Do you use an editor?

[Weird Harold]

...A tip I came across was to change font and/or text colo(u)r before re-reading, so that it appears different. What I find also helps is switching word processors. I usually draft in Rough Draft, which isn't WYSIWYG, so that if I load my opus into Word or OpenOffice Writer the line breaks occur in different places, which can help me to spot flaws.

Two additional tips for you for self-editing:

1: Leave a work untouched for a at least a week -- long enough to forget exactly what you wrote. That helps to eliminate the tendency to see what you meant to write instead of what you actually wrote.

2: Turn on the "Hidden Characters Display" or set your MS Word preferences to display tabs, paragraph breaks and manual line breaks. Clicking the Paragraph sign in the tool bar shows all invisible characters, including spaces, which makes inadvertant multiple periods a bit hard to pick out. All you really need to be able see and keep track of are the tabs, paragaraph breaks and line breaks.

 

[oggbashan]

I don't.

Sometimes, when I see a typo immediately after I've hit the submit button, I think I should.

However editing one of Og's longer stories would try most editors beyond reasonable endurance.

Og

 

[Softouch911]

I've never written anything, for pay or for pleasure, that I haven't had edited by someone with a neutral eye.

In my most recent story (see sig.), Sophia Jane edited it in four different drafts, and my Pita edited it three other times.

When I say edit, I'm not talking about mechanics. I can handle that well enough. I'm talking about things like character development, inconsistencies, logic, the need for back story, suggestions for developing exposition, and so on.

I deliberately seek out folk who are patient and creative and willing to take my writing as seriously as I do.

Of course I do the same for them, so hopefully it's all even ... though this latest stint has tried their patience I'm sure!

ST

 

[SesameStreet]

I Edit my own work. Other people picking it apart annoys the heck out of me.

 

[Weird Harold]

Other people picking it apart annoys the heck out of me.

I'd rather have someone I asked to pick my work apart than have the readers do it -- the total amount of annoyance is greatly reduced that way.

 

[Softouch911]

I heard a famous writer speak once upon a time about selecting an editor -- he said you should pick someone who doesn't like you. Or, if it's a friend, someone you can get ticked off just before you give them your work.

It makes no sense to have an editor give you compliments. That should come from paying customers.

ST

 

[Boxlicker101]

I got here too late to vote but I would have said that I do my own editing as I go along. After I finish the first draft, I wait a day or two and do a final edit. If I sent it to an editors, I'm afraid they would want me to put in plot and character development and stuff like that, and omit some of the smut.

 

[The_Darkness]

I used to be in the volunteer editing program out here, but I started getting a lot of stories from non-native-English speaking folks...nothing wrong with that, but edting them properly took ages. Usually a 10 page document takes me about 1.5 hours or so to chew through and leave meaningful comment and suggestions. Non-English writers usually take me 1.5 hours per page....then there's the migranes.

I don't use an editor myself. I've put out some fantasticly well written stories and I've pumped out some sheer garbage, too. I've found I'm incapable of editing my own work.

For my RPG's, I HAVE to use a separate editor....my brain constantly flips over things that may not be clear to others but make perfect sense to me because I wrote them. Sometimes, even speaking the passages outloud doesn't even help.

Editors are good, editors are friends.

 

[Weird Harold]

I heard a famous writer speak once upon a time about selecting an editor -- he said you should pick someone who doesn't like you. Or, if it's a friend, someone you can get ticked off just before you give them your work.

My first mentor, a retired USAF Col., Author, Editor, and Publisher, sia much the same thing, butin a bit stronger terms:

The ideal editor is an Anal-retentive English Major with a grudge against you.