Proofreading Question?

[LGL]

When Proofreading your own material how often do you stop and read it aloud to yourself? every paragragh? Every sentence? Every page? Every chapter?

What works best?

Is there a general rule of thumb?

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[whispering_surrender]

I read everything I write out loud. It helps find punctuation mistakes, as well as "rough" phrasing and repeated words. Prior to last week, I lived alone, so only the dog gave me funny looks. Now I have a whole audience to subject to my proofreading!

*muahahahaha*

*clears throat* Sorry, I got carried away again, didn't I?

Whisp

 

[LGL]

but how often? do write a whole story and then read aloud or sentence by sentence? or paragragh by paragraph? page by page?

 

[DarlingNikki]

I read the whole thing aloud. I didn't do that in the past, but I have recently started and it works great. It especially helps me because I write incredibly long sentances. When I find myself running out of breath it reminds me to chop the sentences up a little. I do this mostly with my non-erotic stuff because it's too embarrassing for me to say dirty words aloud.

Oh, I just understood your question. Edited to add - randomly whenever it occurs to me if I'm having problems, as often as I do any other spot checking and tightening, but definitely once straight through during the final editing phases.

 

[Boxlicker101]

I never read out loud because I live with a lot of people and I would feel funny doing it. Especially, I would feel funny reading things like ....."I fucked my cock in and out of her pussy until" .....I do proofread as I go along and go carefully over everything periodically. Spellchecker catches some of the misspelling and grammarchecker keeps finding non-existent grammatical errors. In a couple of months I will have more privacy and maybe I can read out loud then because it does work better than reading to myself.

 

[gauchecritic]

Erm... Never?

It either comes out right or it doesn't get written.

Having said that, I constantly edit as I write, re-reading and changing as needed. There is one circumstance when I read aloud something I've written; dialogue. Speaking dialogue can help if you want particular inflection and are trying to find a descriptive to convey that.

Gauche

 

[whispering_surrender]

but how often? do write a whole story and then read aloud or sentence by sentence? or paragragh by paragraph? page by page?

Sometimes parts as I finish them, sometimes just the whole thing straight through at the end, sometimes right as I'm typing it out the very first time. But, one of my oddities is that words I have trouble spelling, I can usually spell out loud, and frequently have to do.....

Whisp

 

[English Lady]

I don't generally read things out loud but occassionally if a sentance or a paragraph sounds wrong I'll read it our loud,or mumble it. Mostly i do that if i think sentances are too long,i read it out loud to see if i do run out of breath before the end of the sentance or not*L*

 

[raphy]

I don't tend to proof stuff. I edit for content and grammar as I go, and that catches a fair amount of spelling/typo/grammar errors. The rest I have to leave to my readers to inform me

 

[MaxSebastian]

I like to type with my eyes shut and hope for the best.

Besides, I can't read.

 

[Gary Chambers]

Poetry should always be read aloud. With prose it isn't as important. I do a lot of proofing, editing and rewriting as I go like Raphy, and sometimes I'll find myself reading a sentence aloud just to make it easier to hear the words in the head. On long trips I sometimes take a pocket recorder with me and dictate ideas, turns of phrase, entire story lines and so forth.

 

[Dirt Man]

Poetry should always be read aloud. With prose it isn't as important. I do a lot of proofing, editing and rewriting as I go like Raphy, and sometimes I'll find myself reading a sentence aloud just to make it easier to hear the words in the head. On long trips I sometimes take a pocket recorder with me and dictate ideas, turns of phrase, entire story lines and so forth.

As a poet I too have learned to read out loud every bit of poetry I have before I consider a piece finished as far as editing it is concerned. However with my prose, as in short stories, novels, etc. I have learned to read out loud silently when I do the editing, and only in a whisper once before I feel that that work is finally, and completely edited for purposes of submission.

Nothing should ever get past the author's editing process, as it represents his best work. If that means that he shoud hire an outside editor, then so be it. But I only advise that as a last resort. It is quite possible to find others who will do this for you for free. Does this mean that if you find volunteers to edit for you that you shouldn't edit your own stuff first? No it does NOT. The more you write, the more you realise just how important editing is for your work, and just how important you being involved in that process should be. After all, it is your creation, not the editor's.

