Editing Samuel Ward's Dairy

Over the weekend, the postman delivered my draft copy of A Zealous Heart: The Diary Of Samuel Ward, A Translator Of The 1611 King James Bible.

I wish he hadn’t done that.

For weeks now, I’ve dreaded the arrival of the mail.

Now, I have to proofread the pages to change errors, typos, formatting, graphics, and a host of other glaring glitches.

The Editor asks, “How many writers does it take to change a lightbulb”?

The Writer says, “I ain’t changing nothing”!

But, in the name of accuracy, changes must be made.

So this evening I gathered my editing paraphernalia so I can start bright and early.

Here’s some of the stuff I use:

Before I even open the proof pages, on the book cover I see a gap between the A and the Z of Zealous. This does not portend smooth work ahead.

My tattered Bible lies to the left with my glasses and magnifying glass to correlate tiny footnotes. My pipe, tobacco and match case (for large wooden matches) lie to the right; for months I’ve carried a picture of Samuel Ward on my match case to focus my mind on the work every time I light my pipe.

Of course my Associated Press Style Manual, my concrete mixer paper weight, my sharp red pencils, and my coffee mug (My son Donald had this made special for me; it features my Bluefish Books logo) — all comprise essential equipment.

The ink pot and quill just round out the tasteful still life arrangement.

Yes, it’s padding but don’t knock it.

I snapped 15 digital photos to get this one to come out.

After I proofread, I’ll refer the manuscript to my Department Of Redundancy Department to check that I have not said the same thing twice or more than once; that gives the book readabilityness and makes it easier for readers to follow.

I’ll sent the cover art over to Helen, my daughter-in-law who can bandage those places where the cover bleeds pixels all over my red pencils.

While I’ve been waiting for the mailman to deliver this proof copy of the Ward Diary, I worked on another manuscript, a larger one which refuses to be convert to a pdf file without inserting eight blank pages between pages 484 and 485. And the index…

Well, I’ll skip writing about the index — unless you’d like to read a bubble by bubble description of the Titanic’s sinking.

Oh well, once the Lord Jesus wrote in the sand.

That was when an irate mob brought Him a woman “taken in adultery, in the very act”.

They wanted to throw rocks at her head till she died.

Jesus stooped down, wrote something in the sand, then stood back up and said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her”.

For some reason the crowd melted away.

He said to the woman, “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more”.

The very next thing Jesus said was — “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”.

Writing words in sand — at least that’s one area in which I follow Him — I often feel as though I’m doing that very same thing.