What not to do...

I sent off my manuscript Friday, and realized today after reviewing it that there were a couple of typos. How many times have I read the story and not seen them? Argh! And the stupidity of it all is that the nasty sinking feeling I got in the pit of my stomach upon discovery could have been completely avoided had I done the one thing every savvy college student knows not to do. I shouldn't have read it after sending it off. How in the world does this relate to college? No fear, I'll tell you.

Let's say you're handing in a 10 page case study. The teacher is a hard-nose, so nothing short of perfection will garner an A. You've proofed it, read it aloud, even got your cat's approval. So what do you do? Print it, of course! There it is on pristine 22lb paper--GORGEOUS. You slip it into a report cover and go to bed for the three hours you have left before class. We won't talk about why you only have 3 hours before class--you're in college for God's sake! You dash out the door, showered and heavily made up so no one can discern the heavy, black fatigue rings under your eyes for all the eyeliner. Scrambling onto the bus, planting your butt in the last remaining seat, you breathe a sigh of relief.

Finding yourself with nothing to do--besides wondering when your seatmate last bathed--you pull out your shining report. The heavens sing as you free it from your bag and flip past the title page. From 1 to 5, everything looks great. And then it happens. You spot the HUGE mistake on the top of 6. Instead of staff, you've got stiff, and the context just ain't right for a business paper, if you know what I mean. Up 'til that second, you were secure in the knowledge that the coveted A was all yours. And now all you've got to offer is the stiff in your slick sheath. In the space of a breath, you catapulted from the pearly gates to the seventh circle of hell. So what do we learn from this boys and girls? Two things: when you think it's perfect, proof it again, and more importantly--DON'T LOOK!

The good news for me is that I found and corrected my error. Too late for this agent, maybe, but not too late for the next. I've finally gotten too old or too crazy to make myself completely sick over things out of my control (at least for today). And what the hell, I got a good story out of it. Plus, who wouldn't want to reminisce over the good old days?