Self-editing for authors

[iwatchus]

If you're not sure about a grammatical rule, look it up.

Do you have a recommended reference to look in?

 

[StillStunned]

The College of Media and Publishing Studies recommends the Blue Book of Grammar.

 

[alohadave]

I'll say that even if you self-edit, try to find someone who will beta read your stories. I'm pretty good at self-editing but sometimes you need another set of eyes to look at your work.

Editing isn't just fixing grammar and punctuation. Having someone who isn't emotionally tied to the words is a good thing. I had help with one of my stories and the outside perspective was immensely helpful.

Even if you feed it into ChatGPT or your LLM of choice to give you an analysis (and please don't derail this with your thoughts on AI), it's better than nothing.

 

[jsmiam]

Change either your window size, your font size, or your left or right margin to make every line fold differently to the last time you read it (or the last 20 times you read it.)

It helps keep your eye from seeing what it expects to see

 

[AG31]

The College of Media and Publishing Studies recommends the Blue Book of Grammar.

Where do they stand on capitalizing Black?

 

[StillStunned]

Where do they stand on capitalizing Black?

I don't know. You'd have to check the link.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Editing is the easiest part of my process. I just write it 99.9995% correct the first time

 

[NuclearFairy]

Can anyone think of an alternative to the read aloud thing for those that can't really hear?

 

[filthytrancendence]

Like I've mentioned before, it's what the professionals do. It's been quite the gamechanger.

But the thing is, like any tool. you need to use it properly. You have to pay attention and read the words on screen while the audio is playing back. Watch the highlight flit from word to word. Even if by that time you're completely fed up with your story and all you want to do is hit the Publish button.

The only thing that makes it bearable is being able to adjust the speed.

I'm sure this isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I read mine aloud as one of the final editing passes. It's not just hearing the words but saying them that helps me.

There's often situations where my brain autocorrects some awkward phrasing through the physical and neurological act of turning the words into speech, and then it's a snap to fix them. Don't even have to think about it, just make the edit and move on.

 

[crookedletter]

The read aloud function is indeed useful. It's also kind of funny when it's reading the steamy parts.

As for my editing process, I think my primary editing tool is the delete key, my virtual red pen. I slash and burn with it. Some lines need to be reworked. Most need to be cut down. I delete unneeded words, unneeded paragraphs, not uncommonly whole scenes. It amazes me sometimes how much you can add to a sentence by deleting almost half of it.

 

[StillStunned]

Can anyone think of an alternative to the read aloud thing for those that can't really hear?

Unless there's a text-to-sign language program, or something that makes the font size increase word by word, I really can't think of anything. Except maybe finding someone to listen to the Read Aloud for you.

 

[AwkwardMD]

Can anyone think of an alternative to the read aloud thing for those that can't really hear?

A second person who can?

 

[Kasumi_Lee]

The read aloud function is indeed useful. It's also kind of funny when it's reading the steamy parts.

I used to find the read aloud function really useful, but then Microsoft rolled out an update for Word that removed the natural sounding voices you hear in the Edge browser, replacing them with those hideous default electronic text-to-speech voices from a decade ago. I no longer use the read aloud function in Word because the obsolete digital voices are so horrible to listen to. They completely ruin the story and actually make it harder to hear typos or clunky phrasing.

 

[crookedletter]

I used to find the read aloud function really useful, but then Microsoft rolled out an update for Word that removed the natural sounding voices you hear in the Edge browser, replacing them with those hideous default electronic text-to-speech voices from a decade ago. I no longer use the read aloud function in Word because the obsolete digital voices are so horrible to listen to. They completely ruin the story and actually make it harder to hear typos or clunky phrasing.

Yeah, it doesn't sound particularly natural. The ones I get -- in the office 365 version online, not in the ancient word app on my computer that doesn't support read aloud at all -- aren't like the old OK Computer voice but the more recent automated voices, which sound just close enough to real that it's jarring and unpleasant when they so totally misfire on inflection and sentence flow.

But they still serve to circumvent my eyes -- which tend to see what I meant to write, not what I actually wrote -- and thus help me see things I missed.

 

[Dreamerman77]

Can anyone think of an alternative to the read aloud thing for those that can't really hear?

Maybe a beta-reader is best in that case. Someone who could not only read, but also listen to your story. Although it seems hard to find one... A good one.

 

[HordHolm]

This is in part a bump, not to let this thread get forgotten. But also...

