I was so happy the other day. I had Simple Service ready for my beta reader. I’d finished the re-read, fixed all the continuity errors that I could see, and hit Send.
Ten minutes later I realized I hadn’t checked my list of fixes. I keep a list as I go, and write DONE when I’ve addressed an item on the list. One of the items was a scene with missing “oregano” as my critique group put it. I had finally figured out what the missing oregano was, and I’d resolved to add it after I finished the read through of the whole manuscript. Only I hadn’t. I’d hit Send.
It was late. Part of me wanted to add it after my beta reader was done. I could always do it later. Instead, I heaved a heavy sigh like a heroine in a novel and wrote to Jessica to please delete what I’d sent, if she wouldn’t mind. She said she was happy to wait for more oregano.
Why did I do this? One thing I learned working with the safety people in my old job at the FAA was that you might think you’re fixing a safety problem, but fixing one thing could mess up something else. If you fix it and test it before launch, or at least put it in a wind tunnel or run a computer simulation, you have a much better chance of finding out if the fix was actually a terrible idea. I’m not putting my pixels through a wind tunnel or a computer simulation, but my beta reader’s brain is very good at finding errors. (Trust me, it’s very good.) If I put the oregano in before she sees the story, she can tell me if I’ve clogged the fuel tank or not. (I know. It seems like oregano would do that, doesn’t it?) If I don’t, I won’t know. What if the oregano creates a continuity error? Even if she reads it again–after my tardy edits–she’ll be less likely to spot such things because she won’t be reading with the proverbial blank slate.
Errors can propagate. This means they can grow and multiply. I liked the language the rocket people used. The former military guys had SNAFUs and self-licking ice cream cones. The people on console had the minus-count, which is self-explanatory and pure poetry. And the safety folks have mitigation, remediation, and propagation. They don’t want anything propagating down range, off site, or through pipes. They’re conscientious like that.
So I called my error back, even though I’d let if off-site ever so briefly. I will now add the oregano and check what happens to it in the computer simulation before letting it go live out in the world.
by 
A book with insufficient oregano is NEVER a good thing!
That’s what everyone says.