Where the hell is the final chapter!?!?!?

[JimCarter]

................Indeed the question of the day is 'where the hell is the last chapter?"

Last we heard Emoe (the editor) had it.  Either is was so screwed up they had to have another collective orgy, or Emoe reads very slowly.

[wildone]

 

 

Aardvarks are interesting creatures. It's be odd to find one in Yucatan though - they're native to Africa. 

 

 

Occasionally CJ slips a bit. I take this to mean that they will survive and arrive on the Yucatan Peninsula.

 

Now we just have to wait to find out how

[Nick Deverill]

Last we heard Emoe (the editor) had it.  Either is was so screwed up they had to have another collective orgy, or Emoe reads very slowly.

 

In defence of editors reading speeds, to do the job properly requires a much slower reading speed than even the slowest reader possesses. You need to read slowly to start with, then go back and make sure all the questions asked are answered.

 

Not here, but I have proof read as part of my job at the time and it's nothing like reading for pleasure. 

[MikeL]

Nick is right.  In fact, after years of proofreading, it becomes virtually impossible to read for pleasure.  Even a practiced speed reader slows down considerably and stumbles over every typo and grammatical error in a story.

[bayoudreamn]

Nick is right.  In fact, after years of proofreading, it becomes virtually impossible to read for pleasure.  Even a practiced speed reader slows down considerably and stumbles over every typo and grammatical error in a story.

Not unimaginable......and one of the reasons I just can not see myself as an editor. I'm perfectly fine having the utmost respect for Emoe and what he does and leaving it at that

[JimCarter]

I agree and I think Emoe does a wonderful job, I am just saying that it has been well over a week and we still have not heard anything, it sounds like something is wrong and needs the TEAM to fix.

[TalonRider]

As an editor myself, I found that when I learned to slow down reading, I caught more. It carries over into the beta reading I do.

 

it's on the rare occasion that CJ will send a chapter out a second time.

[mickey1952]

I just figure it this way: The longer the wait, the sweeter the reward. Yum!

[Daddydavek]

But again, the a-n-t-i-c-i-p-a-t-i-o-n is nerve wracking and I think I'm down to my last nerve!

[bayoudreamn]

Well don't wrack it, DDK....

[Gene Splicer PHD]

I personally don't expect to see the final chapter for another two weeks. At least. 

[DarkPrince]

Gene splicer what is it with all the negative waves? Why always with the negative waves. Like think positive man and have like only good thoughts about this chapter comeing out soon and it will.

[JimCarter]

Gene splicer what is it with all the negative waves? Why always with the negative waves. Like think positive man and have like only good thoughts about this chapter comeing out soon and it will.

 

With the lack of information coming out from people in the know, it is hard to stay positive.  It is especially hard when they seem so secretive about what is going on.  Something seems wrong to all of us and those in the know show no desire to enlighten us about what is actually going on.

[MikeL]

With the lack of information coming out from people in the know, it is hard to stay positive.  It is especially hard when they seem so secretive about what is going on.  Something seems wrong to all of us and those in the know show no desire to enlighten us about what is actually going on.

 

I don't know who's in the know.  I read through a chapter twice, then return a marked-up copy to C J.  I don't know who does what else when.  C J has a number of people proofreading.  I assume some are faster than I, some slower.  The final editing is done by Emoe.  C J reviews the comments of each team member.  Does he send it to one person at a time?  Does he send it to everyone at the same time? 

 

If C J is waiting for someone to finish, even he doesn't know when.

[Benji]

 

I don't know who's in the know.  I read through a chapter twice, then return a marked-up copy to C J.  I don't know who does what else when.  C J has a number of people proofreading.  I assume some are faster than I, some slower.  The final editing is done by Emoe.  C J reviews the comments of each team member.  Does he send it to one person at a time?  Does he send it to everyone at the same time? 

 

If C J is waiting for someone to finish, even he doesn't know when.

 

................... Hey frog!

