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April 17, 2023

A pet peeve is something minor that you find especially annoying. For me, it’s an editing error in a book I’m reading. It may be a misspelled word, an extra comma, or maybe a name spelled differently the second time it comes up.

We all make mistakes. Sure we do. That doesn’t mean I have to like it.

I was reading a novel and was getting down to the last few pages. One of the main characters was sitting alone, sipping a cup of coffee, thinking about the huge event that had occurred a day before. The author was tying up loose ends. Another character appeared at the table, out of nowhere. What? I figured out that the person sipping coffee was accidentally called by the wrong name. The editor missed it, and I was annoyed. The whole flow of the story was interrupted.

That sums it up pretty well, I think—- mistakes interrupt the flow. When a reader hits an error, the whole reading experience is messed up. You were in another world, then you’re suddenly knocked out of it. Other mistakes, not in reading but in other parts of life, throw you out of the normal flow. Plans are ruined, or at least knocked off the straight route.

I just finished writing my next book. I read it through for errors twice, my editor read through it, and I corrected the mistakes we both found. I ordered a sample copy and read through it. Now I’ve ordered my first copies, and in days my book will be available for all to buy. It’s a great feeling! Yesterday I casually picked up my sample copy, flipped it open, and BLAM, saw a mistake! How could this be?

We make mistakes, no matter how hard we try not to.

We need a savior. “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23