Tips for proofreading?

tomlitilia

Literotica Guru
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Anybody have any tips for proofreading when it comes to your own work? I get really annoyed with some of the mistakes I make and fail to find when proofing my text. The only thing I've come up with is to let the story rest for a bit before I proofread it because then I've forgotten exactly what the sentence is meant to be and don't get distracted by my expectation of what I'm reading. Does anyone have more tips? I probably make a few mistakes because English isn't my first language, but I hate it when I fail on even simple things like "where" and "were".
 
I review one page at a time, for a limited period of time, then review another page later. Proof-reading is like wine-tasting.

Yesterday I read an article in THE NATIONAL REVIEW. The article has 3 authors and is almost incoherent. I wondered if anyone proof-read it, it reminded me of schizophrenic word salad without logical associations, just tangential fragments of thought.
 
I review one page at a time, for a limited period of time, then review another page later. Proof-reading is like wine-tasting.

That sounds like a good idea. Roughly how much time do you dedicate to one page per sitting? And how much time do you leave between sessions?
 
Someone here mentioned the other day that changing the format and font to something completely different allowed them to pick up errors.

I've been reading one novel as a pdf in Adobe - I've noticed loads of errors there.
 
Change the font size and face to something significantly different from what you write in. Changing the position of the words on screen by doing this makes things jump out at you that were previously remaining hidden in the normalcy.

If it messes with your OCD -- good :) Once you've finished proofing it, you can put it back into the normal font before the final save.

Read back through the story one last time in preview before clicking the submit button. This is yet another screen-position switch.

You already know the biggie of giving the story time to simmer. That helps more than just about anything. Writing other stories while you're waiting helps the process.
 
Your coming back to it later tactic is a good one. A lot of times, you get caught up in your own work and miss the simple things. You know the idea you want to express, so you gloss over the sentences, knowing what to expect. If you step away for a while, you get some fresh eyes on it. Also, using a word processing program will help a lot with the homophones (their, there, they're). Pay attention to the squiggly underlines. Another idea is to let someone else read it. Then you get a completely new set of eyes to look at it. They'll find out more than you ever could on your own.
 
That sounds like a good idea. Roughly how much time do you dedicate to one page per sitting? And how much time do you leave between sessions?

If its simple dialogue like "LIONS AND TIGERS AND BARS, OH MY!" Dorothy said. It goes quickly. If I'm depicting complex interactions, it takes longer. Stories I proofcheck within a week.

I read a complex interaction in a book by Chester Himes, last night. Three men inside a pitch-black house are trying to kill each other, and the action is many places at once. So I imagine Himes took his time reviewing it, to polish the suspense and tension and emotions, etc. And he got it right!
 
If you can afford a decent "voice", commercial not free, such as

http://www.neospeech.com/

Then a text to speech program is very useful. Actually hearing your words being spoken helps greatly to pick out typos and grammar errors.

There are many decent freeware Text2Speech applications. It is the voices that cost. The free voices are very robotic and thus less useful.
 
Someone here mentioned the other day that changing the format and font to something completely different allowed them to pick up errors.

I've been reading one novel as a pdf in Adobe - I've noticed loads of errors there.
Anything that changes the appearance of your story will help you get past the "I know what it says" reflex. Change the font, font-size, font or background color, margins, Italics/bold/underline or anything else you can think of.

Another oft mentioned trick when this question comes up is to start with the last paragraph and work backwards through the story -- If you can do it, read each sentence backwards.

One of my personal tricks is to use the grammar check feature of MSWord with readability statistics turned on. I use it on a paragraph by paragraph basis and watch for high readability issues, passive voice, and anything that results in a fault -- which is very often not the fault reported; For example, Naming a character "Frank" will cause a host of errors in the grammar check. Figuring out what caused the grammar check to choke often helps find a better wording for the problem area, but any fault can be ignored if it is what you want to say in the way you want to say it.

Grammar check is stupid and annoying when in "correct while typing" mode but as a reviewing tool, it can be vary useful -- especially if you take the time to reconfigure it from "business formal" mode.
 
Grammar check is stupid and annoying when in "correct while typing" mode but as a reviewing tool, it can be vary useful -- especially if you take the time to reconfigure it from "business formal" mode.

Ooh, how do I find this and what settings do you use please?

Is it in File > Options > Proofing tab
Then checking/unchecking which boxes?
Writing Style - Grammar or Grammar and Style?

NB: while I was in the Writing Style Settings, I noted there's an option to specify one space or two between sentences. Tidy.
 
I save the file as written, then use 'Select All' then change font. If I need to make changes, I note them, and go back to the saved file. I can repeat that several times if I make extensive changes.

For the final edit I usually print out the story, put it in an A4 folder, sit in a comfortable armchair and go through it with a pen in my hand.
 
Anybody have any tips for proofreading when it comes to your own work? I get really annoyed with some of the mistakes I make and fail to find when proofing my text. The only thing I've come up with is to let the story rest for a bit before I proofread it because then I've forgotten exactly what the sentence is meant to be and don't get distracted by my expectation of what I'm reading. Does anyone have more tips? I probably make a few mistakes because English isn't my first language, but I hate it when I fail on even simple things like "where" and "were".
For my first pass, I have a list of words that I know I have a problem with. I search for those and then see if I used them appropriately.

