Polishing the Heiress

Each of us has his or her own method for perfecting our stories once we finish writing them. I tend to write flat out with not much thought for word choice or detail. Then once I get the story down, I let it sit for a while, do something else for a few days. Later, when I go back to it, the story seems fresher to me. A lot of the time I will see things that I'd forgotten about.

This isn't always fun. Consider THE RUNAWAY HEIRESS. Poor thing, her parents died in a car accident when she was seven. No, nine. Wait a minute, eight! First of all, it surprised me that there were so many references to her age at the time of her loss. Second, why couldn't I make up my mind how old she was?

"Tell me the terms of the trust fund?" "What were the conditions of the trust fund?" "How does that trust fund work again?" Geez! Is the hero a complete moron??? I think he got it the first time, didn't he? Perhaps it was the author who didn't get it.

Where did she go to school? Yeah, I made the mistake of naming the all-girls' academy. But what did I name it? Where is the reference? Let's just call it "The Academy." How's that?

Her best friend Fran lives in a converted warehouse loft apartment. Either that, or she lives in a 1960s ranch-style house. Which is it? Make up your mind!!

And I won't even go into that whole issue with the curly quotes.

Well, you know what I'll be doing today. I hope you have a lovely day.
Delia