I’m in the middle of an interesting project. For this particular project, I am working with two other women. The women are working together to update a rather large document, which needs to be reviewed every 4–5 years. They are moving through the document, one chapter at a time, and making all sorts of changes and additions. I am following a few days behind (wearing my copy-editor hat) to make sure that the language and formatting is consistent throughout. 

The challenge? Well, the farther we get into the document, the more we realize that the updates that were made in the first few chapters will need to be changed based on decisions that have since been made. It’s an example of “the more you know, the more you know you don’t know” (thanks, Aristotle). So, the women are circling back…and then I am circling back. Just this past week, I reviewed the following chapters in this order: 6, 7, 8, 9, 6, 7, 3, 4, 1, 2, 5, 10. Certainly not my typical copy-editing practice. 

There really is method to the madness, and we are now far enough in now to feel like we are closer to the end than we are to the beginning. But we also know enough to know that we still have a long road ahead of us. 

Sally forth!