The question: What's the silliest mistake you've ever made in your WIP?
Here's mine. In an old draft of THE INBETWEEN, Sophie's talking about her crush, Ian, and his studly football skills, and she says he made "a 200-yard sprint and touchdown to secure our half-time lead."
If you're not currently laughing your head off, you're obviously not a football junkie. I'm not, either. It's not until my dad read the draft (thank you, Dad!) that I found out that football fields are only 100 yards long.
Oops.
But I have this hilarious picture in my head of Ian sprinting the entire length of the football field ... making the touchdown ... and then sprinting another 100 yards out of the stadium.
So now it's your turn. What's the silliest/worst/most embarrassing WIP mistake you've ever made? I'll be posting your comments onto this page throughout the day, so don't be shy -- let the silliness begin!
*Can you tell I just discovered that blogger has a new font-size feature?
Rebecca L: In the first novel I ever wrote, the cliche-ridden high fantasy, the secondary/love interest character had a breakdown and ranted about how frustrating and terrifying and hopeless their situation was...specifically how afraid he was that the MC's magical powers wouldn't be strong enough to defeat the villain, especially now that she had stolen the MC's magical pendant. In response, the MC comforted him and gave him hope. I realized later that this was BEFORE she had even discovered that she had magical powers, or that her pendant was magical! They went on to reach their destination where she learned the truth and was perfectly shocked about it.
LilyMeade: In my first attempt at writing anything, I had the parents of my characters make an excuse that their daughters had to spend the night together because they all had toddlers and babies that were sick. This story was ENTIRELY focused on the families of these girls and their lives, but after I finished it, I reread it and realized I never mentioned those little siblings again. I still think of those poor lost children whenever I get complimented, thinking 'I'm a horrible writer.'
Kari: I have to admit, either I haven't been writing long enough to make those kinds of mistakes--or I haven't caught them yet! But I did have this one sentence in a draft I sent to a friend for comments... "As they passes particularly close to one tree whose branches as seemed to have grown in one direction, allowing them to pass right by the trunk, James stretched out a hand, almost dreamily, and pried a piece of bark off the trunk." My friend's comment? "I read that and was like, 'what.'" Evidence that you cannot proofread too much.
Mandy: My personal fail has to do with the supporting characters. I have a young couple, Kate and Amos, who help out the MC on her journey. At one point Kate and my MC are discussing Kate's relationship, and she says she's only been with Amos for a few months. Then later on in the story, Amos shares a really painful story about his drug addition and says he almost lost Kate--but it was years ago! I'd been so intent on creating some backstory for Amos and Kate, I didn't even catch the continuity error.
Hi Kirsten,
ReplyDeleteI didn't catch that one either when I read though the TIB- not a football follower for sure!
Good thing Dad caught it for us :)
ReplyDeleteGood topic! :) In the first novel I ever wrote, the cliche-ridden high fantasy, the secondary/love interest character had a breakdown and ranted about how frustrating and terrifying and hopeless their situation was...specifically how afraid he was that the MC's magical powers wouldn't be strong enough to defeat the villain, especially now that she had stolen the MC's magical pendant. In response, the MC comforted him and gave him hope. I realized later that this was BEFORE she had even discovered that she had magical powers, or that her pendant was magical! They went on to reach their destination where she learned the truth and was perfectly shocked about it.
ReplyDeleteIn my first attempt at writing anything, I had the parents of my characters make an excuse that their daughters had to spend the night together because they all had toddlers and babies that were sick. This story was ENTIRELY focused on the families of these girls and their lives, but after I finished it, I reread it and realized I never mentioned those little siblings again. I still think of those poor lost children whenever I get complimented, thinking 'I'm a horrible writer.'
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, either I haven't been writing long enough to make those kinds of mistakes--or I haven't caught them yet! But I did have this one sentence in a draft I sent to a friend for comments...
ReplyDelete"As they passes particularly close to one tree whose branches as seemed to have grown in one direction, allowing them to pass right by the trunk, James stretched out a hand, almost dreamily, and pried a piece of bark off the trunk."
My friend's comment? "I read that and was like, 'what.'"
Evidence that you cannot proofread too much. And congrats on the 50 follower milestone!
Hah, those are all pretty great! Well my personal fail has to do with the supporting characters. I have a young couple, Kate and Amos, who help out the MC on her journey. At one point Kate and my MC are discussing Kate's relationship, and she says she's only been with Amos for a few months. Then later on in the story, Amos shares a really painful story about his drug addition and says he almost lost Kate--but it was years ago! I'd been so intent on creating some backstory for Amos and Kate, I didn't even catch the continuity error.
ReplyDelete-Mandy