Fixing Mistakes

I'm human.  I make mistakes.  

When it's in writing, sometimes it's something as simple as correcting a typo and I can just fix it right there in the document.  Sometimes, though, an entire scene isn't working.  In this case, I have the awesome tool that I can view two documents side by side.  This is an awesome benefit of Windows 8.1.  I can just slide one document to the left, and it takes up half the screen.  Then I slide a new doc to the right to take up the other half.  I can read what's on the left, what I've already written, and write the new scene to fit in.  Then it's simply a case of cutting the old scene (and pasting it into the new doc just in cases) and then copying the new scene and pasting it into the doc I'm working on.  Ta da!  

It's sometimes hard for me to change my words.  Especially when something amuses me.  But if it only amuses me because of the inside jokes with myself, and in fact induces eye-glazing, then it needs to go. So this morning, an entire scene is getting rewritten.

If only it were that easy when the mistake shows up in the yarn.

Sometimes I can leave the mistake in the yarn.  No one will even know it's there except for me.  Sometimes there are easy fixes, techniques specially developed and lovingly learned by me so that I can correct what went wonky.  Sometimes the fixes are way more involved, but worth the time and patience, because the correct work looks so much nicer.  And sometimes, there's no help for it.  Sometimes the work needs to be frogged and restarted.  And even though it's frustrating as hell sometimes, that's worth it too, when I can have a good finished project instead of something that looks icky.

But whether it's yarning or writing, or life for that matter, it's all about recognizing mistakes and being willing to correct them.  It's not always easy, but it's always worth it.