I love to read. As a kid I would read when I was supposed to be doing chores or fall asleep with a book in my hand (sometimes at 1 a.m. on a school night). I didn't only read, but I escaped into books. Somewhere around college when I had to start studying, I gave up reading for fun. It wasn't intentional, it just happened. Post-college and pre-marriage I picked it up again, and probably just as bad. Then I had kids - twins, in fact. When that happened the only things I did had to do with them...feeding them, cleaning them, cleaning up after them, and sleeping. Well, all my kids are now getting more independent and I have rekindled my romance with books. I have reverted back to reading when I should be doing my chores, when I should be cooking, and even late into the night (2 a.m. two nights ago, which is why this post may be disjointed).
The book I was reading two nights ago was recommended to me by a couple of friends. It wasn't the best book ever, but good enough for me to keep going and pacify the reading monster in my soul. There were a few problems with the book (I couldn't get a good feel for the main character as she was thrown into an experience that was out of her norm, so nothing baseline was truly established, it was all her reactions; some of the supporting characters were annoying; the story was far-fetched, but the reactions to the situation were even more so). The main issue I had with the book was BAD EDITING! I don't know about you (whoever you are that is reading this), but bad editing will trip me up every time. I told my husband that I seriously considered writing to the author and offering up editing services at a reduced rate just so it wouldn't be so painful to read.
Maybe it's just my personality, but I couldn't get past it. There were quotation marks missing, commas in the wrong places, incorrectly used words, and even character names that got switched up. I finished the book, but don't know if I'll read the sequels, because it was just that bad to me.
I'm sure there's a life lesson in that story, but I'm not sure of what it is. At this moment it's don't stay up until 2 a.m. reading because you'll be exhausted for the next two days and end up writing rambling blog entries. I'm also sure that in confessing my pickiness about editing I've made some kind of horrible writing or editing error in this post that may be unforgiveable.
I will leave you with this. My weakness is reading. Once I start a book I almost always have to finish it. My life is not perfect. I wish I had an editor in life to fix all those details and clean up the extra commas. Nobody's life is perfect, and please forgive me if I judge yours unfairly. Feel free to remind me that regardless of the imperfections, we all have stories to live out and to finish. It may look like a mess, but I need help focusing on my own main purpose and story, and not getting annoyed with the imperfections. Those things are what make it life.