 

In all honestly the goat should have never proclaimed that his series would be over in two chapters, he should have separated the overload of words into a few more chapters, thus making the Beta, Zeta and reading more easier for the team. And of course the fans following it, this quagmire of the series is upsetting to those that have followed this saga for over 3 years. I have patience and will take the take and wait attitude when it comes in.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Benji

[bayoudreamn]

Conspiracy theories?? I think 40 k just takes a bit to edit. I think Emo got it about 3-4 days ago and....

 

1. alot of times, we had this happen before, Emo is very busy and it takes some time whether the chapter is long or short for him to get to it but I think last time he made some personal sacrifices to fit it in more quickly so CJ could get it out to us.

 

2. I've heard some assumptions from a number of people here about it taking various lengths of time they opined to get a chapter this big done.

 

3. I'm grateful that CJ wrote the story. The wait now is unfortunate but more because I'm a creature of this modern age of convenience that makes me unable to wait on anything as opposed to any real "need" to have the chapter now. As several have said.....we'll get a treat for our patience.

[JimCarter]

Conspiracy theories?? I think 40 k just takes a bit to edit. I think Emo got it about 3-4 days ago and....

 

 

 

The last that I saw was it went to editing almost 2 weeks ago not days.  I hate being such a prick, but a little information would go a long way in eliminating a lot of the frustration.  Some say no news is good news, but most of us just think that is silly.

Edited June 7, 2013 by JimCarter

[C James]

Occasionally CJ slips a bit. I take this to mean that they will survive and arrive on the Yucatan Peninsula.

 

Now we just have to wait to find out how

 

I was playing off a post where someone mentioned the Yucatan.

 

In defence of editors reading speeds, to do the job properly requires a much slower reading speed than even the slowest reader possesses. You need to read slowly to start with, then go back and make sure all the questions asked are answered.

 

Not here, but I have proof read as part of my job at the time and it's nothing like reading for pleasure. 

 

Both beta reading and editing are VERY hard,and do take time, even without the back-and-forth often needed.

 

 

 

Nick is right.  In fact, after years of proofreading, it becomes virtually impossible to read for pleasure.  Even a practiced speed reader slows down considerably and stumbles over every typo and grammatical error in a story.

 

One of the most aggravating things is I find that I can (though not as well as a real beta reader) spot typos in other people's work, I simply can't in my own if I've written it within a year. I have tried every way I can think of, even reading a chapter backwards, but I find little to nothing.

 

 

Not unimaginable......and one of the reasons I just can not see myself as an editor. I'm perfectly fine having the utmost respect for Emoe and what he does and leaving it at that

 

Editing and betaing is IMHO massively difficult and exacting work.

 

As an editor myself, I found that when I learned to slow down reading, I caught more. It carries over into the beta reading I do.

 

it's on the rare occasion that CJ will send a chapter out a second time.

 

I can do that with a chapter I wrote long ago, but I have yet to find a way to do it with a recently written one. I find myself speeding up no matter how hard I concentrate - unless I concentrate so hard on going slow that I miss the very goofs I'm trying to find.

 

But again, the a-n-t-i-c-i-p-a-t-i-o-n is nerve wracking and I think I'm down to my last nerve!

 

But look at the bright side; as Wildone and MikeL are fond of saying, we're fortunate that the last chapter ended in a nice, restful way, and was not in any way a cliffhanger, because that would have made the waiting worse.

 

I don't know who's in the know.  I read through a chapter twice, then return a marked-up copy to C J.  I don't know who does what else when.  C J has a number of people proofreading.  I assume some are faster than I, some slower.  The final editing is done by Emoe.  C J reviews the comments of each team member.  Does he send it to one person at a time?  Does he send it to everyone at the same time? 

 

If C J is waiting for someone to finish, even he doesn't know when.

 

Exactly right: I have no idea when. I can guess (and I'll do so in this case, at the end of the post) but it's out of my hands.

 

As for how it goes through the team... it varies from chapter to chapter. If there's a lot of sailing tech, I usually run it by RedA first in case it requires a major rewrite. I do often send it out to more than one person at once (it varies) because I've noticed that when I have to manually merge (hand edit) the fixes from one copy into the other, it causes me to reexamine the text and make improvements. But, basically it varies, based on the chapter, plus also the schedules of the various team members. (for example, if one is away and offline, I'll hold off on sending it until they get back, so that they get an updated version).