Now the best way to edit is first to finish the work, then put it away for a little time. Then when you come back to edit it you will be in a different frame of mind, which I call my Editor's Mode. In the Editor's Mode you can be much more critical of your own work because you are a reader now, and every reader is a critic. This tactic is also useful for those who edit as they go along, as the work should be read in it's entirety at least one last time before being submitted for publishing. As it is only then that you will catch those little silly mistakes that no word processor can.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

 

[Guest]

. . . Now the best way to edit is first to finish the work, then put it away for a little time. Then when you come back to edit it you will be in a different frame of mind, which I call my Editor's Mode. In the Editor's Mode you can be much more critical of your own work because you are a reader now, and every reader is a critic. This tactic is also useful for those who edit as they go along, as the work should be read in it's entirety at least one last time before being submitted for publishing. As it is only then that you will catch those little silly mistakes that no word processor can.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

That was my graduate advisor's favorite trick. Finish your paper (with at least a decent spell-check and edit job) and then throw it on the shelf for a week or two. Then you are able read it with fresh eyes and you'll catch many more mistakes.

I like to read a story out loud (but softly - small children in my house) and that usually catches little things. Another trick is to read the story in reverse. Start at the last sentence, read it through, then the next to the last, etc. Grammatical errors will usually show up loud and clear!

You keep asking how and when to edit but I think it depends on how you write.

Some people write furiously for hours or days (to hell with grammar and spell-checks) and wind up with a completed work that is very, very rough. This requires lots of editing and major rewrites after the fact, but I imagine stopping to fix things on the way just might get in the way of their writing.

Others write meticulously, slowly, and edit as they go. They can stop to look up words, use a thesaurus, ponder, etc. But when their work is completed it is probably fairly close to done - only minimal editing required.

There is no right answer - just do what is comfortable for you.

Hey - I have a box full of stories in serious need of editing. Wanna help?

 

[Guest]

I like to type with my eyes shut and hope for the best.

Besides, I can't read.

I love that!

Nothing should ever get past the author's editing process, as it represents his best work. If that means that he shoud hire an outside editor, then so be it. But I only advise that as a last resort. It is quite possible to find others who will do this for you for free. Does this mean that if you find volunteers to edit for you that you shouldn't edit your own stuff first? No it does NOT. The more you write, the more you realise just how important editing is for your work, and just how important you being involved in that process should be. After all, it is your creation, not the editor's.

Now the best way to edit is first to finish the work, then put it away for a little time. Then when you come back to edit it you will be in a different frame of mind, which I call my Editor's Mode. In the Editor's Mode you can be much more critical of your own work because you are a reader now, and every reader is a critic. This tactic is also useful for those who edit as they go along, as the work should be read in it's entirety at least one last time before being submitted for publishing. As it is only then that you will catch those little silly mistakes that no word processor can.

I'm with you there, Dirt Man, on everything you said.

As Sweetsubsarahh said, everyone is different, and we should each do what we feel comfortable with. If anyone is trying to find a good method, I highly recommend doing everything Dirt Man said. Nothing is foolproof, but that tried and tested method works best for most authors.

I just sit and write, and write, and write. And, I'm very smug to admit, it doesn't come out as a pile of crap. When I come back to whatever I've done, for the editing process, I find I don't ever have to change and correct that much, but there is always something.

Lou

 

[snooper]

... There is no right answer ...

Violent agreement from me for this. There are many threads on here about things like editing, spell checking, etc. They all boil down to this statement, and too many lecturers in "Creative Writing" are far too fond of setting rules which only suit themselves, and a proportion of their students.

 

[Dirt Man]

Violent agreement from me for this. There are many threads on here about things like editing, spell checking, etc. They all boil down to this statement, and too many lecturers in "Creative Writing" are far too fond of setting rules which only suit themselves, and a proportion of their students.

This too is true. And usually said by those who hate to edit, though that may not be the case with you snooper, and I have no way of knowing. In any event whatever works for you is the right way.

As Always
I Am the
Dirt Man

 

[snooper]

This too is true. And usually said by those who hate to edit, though that may not be the case with you snooper, and I have no way of knowing. ...

Yes you do have a way of checking, read A Hunting We Will Go.