Find/Replace and typos

Sometimes I use Find/Replace when I change a character's name during an edit.

I don't always remember to use the option 'Match Case'. That can cause problems.

I first noticed the difficulty in my 2003 NaNoWriMo set of stories Flawed Red Silk. One of the minor characters was Indian and called Reshed. But one of my baby name books suggested that his name should be 'Reshad' not 'Reshed'.

Whether the baby name book is right or wrong doesn't matter. I used Find/Replace to change Reshed to Reshad but I didn't use Match Case. I had one use of the word 'threshed' in the text.

Find/Replace changed 'threshed' to 'thReshad' and I didn't notice. As the point of my 2003 NaNoWriMo challenge to myself was to write the whole 50,000 words, edit it and get it ALL posted on Literotica before the end of the NaNoWriMo month - I've left it.

But I've just done it again with my first story for Summer Lovin'. The characters started rebelling against the story and demanded major changes including their names. During the re-draft I changed the three main female names to FIRST, SECOND and THIRD in capitals.

When I finished the re-draft I used Find/Replace to change the names to the ones I had already chosen but had to change some characteristics and assign dialogue to different people. SECOND and THIRD were no problem. But FIRST?

I didn't use Match Case. So every occurence of the word 'first' in the text was changed to the character's name. I noticed and changed as many as I could find. I should have searched for the new name but it occurs more than 100 times. I thought I could find where 'first' had been.

I missed one. I had a simile - 'like a small boy with his first toy car'. Now it reads 'like a small boy with his [character's name] toy car'.

It's too late to change it now.

I MUST remember to use 'Match Case' with Find/Replace.

But typos are almost invisible - until the story is posted when they are obvious.

PS I've edited this post twice to take out the typos I only noticed after it was posted.

I had a similar adventure with my soon be released Summer Lovin' story.

I changed one character's name and decided the two primary characters were no longer roommates. I write with Google Docs. I've scanned the story three times to find the all the variations of the word "roommates," including "roomie."

Perhaps my biggest struggle would be dropped words. They are so difficult for me to find!

oggbashan said:

I MUST remember to use 'Match Case' with Find/Replace.

But typos are almost invisible - until the story is posted when they are obvious.

PS I've edited this post twice to take out the typos I only noticed after it was posted.

Click to expand...

If you're writing with intentional placeholders, you might consider calling them something like $FIRST $SECOND etc. to simply the search-and-replace process.

On the bright side, this sort of issue does also trip up the folk who like to rip off stories and change the main characters' names to avoid detection. One could write a story about Roger (a lawyer who likes to sue people) and Sue (who prefers to roger them), and their adventurers with Lily and Rose at the florist's etc. etc.

I've made the same mistake so many times that I now click on 'Find' and let it locate the next occurrence of the word I want to replace. If it lands on the word, I click on 'Replace' and continue. It takes longer than doing a global 'find' and 'replace,' but in the long run, it saves a lot of time.

When you do a global 'find' and 'replace,' you sometimes end up with some hilarious words in your text, but fixing them can be time-consuming.

oggbashan said:

Sometimes I use Find/Replace when I change a character's name during an edit.

I don't always remember to use the option 'Match Case'. That can cause problems.
....

Click to expand...

You also have the "find whole words only" option in Word and most word processors, it's little more specific. Match case worked for your proper names because you were dealing with specifically capitalized words in the first place, but match whole words would let you change hat to cap without changing that to tcap, a powerful addition to your capabilities. (and here I am trying to type this on a phone... Sigh(

And dollar signs etc., great way to do it.

Universal find/replace isn't your only option. You can move from one instance to the next sequentially ("Find Next") and make a decision how/whether the change applies in each instance.

Thank you for all the advice above.

Perhaps I ought to read the Word manual I've hidden somewhere.

My pal used 'find and replace' to change all the participants' names in his PhD thesis to pseudonyms in order to protect their identities. Unfortunately, this also led to his changing the names of several eminent academic thinkers whose work he had referenced

Luckily his thesis was so near-perfect that it at least gave the examiners something to suggest he do could a bit of work on, or they might have had to pass his PhD 'without revisions' - which is something that never ever happens.

oggbashan said:

Sometimes I use Find/Replace when I change a character's name during an edit.

...

But typos are almost invisible - until the story is posted when they are obvious.

PS I've edited this post twice to take out the typos I only noticed after it was posted.

Click to expand...

I changed the name of a character in my Nude Day contest entry this year. And didn't get them all. I tried 'find/replace but didn't match case and ended up going over it manually.

A reader pointed this out to me, and also pointed out that I mixed up the names of two characters and even used a completely different character name for one of the two leading characters.

I self edit and went over that darned thing many times, even once in the submission process just before I hit 'submit'.

As the OP says, they're almost invisible, until they are obvious. Maybe instead of working on my Summer Lovin' entry (that I probably won't finish) I should go and fix the typos on previous stories.

Typos happen. Name swaps happen. Ya get what you pay for on Lit. Worry about all the small errors when you put it up for cash. Then and only then does the reader actually have the right to bitch.

My take anyway.

TxRad said:

Typos happen. Name swaps happen. Ya get what you pay for on Lit. Worry about all the small errors when you put it up for cash. Then and only then does the reader actually have the right to bitch.

My take anyway.

Click to expand...

You're probably right. But I'm the one who gets annoyed by typos in my own stories.

Great tips, thanks. I hate typos also.

SusanJillParker said:

...

I suspect that some writers don't use the pre-submission screen as an editing tool but I always do.

Click to expand...

The changed typeface makes it easier to see some of the typos I've previously missed.

Usually I change the font and size at least once during the final edit, but the preview stage is in a font and size I wouldn't normally use.

SusanJillParker said:

I could read and reread my story a dozen times but until I post it to Literotica's pre-submission page is when I find the bulk of my typos.

I'll make my final corrections and copy and paste the story again before pushing the submit button. Then, a few hours later, I'll reopen the pending document and read it again as if it's a new document.

I'm always surprised by the typos I'll find and/or the changes I make.

I suspect that some writers don't use the pre-submission screen as an editing tool but I always do.

Click to expand...

I also like to read it over just before I hit the submit, and usually find something I missed. I hadn't considered waiting and looking at it later.

oggbashan said:

The changed typeface makes it easier to see some of the typos I've previously missed.

Usually I change the font and size at least once during the final edit, but the preview stage is in a font and size I wouldn't normally use.

Click to expand...

Changing the font is something I've never tried, I think I'll do that in the future, and yes, I can see the changed font being a factor in finding typos in the pre-submission screen.

49greg said:

I also like to read it over just before I hit the submit, and usually find something I missed. I hadn't considered waiting and looking at it later.



Changing the font is something I've never tried, I think I'll do that in the future, and yes, I can see the changed font being a factor in finding typos in the pre-submission screen.

Click to expand...

You also might want to try changing the background color. That helps in finding mistakes also. Reading aloud is a great way to find flaws in the flow. If you stumble or have to read what you wrote twice before you can say it, then something is wrong.