Re-reading your work... Editing is shit...!

[JaxonHill]

So, a little advice request here.

I re-read my latest chapter that got published, and OMG... Its like I didn't edit it the first time at all.

I know that submitting edits post-publish is a hornets nest... but does anyone have any tips or advice on what to do?

Thanks!

 

[gunhilltrain]

So, a little advice request here.

I re-read my latest chapter that got published, and OMG... Its like I didn't edit it the first time at all.

I know that submitting edits post-publish is a hornets nest... but does anyone have any tips or advice on what to do?

Thanks!

There is no easy answer. It takes a lot of patience, and a lot of proofing it again and again. These help.

1. Run it through the free version of Grammarly. That helps. I don't do it at the end before submitting, but rather in the middle when I think I have a usable draft. Others may do it differently, but whatever - it does help. Copy your final product from Grammarly and save that as your new draft. Call it something like Gone with the Wind Ch. 03 Grammarly so you can be sure what it is. Keep the old version anyway, or at least I do. I suppose keeping the old one is optional.

2. Use the spell checker on your word processor too - more than once. It helps to use it every time you come back during the writing. Run it through the text you wrote on earlier days.

3. Somebody suggested this and it helps. Change the font and text color (dark red is nice) and proofread that once.

4. When it's in the submission box finally - proofread that, I don't know how many times. Do it first in edit mode so you can correct things. Then do it in preview mode, but you'll have to toggle back and forth to edit mode to make corrections.

Does that make sense so far? I may have more.

 

[alohadave]

There is no easy answer. It takes a lot of patience, and a lot of proofing it again and again. These help.

1. Run it through the free version of Grammarly. That helps. I don't do it at the end before submitting, but rather in the middle when I think I have a usable draft. Others may do it differently, but whatever - it does help. Copy your final product from Grammarly and save that as your new draft. Call it something like Gone with the Wind Ch. 03 Grammarly so you can be sure what it is. Keep the old version anyway, or at least I do. I suppose keeping the old one is optional.

2. Use the spell checker on your word processor too - more than once. It helps to use it every time you come back during the writing. Run it through the text you wrote on earlier days.

3. Somebody suggested this and it helps. Change the font and text color (dark red is nice) and proofread that once.

4. When it's in the submission box finally - proofread that, I don't know how many times. Do it first in edit mode so you can correct things. Then do it in preview mode, but you'll have to toggle back and forth to edit mode to make corrections.

Does that make sense so far? I may have more.

And after all that, you'll find a typo/error when it's posted.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Making corrections on published entries: yeah, it's not easy on this site. It's been taking a long time recently, like a month or more. At that point it's virtually moot.

1. Don't do it for a couple of typos. I did two corrected stories recently because of factual errors. I guess that's moot too, but it made me feel better.

2. You're supposed to re-submit the story with the corrections. Yeah, but where do you get the text for that in the first place? It seems that one way is to copy and save what's in the submission box right before the end and call it another file like Gone with the Wind Ch. 03 Submitted.

If that seems like a bit much, I think you can just copy the published text off the site and save that as your new file. Then make your corrections on that. Any HTML code on that is not going to show up, so you have to put the tags back in. The text will look italic, but the tags won't be there.

I use a lot of italics, a little bold face, and sometimes links to other stories. Maybe you don't.

I know this all sounds like a BFD because, well, it is!

 

[Rob_Royale]

read out loud (I can't do this one) seem to be popular options.

The most recent version of Word (365) has a read aloud function under the review tab. It's not perfect, but it does a decent job. I find it helps me get rid of or add commas where needed as well as catch she/he mistakes.

 

[gunhilltrain]

And after all that, you'll find a typo/error when it's posted.

Well, maybe he should get volunteer editor who will mostly proofread and check grammar. I suppose that's different from a beta reader who will criticize/comment on the style and content. I've never done either, but that's another BFD.

I never realized how time consuming this can be until I joined Lit.

 

[gunhilltrain]

The most recent version of Word (365) has a read aloud function under the review tab. It's not perfect, but it does a decent job. I find it helps me get rid of or add commas where needed as well as catch she/he mistakes.

