Today we see that an author without an editor is like a drunken highwire artist working without a net. People may gather around to watch, but it’s not because they expect a good performance.
What I gleaned about the story: A guy works on an assembly line of some kind.
Find this book on Amazon.
Analysis: Depending on how you want to count them, the missing commas, awkwardly constructed phrases, and strangely fragmented sentences combined for a total of at least nine errors. On the first page. Maybe even a dozen.
It’s not unreadable, but for me to look past the editing issues, an author first has to sink some kind of hook in me – make me want to read past them. But without adequate editing, today’s author hasn’t given himself enough time to set that hook.
You didn’t show us any of the errors…. I’d have liked to have seen them.
I’m anxious for you to get to my novel, Savage Dawn (don’t know how happy I’ll be once you’re done with it though). It’s set in Canada and you’re Canadian, right?
I enjoy your blog. Keep up the good work!
Just wondering: Do you actually stop your workout at the point you quit reading or do you keep going even though you’re not reading anymore?
I didn’t think there was anything particularly instructive or novel about the typos and comma gaffes this time around, Inge, so I didn’t include them. But I’ll try not to go completely example-less in the future. And no, I don’t stop my morning walk when the reading stops. Sometimes I use the remaining time to open a second book, sometimes I use it to write up the report, and sometimes I just stare at the wall and trudge my way to the finish line.
I went to Amazon.com’s look-inside feature and I see what you mean. Too tough to slog through the errors (which interrupt the flow of the reading) to find out if there is a great story hidden in there. I’d have given up too. Hopefully the author will take your comments seriously and find an editor or even post his chapters on a critiquing site like Scribophile and get some input from other authors on the errors he is making. Because I’m sure there’s a good story in there waiting to be discovered! :)