My list:
*started/began
* there
* just
* still
* really
* then
* -ly
* that
 
... One of my personal tricks is to use the grammar check feature of MSWord with readability statistics turned on. I use it on a paragraph by paragraph basis and watch for high readability issues, passive voice, and anything that results in a fault -- which is very often not the fault reported; For example, Naming a character "Frank" will cause a host of errors in the grammar check. ...

This caused extensive error suggestions in my novel because of my boyfriend/husband nickname 'Woody'. We are uncertain why, maybe MS Word considered it an adverb instead of proper noun, but that doesn't explain all squiggle lines or lack of others. Another issue peculiar to erotica is 'cum' interpreted as the Latin word.

Anyway, all these suggestions are helpful. The more you use, the better your result. I learned many from here and experimenting with settings.
 
One of my personal tricks is to use the grammar check feature of MSWord with readability statistics turned on. I use it on a paragraph by paragraph basis and watch for high readability issues, passive voice, and anything that results in a fault -- which is very often not the fault reported; For example, Naming a character "Frank" will cause a host of errors in the grammar check. Figuring out what caused the grammar check to choke often helps find a better wording for the problem area, but any fault can be ignored if it is what you want to say in the way you want to say it.

Grammar check is stupid and annoying when in "correct while typing" mode but as a reviewing tool, it can be vary useful -- especially if you take the time to reconfigure it from "business formal" mode.

Same here, of course with spell check. I have LibreOffice, which catches things like unintended double spaces. I then let the story 'rest' for a while and then proof read it.
 
For my final read-through, I print out the pages and read them aloud to myself. This is where I catch most of my hard-to-pick-out mistakes. Other problems, like overuse of a particular word (we all have our favorites) is taken care of through the "find" feature, which I use to change out the overused words with better ones. The dictionary and thesaurus are vital during that stage. Good luck. The better editor you are, the finer your work will be.
 
Good suggestions. Will just note that it isn't proofreading (comparing an old--dead--version with a new--live--version and just noting the differences, if any). It's reviewing. For me, letting it sit and working on another writing project before coming back to it is the most helpful.
 
I also used to have a problem with catching my own mistakes.

Editing your work is a real drag, because you just wrote it, and you know exactly what's on it.

In the past many months, I've done a ton of writing. And I time the story's release for upcoming contests. So it takes months before I post it sometimes.

I've found that this really helps my editing.

I write a story, and I don't edit it until a few months later. In that way, I barely remember what I've written, aside from the plot. So it feels like it becomes fresh again. It's no longer as tedious.

Plus I try to read each line slowly, and then quickly glance over it a second time.
 
A good idea would be begging someone to edit one piece properly (professionally?), then taking a note of all your commonly occurring errors (like the above list) and checking future pieces yourself for the same errors.
 
Then checking/unchecking which boxes?
Writing Style - Grammar or Grammar and Style?

NB: while I was in the Writing Style Settings, I noted there's an option to specify one space or two between sentences. Tidy.

Oh, Lordy, there's so many obscure grammar checks I've got turned off it's impossible to remember them all. IIRC, there is an option to choose between Formal and Informal that is a pretty good starting point. Then turn off anything that even smells like PC-speak.

The best course is to just explore the options and turn on/off whatever suits your style.
 
I suggest turning all grammar checks off. They aren't designed for fiction.
 
I firmly believe no one should edit their own work. When i worked as a bookkeeper for a sot time, I was told: look it over twice, then if it still isn't right, pass it on to someone else because you will keep missing the same things every time.

I have no trouble editing others work, but when I try to edit my own work I am always distracted by other, substantive, changes, so that I continue to miss the "little" things.
 
I firmly believe no one should edit their own work. When i worked as a bookkeeper for a sot time, I was told: look it over twice, then if it still isn't right, pass it on to someone else because you will keep missing the same things every time.

A long time ago (it feels), I worked as a cashier. Some days, it was practically impossible to balance the till ourselves, until we called in 'fresh eyes'.
 
I firmly believe no one should edit their own work.

I agree. But I think everyone should review their own work carefully before turning it over to the editor. The less that's wrong with it when it goes to the editor, the fewer mistakes the editor is going to miss as well and the more into the logic of the content the editor can get.
 
I also have a problem with catching my own mistakes when I proofread. In the past I read through every word I had previously done every time I came back to a story I was working on. Then when I was done I would go over it several times again. And again after I pasted it into the submission form. And a lot got through.

Recently I started printing them out for the final read and that helped a lot, but some typos got through.

I like the suggestion to leave it for a while and to change the font. I will use those from now on as well, and print it out in a different font.

Thanks or starting this thread and to everyone for all the suggestions.
 
I'd also wait a few weeks after finishing a story before proofreading it. That will give you "fresher eyes" when you revisit it. (And also do what all the others have been mentioning about font and size and like that.)
 
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