and a huge effort) to make a note, and pass it on.

I shudder to think that there are professionals out there (hopefully) reading my script as it is now. I wish I could swap them all out for my shiney new clean-as-a-whistle version. But I've misplaced my magic wand. Obviously.

Many of these mistakes I could have tried to catch myself, if I re-read my script (for the bloody hundreth time) as an editor, instead of a writer. And now that I have discovered my friend is a brilliant editor, I shall abuse him as much as he will allow. It might mean the difference between looking professinal, and looking like a total country bumbkin.