Editing Basics

[dr_mabeuse]

I just volunteered to do some editing for someone. I have a pretty good idea of what an editor does, but I don't know exactly how he does it.

What I think I'll do is take their story into MSWord, protect it so all changes will show up in a different color, and do my editing that way. Then I'll just send them the edited copy and they can accept or reject the changes using the features in MSWord.

Of course, this assumes that they use MSWord, preferrably the same version I have.

If they don't, how would you do the editing? Just by adding text to their copy, maybe in a different font or color?

I'd also like to know this: do you justify or explain the changes you make to the text? I don't mean trivial, proofreading changes, I mean rearranged sentences, alternate wording, things like that.

---dr.M.

 

[Weird Harold]

I'd also like to know this: do you justify or explain the changes you make to the text? I don't mean trivial, proofreading changes, I mean rearranged sentences, alternate wording, things like that.

---dr.M.

When I can use the reviewing tools in MSWORD 97, (which is compatible with later versions of Word) I make extensive comments on the story with the comments feature as well as editing freely with changes to sentence structure and word choices. I also make alternate suggestions for some changes in the comments.

When I can't use the reviewing tools in Word, I limit changes to spelling and punctuation corrections. and mark all of my comments (placed between paragraphs) with some searchable string to set them apart from the story -- like "///" before and after each comment.

Whenever possible, I come to some agreement with the client on what they expect and how they would prefer the comments and corrections to be marked.

 

[Un-registered]

Re: Re: Editing Basics

... mark all of my comments (placed between paragraphs) with some searchable string to set them apart from the story -- like "///" before and after each comment.

I just use colour (which is searcheable) to distinguish my comments into two sets: blue for editorial and pink for pink for style or content comments while using Word Track Changes for actual changes. So the result looks like:

"Go to hell!" Henry shouted verb must agree with subject at her, and then he hit her. I would make two sentences of this

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Re: Re: Editing Basics

I just use colour (which is searchable) to distinguish my comments into two sets:

Color changes are searchable with Word, but not with WordPad, which uses the same DOC file format as Word.

Most text editors, as opposed to "Word Processers" can't search for color changes either.

It really is important to determine what capabilities the client has for removing your comments before you decide how to format them. I've seen a couple of stories that were posted with comments still in them because they weren't easily removed.

 

[TheEarl]

I usually just add my comments in bold where the error is.

eg.

I usually just (pick one or the other. Both is dithering) add my comments in bold where the error is.

The Earl

 

[Un-registered]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Editing Basics

Color changes are searchable with Word, but not with WordPad, which uses the same DOC file format as Word.

Yes, but the discussion had been about Word, and I had said I was using Track Changes.

It really is important to determine what capabilities the client has for removing your comments before you decide how to format them.

Yes. I always ask, and offer other formats.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Editing Basics

Yes, but the discussion had been about Word, and I had said I was using Track Changes.

I misunderstood then, because you quoted mycomment about using markers for when I'm editing for someone who doesn't use Word or has an incompatible version where track changes and the reviewing tools can't be used.

 

[Un-registered]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Editing Basics

I misunderstood then, ...

Sorry, probably my fault.

 

[KillerMuffin]

I did all of my editing in wordpad because, well, I didn't have Word and all my clients did. I never touched their text and I really hated it the one time someone edited for me and touched my text. I couldn't instantly "see" what she was talking about because I had no idea what she'd changed without a line by line comparison. I just threw her copy out, submitted the first draft, and never looked back.

Anyway. If the correction was done throughout the document, I would add the correction and an explanation the first time. I'd put the word, not the punctuation mark, or the correct spelling in without explanation through the rest of the text.

Then I'd comment throughout the text, generally at the end of paragraphs, and then I'd give a review at the end of the story. All of my additions to the text were done in blue. I generally tripled the size of the document.

I don't do it anymore. I enjoy critique these days instead.

 

[Guest]

use of wordpad

While the best and most experienced of the BB are gathered in one place, I have a question important to me.

I always submitted in MS Word and had Laurel convert it. That of course took longer to see on the story board. With the help of a kind fellow author, I leaned to convert to .txt, the preferred form for submission.

This is the problem I have.

As many author's do, I like to put in an italicized preface and coda. In the conversion within Wordpad, everything is tranfered to italics. In Wordpad, I cannot italicize a single paragraph. If I try with the font option in Wordpad, Wordpad italicizes everything.

Am I understood?

Any answers for this poor fool?

My last piece was submitted in .txt and was published quickly, too. But Laurel italicized those places for me without being asked.

 

[snooper]

Re: use of wordpad

I always submitted in MS Word and had Laurel convert it. That of course took longer to see on the story board. With the help of a kind fellow author, I leaned to convert to .txt, the preferred form for submission.

This is the problem I have.

As many author's do, I like to put in an italicized preface and coda.

So submit a clear .txt with *** after the preface and ~~~ before the coda and nowhere else. Then in the special instructions box ask Laurel to italiciase the preface up to the *** and the coda after the ~~~.

In the conversion within Wordpad, everything is tranfered to italics. In Wordpad, I cannot italicize a single paragraph. If I try with the font option in Wordpad, Wordpad italicizes everything.

All you need to do is

1 Take the file in to Word or Wordpad and save it as .txt.
2. Close the Word or Wordpad down.
3. Reopen the Word or Wordpad.
4. Use Insert File to put the .txt into a new document. That will tell you what you have in the .txt file if it is too long for Notepad.
5. Correct any errors and resave as .txt.
6. Repeat from step 2 until you are happy with it.
7. Submit the .txt and wait.

If you must use Wordpad, do so, but it has many flaws. If you have Word, use it. Best of all, get a decent WP package which will edit .txt directly without Notepad's limitations or Microsoft's pet ideas on formatting.

]

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Well, I've edited some stuff now, and it seemed to work okay. Here's what I did.

I use MSWord 2000. I use the 'track changes' feature and show my changes in clue or red, show my deleted text as dark grey with a strikethrough. This feature automatically marks the margin whenever a change is made to make reviewing easy.

Whenever an edit requires an explanation, I use 'insert note' from the reviewing toolbar. This highlights the text in yellow and puts an automatic footnote reference next to. It automatically opens a 'commemts' window where you can explain the edit. Also, what's really cool is that if you hold your cursor over the highligted text, a little window pops up on the screen with the date and comment in it.

Word2000 enables a viewer to hide all the changes so they can see the unedited dosument, or review the changes one by one, or print showing or not showing the changes. It's great.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Snooper

Gotcha on the answer to my quetion.

I hope you are as rich, as you are smart.

 

[Weird Harold]

Re: use of wordpad

As many author's do, I like to put in an italicized preface and coda. In the conversion within Wordpad, everything is tranfered to italics. In Wordpad, I cannot italicize a single paragraph. If I try with the font option in Wordpad, Wordpad italicizes everything.

I wrote a How To Essay that may help you put italics whereever you want them in your submission: http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=57781

The main point of my essay is how to check your story's formatting before submitting it to find errors and special characters that don't display properly, but it covers inserting Italics and bold as well.

There is another very good essay in the How To category that explains using italics and submitting as a text file. Unfortunately, I can never remember the author or title.

 

[Guest]

Thank you as well.

Thanks for the additional info, Harold.

Appreciate you timely advice, as always.