Grammarly does a decent job with commas, although it's sometimes a judgment call. In fact, much of what it suggests is a judgment call. I have a tendency to write "move" instead of "movie," which Grammarly may not catch. It's not "AI" (which may never truly exist), so it can't grasp the context of anything. It doesn't like phrases like "in fact" or "actually," but that is a good thing because I overuse them. (I just did that above.)

 

[StillStunned]

The most recent version of Word (365) has a read aloud function under the review tab. It's not perfect, but it does a decent job. I find it helps me get rid of or add commas where needed as well as catch she/he mistakes.

As a professional editor with 20+ years experience, that's the final step in every job I do. I'll sometimes skip it here on Lit, and then I'll almost always find a typo later.

Well, maybe he should get volunteer editor who will mostly proofread and check grammar. I suppose that's different from a beta reader who will criticize/comment on the style and content. I've never done either, but that's another BFD.

I never realized how time consuming this can be until I joined Lit.

If I'm editing another person's work, I usually count on about 1 hour's very hard work per 1000 words. All those requests for "please check my 30,000-word story" are essentially asking for the better part of a week's work.

 

[Demiurging]

god thing

Heh

I've found that what helps me is waiting a few days to a week before starting on the editing for a first draft, helps with some of the smoothing-out that your brain would do even reading line for line when you're too familiar with the material. Same thing applies with lots of the classical test-prep advice like chewing gum or listening to music.

Of course I'm agreed with everyone else that reading it aloud will help tremendously, so long as you don't get into a flow state and start skipping over your mistakes in that same way. So maybe a text-to-speech program is better.

 

[MillieDynamite]

No literary work is perfect. I'll you can do is minimize the mistakes. Even editors miss things. Sometimes the mistakes improve the readability of the work, sometimes, they don't. Often, the mistake is invisible to you and the editor until its to late. The most common mistakes are little continuity mistakes, "He walked out of the room" when just before that he as outside the house. "She turned back to him," When she turned her back to him was what was intended, yes, that was one of mine.

 

[gunhilltrain]

So, a little advice request here.

I re-read my latest chapter that got published, and OMG... Its like I didn't edit it the first time at all.

I know that submitting edits post-publish is a hornets nest... but does anyone have any tips or advice on what to do?

Thanks!

I skimmed your two chapters, and there didn't seem to be glaring errors. I admit, I didn't read every line.

Wow, a Maybach S 680. Most of my characters own cars like a Dodge Coronet or an Oldsmobile Delta 88. (Often the stories are set in the 1970's.) Do you know anybody who is an executive in the auto industry? None of them have jobs like that, either.

 

[Djmac1031]

So, a little advice request here.

I re-read my latest chapter that got published, and OMG... Its like I didn't edit it the first time at all.

I know that submitting edits post-publish is a hornets nest... but does anyone have any tips or advice on what to do?

Thanks!

My only real advice besides submitting a re-edit that will take forever to publish is: learn from the mistake and take more time to edit the next one.

This is a lesson I learned the hard way myself. So don't feel too bad.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I find getting Safari to read it to me on my ‘phone is helpful.

That and find another pair of friendly (but not too friendly) eyes.

Em

 

[gunhilltrain]

Heh

I've found that what helps me is waiting a few days to a week before starting on the editing for a first draft, helps with some of the smoothing-out that your brain would do even reading line for line when you're too familiar with the material. Same thing applies with lots of the classical test-prep advice like chewing gum or listening to music.

Of course I'm agreed with everyone else that reading it aloud will help tremendously, so long as you don't get into a flow state and start skipping over your mistakes in that same way. So maybe a text-to-speech program is better.

Fortunately it's easier to fix forum entries than stories. Although maybe God does have something to do with it.

That reminds me that filmmakers (directors and editors) have trouble when they have to watch the scenes over and over again. They lose track of what it's all supposed to mean when they are editing the thing. And Michael Cimino would do, say, 127 takes on one scene. But he knew which one to look for because Robert De Niro and Michael Savage eventually collapsed from dancing too much. That was the take he used, I think (The Deer Hunter).

