Six months ago I thought I had polished my manuscript as much possible. I had gone over it dozens of times. I had laboured over every word and comma. I had it buffed and shined and ready to send out to publishers hoping to get a nibble.
Now I have found a publisher and he’s asked me to check it over once more before it goes to the editors. So after six months, I am looking at it again with fresh eyes. It’s been a good exercise. I’m surprised by how many little errors I’ve found: missed words, improper punctuation, spelling (even with spell check!). There are sections that are not as clear as I thought I’d made them. There are other sections that are extraneous, or don’t ring true. The manuscript I thought was “clean” still benefits from a re-reading with fresh eyes.
It reminds me of when my sister-in-law, Mary read my first book (a children’s novel). At that point it was in book form, already published. I had gone over the book exhaustively, other reader’s had checked it, and editors had proofread it. But of everyone who read the book, Mary was the on who found the most errors. Mary’s first language is Dutch. English is her second language. She reads slowly and carefully. The language is fresh to her and she approaches it studiously and meticulously. If there is a missing word in a sentence she doesn't gloss over it as other readers tend to, their minds filling in the blank, not even noticing the omission and barrelling on with the story.
It just goes to show the importance of reading with fresh eyes.