 

 

Conspiracy theories?? I think 40 k just takes a bit to edit. I think Emo got it about 3-4 days ago and....

 

1. alot of times, we had this happen before, Emo is very busy and it takes some time whether the chapter is long or short for him to get to it but I think last time he made some personal sacrifices to fit it in more quickly so CJ could get it out to us.

 

2. I've heard some assumptions from a number of people here about it taking various lengths of time they opined to get a chapter this big done.

 

3. I'm grateful that CJ wrote the story. The wait now is unfortunate but more because I'm a creature of this modern age of convenience that makes me unable to wait on anything as opposed to any real "need" to have the chapter now. As several have said.....we'll get a treat for our patience.

 

Emoe is indeed very busy, plus this is the equivalent of four chapter's worth of work. To make matters worse, Florida got hit by a tropical storm today (Emoe lives in Florida). Emoe is also very overworked with his real-world job and thus presently has a massive backlog of kneecaps to do. (he breaks them; he's an enforcer with the mafia).

 

 

The last that I saw was it went to editing almost 2 weeks ago not days.  I hate being such a prick, but a little information would go a long way in eliminating a lot of the frustration.  Some say no news is good news, but most of us just think that is silly.

 

You're right, info would be better, and I apologize. The situation is I really don't know so I don't want to make any promises. There's no major problem with the chapter (nothing that I know of, anyway) we're just waiting for Emoe to edit something that's the size of a novella (a LOT of work) amidst being very busy.

 

In my opinion, editing and beta reading is harder than writing, and certainly more unsung. In this case, I hit them with a freaking huge file, the size of four regular chapters.

 

Okay, all I can say right now is I have reason to hope that the chapter will be ready this weekend. I can make no promises here, but that's all I know at the moment.

[bayoudreamn]

Well done, CJ. A couple of funny replies in there...kneecaps, yep.

[mickey1952]

Thanks for the update, CJ. It's actually fascinating (to me, anyway) to learn about all of the steps and hard work it takes to get a chapter ready for posting. And all of this effort is totally voluntary. Yes, it's frustrating to endure the waits, but a lot easier when you understand the process a little better. Kudos to your incredible team!!

[Nick Deverill]

 

One of the most aggravating things is I find that I can (though not as well as a real beta reader) spot typos in other people's work, I simply can't in my own if I've written it within a year. I have tried every way I can think of, even reading a chapter backwards, but I find little to nothing.

 

There are two tricks that might help you. The first one, assuming you are writing in Word or another wordprocessor program is to change the font. I find it can help you spot the "Paris in the the spring" type mistakes where although it'll pass all spelling tests, is still wrong.

 

The other one, and you need to do this very fastidiously, is to read the work aloud. 

 

I do agree though, it is stacks easier to find errors in someone else's work than in you own.

[JimCarter]

I want to apologize for my negativity lately.  I am turning into a grumpy old man.  CJ, you and your team do a wonderful job on this story.  I think all of us that read it realize how much effort it takes to do such a quality job.  My sister-in-law made me promise to go to the doctor next week if my sprained ankle isn't much better by Monday.  Maybe that will save me from becoming more of a GRUMPY OLD MAN.

 

Thanks again to the whole team for your hard work and thanks for the update.

[Gene Splicer PHD]

Im not being negative, here. I'm being realistic, and keeping my expectations low. Big chapter, lots of beta reading, lots of work to do, and lots of "it's almost ready". It'll be here when it gets posted, and I don't think I can reliably expect CJ and the team to say when that will be, so I'm planning for it to be ready in a couple of weeks.

[MikeL]

...mistakes where although it'll pass all spelling tests, is still wrong.

 

Spellcheck programs catch about 10% of the errors that I find.  All the homophones in English evade the best spellcheck.  Reading slowly and deliberately are the only approach that works for me.

[Nick Deverill]

Spellcheck programs catch about 10% of the errors that I find.  All the homophones in English evade the best spellcheck.  Reading slowly and deliberately are the only approach that works for me.

 

Yup, needs a very deliberate approach to catch to, two, too transpositions.