 

[Cagivagurl]

So, a little advice request here.

I re-read my latest chapter that got published, and OMG... Its like I didn't edit it the first time at all.

I know that submitting edits post-publish is a hornets nest... but does anyone have any tips or advice on what to do?

Thanks!

I am not an experienced writer, but my advice would be....
1) Find an editor.... It was the best thing that ever happened to me. Totally changed the way I saw my writing....
2) Accept what you have submitted as your best effort...
3) I never ever read something I've submitted... Once it's gone. I'm finished with it... As it is with life. Sometimes, you can't go back.
4) Find some friends to read it for you. There are some nice people lurking in here. Ask and you shall receive.... Don't ask... Suffer in silence.

aas I said at the start. I'm no expert, this is my opinion only...

Cagivagurl

 

[AchtungNight]

[Patient Ethical Auditor Voice] Go over what you wrote again from a detached perspective. Check for flow, continuity, spelling, grammar, plot holes, character progression errors, and other things that don’t make sense. Pay attention to exact details and side characters vs main characters. Add details where appropriate. Change details that don’t matter or make plans to revisit them later… possibly. Make sure what you’re doing is worth your patience and time. Above all, remember the ancient Arabian proverb about the three gates on speech. Is what you’re communicating true, necessary, and kind? Look at the words from various perspectives for context. Start with yourself, then the characters, then the worst prejudiced readers you can possibly imagine. If your draft gets past all these perspectives, you’re probably fine. Confidence is key.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Change font size, font type, font colour, and do it frequently. I do a rolling edit process, and that catches nearly all the bugs. After that, 99.99% is probably good enough.

 

[tenyari]

The most recent version of Word (365) has a read aloud function under the review tab. It's not perfect, but it does a decent job.

There are lots of options for this, including some websites that will just read back whatever you put into the box.

I've found this to be extremely useful. Probably the best advice I've ever gotten was reading someone suggest doing that in a post on this site a while back.

My stories earlier this year all went through that, as are the parts I'm still working on.

My tales from years back did not, and when I read them again earlier this year it was brutal seeing all the things I'd missed.

 

[Altissimus]

If I'm editing another person's work, I usually count on about 1 hour's very hard work per 1000 words. All those requests for "please check my 30,000-word story" are essentially asking for the better part of a week's work.

I hope those folks I edit for for whom I edit read this...

 

[BobbyLaker]

The most recent version of Word (365) has a read aloud function under the review tab. It's not perfect, but it does a decent job. I find it helps me get rid of or add commas where needed as well as catch she/he mistakes.

Free screen-reader aimed at the visually impaired may be of use.
https://www.nvaccess.org/

Does a decent job IMHO.

 

[ycym]

Print it on paper and read it. You don't believe what you miss on screen.

 

[Altissimus]

I still maintain that the best way to find errors is to wait until it's published then read it to someone else while sitting in a hottub.

 

[RejectReality]

One thing you absolutely want to do is read it one last time during the submission process at the preview stage. The change in screen position, font, etc. can make some errors leap out at you. If you used any formatting, you can make sure you closed the tags as well.

 

[HordHolm]

I actually like editing, but perhaps that's because I'm paid quite handsomely for correcting other people's work for publication and my stuff is, in comparison, fairly simple. However, I do prefer to have a healthy break between composition and correction.

 

[gunhilltrain]

One thing you absolutely want to do is read it one last time during the submission process at the preview stage. The change in screen position, font, etc. can make some errors leap out at you. If you used any formatting, you can make sure you closed the tags as well.

Yes, you do this in preview mode. It's worth doing more than once. You have to toggle back to editing mode to change things. If you have links to other stories, make sure they work. Sometimes they look okay until you click on them, and then a 404 error appears.

Yet, it isn't identical to the published product. Page breaks won't be indicated, for example, which is mostly an issue if you have subheads within the text. (I do that occasionally.) But I suppose the software is old and you have to accept it.