A thesaurus is a wonderful thing, but don't do what some of my students do, which is to overuse it when seeking alternative words. It's certainly easy, when you find you've overused a word such as, e.g. firmly, to replace all but one with 'stoutly', 'with a vengeance', 'with might and main', 'muscularly', 'robustly', 'like gangbusters' or 'mightily', but too much of that just shows you've been working down a list of synonyms.

 

[alohadave]

This is in part a bump, not to let this thread get forgotten. But also...

A thesaurus is a wonderful thing, but don't do what some of my students do, which is to overuse it when seeking alternative words. It's certainly easy, when you find you've overused a word such as, e.g. firmly, to replace all but one with 'stoutly', 'with a vengeance', 'with might and main', 'muscularly', 'robustly', 'like gangbusters' or 'mightily', but too much of that just shows you've been working down a list of synonyms.

Signed, Baby Kangaroo Tribiani

 

[NuclearFairy]

Sometimes I use a thesaurus when there's a specific word I want to use, but I can't get the spelling even close to right, or even worse, I can remember the shape of the word and it's meaning, but I can't remember what it actually is.

That happened with society the other day, it was pretty aggravating to forget such a word.

 

[HordHolm]

Sometimes I use a thesaurus when there's a specific word I want to use, but I can't get the spelling even close to right, or even worse, I can remember the shape of the word and it's meaning, but I can't remember what it actually is.

That happened with society the other day, it was pretty aggravating to forget such a word.

I forgot how to spell the word spider not so long ago. I sat there for a good five minutes, completely blank, wondering if that's what amnesia feels like.

 

[Gamblnluck]

Do you have a recommended reference to look in?

I simply do a search often. How to say the boss' ass plural. It will tell you if you are speaking about multiple bosses each having one ass. Or the collective asses. As in she kissed all her boss' asses.
I also use a thesaurus regularly. Just open a new window in my browser and say 'problem synonym'. I write on Libre so I just toggle back and forth. Cumbersome.

 

[Gamblnluck]

I'll say that even if you self-edit, try to find someone who will beta read your stories. I'm pretty good at self-editing but sometimes you need another set of eyes to look at your work.

I find just letting a chapter sit for a few days before going back over it gives you 'fresh eyes'. It is like the commercial (Febreeze??) talking about nose blindness. Your mind registers what you intended as much as what you wrote. It skips over extra words or missed words.

 

[Gamblnluck]

Editing isn't just fixing grammar and punctuation. Having someone who isn't emotionally tied to the words is a good thing. I had help with one of my stories and the outside perspective was immensely helpful.

I have a couple guys I use to give me a beta read. They will tell me quickly if a section does not flow or is confusing. I tell them to be brutally honest. I find that sometimes they are afraid of offending.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I forgot how to spell the word spider not so long ago. I sat there for a good five minutes, completely blank, wondering if that's what amnesia feels like.

Wait till that happens with the word "the". hte, teh, het... ?? Happened to me once in college, copying out an essay. It took a couple of days to reprogram my brain. Very strange. Hasn't happened again, thank god.

 

[ShamBaLa]

I find Read Aloud incredibly useful. My new PC Win 10 is about 4 mo old. I have no idea which version of Word it has. In Read Aloud / Settings you can choose from three voices. Two guys and a woman. They have names. Mark is a bit easier to listen to than the default David.

Listening while reading I catch so many errors. Like 'night sand' which should have been "night stand."
Or finding better structure because in reading, something sounds awkward: 'she came back' vs 'she returns'
Also changes in tenses pop out.

down side is I need to listen when the SO isn't around or with headsets. Smirk.

 

[DeMont]

Isn't the editing stage fun? A new story is laid out before you, and you're the lucky person who gets to read it first! Not only that, you get to make improvements, and the author *has* to listen - because they're you!

Editing is where you go back and polish your sentences and look at the structure and tie it all together. Is it hard work? Personally, I think it's easier than the actual writing, and more enjoyable too. It's where I tweak the sentences to get the rhythm just right, or change a word to capture the mood through sounds.

So, given how difficult it is to find a volunteer editor, how about we collect all our tips for becoming better editors of our own work? If you want something done properly, as they say, you'd better do it yourself.

Remember that every tip is useful to someone. Nothing is too basic or too complicated. Share whatever editing and proofreading ideas you have that might make the process better or easier for other writers.

Tip on a glaringly obvious error... I just submitted, a few days ago, my second effort to Lit stories. I was so assured (self-assured) of it's splendidness I FAILED to make a GRAMMAR & SPELL CHECK...!!! I should be shot, or at least deprived of shots for at least a month...! UNFORGIVEABLE