Djmac1031
Consumate BS Artist
- Joined
- Aug 15, 2021
- Posts
- 4,025
What awards are those???
Nobody knows. They can't find them.
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What awards are those???
"Beta readers" is a new idea for me. Tell me more or point me where to learn more, if you would?For Literotica, I do my own structural editing during the writing process. I frequently find scenes needing to be repositioned as the story develops so doing so as I write works best for me.
Copy editing is done through a combination of tools, such as Grammarly, and beta readers.
Proof editing is done by listening to the story as it is read back to me through either Word, or an online application.
I claim that all of my typos are purposeful "Easter Eggs" placed within a story to allow me to identify and prove someone stealing it.Yes, there's always a typo or two - an it's where it should have been its, a to where it should have been too, a missed comma before the closing quote on dialogue, etc.
But plot holes shouldn't get through. Continuity errors shouldn't get through. Characters with ambiguous motive shouldn't get through. If this is happening, the editing process is heavily lacking. And really that's just lack of patience. Writing is fun. Editing is boring. At least that's how many see it. Editing is also that big snarly junkyard dog between the author and his instant gratification feedback, comments and Red H. Can't we just skip that part? Again that's how many see it. Folks who write this way will never be more than hobby writers. To be at that next level one has to embrace editing as part of the craft, part of the fun, to understand that the satisfaction of a finished product that meets higher standards is a better feeling of its own.
When I worked in professional publishing (the job was called production editor) I never worked on fiction. At one place that did scientific/medical books, they took there time and the work was I'd say 99% perfect.Yes, there's always a typo or two - an it's where it should have been its, a to where it should have been too, a missed comma before the closing quote on dialogue, etc.
But plot holes shouldn't get through. Continuity errors shouldn't get through. Characters with ambiguous motive shouldn't get through. If this is happening, the editing process is heavily lacking. And really that's just lack of patience. Writing is fun. Editing is boring. At least that's how many see it. Editing is also that big snarly junkyard dog between the author and his instant gratification feedback, comments and Red H. Can't we just skip that part? Again that's how many see it. Folks who write this way will never be more than hobby writers. To be at that next level one has to embrace editing as part of the craft, part of the fun, to understand that the satisfaction of a finished product that meets higher standards is a better feeling of its own.
Part 2: I have read fiction where the author make some error in facts. Usually these are trivial, although I may notice them. I'm trying to think of any continuity errors or plot holes; maybe I'll remember one,Yes, there's always a typo or two - an it's where it should have been its, a to where it should have been too, a missed comma before the closing quote on dialogue, etc.
But plot holes shouldn't get through. Continuity errors shouldn't get through. Characters with ambiguous motive shouldn't get through. If this is happening, the editing process is heavily lacking. And really that's just lack of patience. Writing is fun. Editing is boring. At least that's how many see it. Editing is also that big snarly junkyard dog between the author and his instant gratification feedback, comments and Red H. Can't we just skip that part? Again that's how many see it. Folks who write this way will never be more than hobby writers. To be at that next level one has to embrace editing as part of the craft, part of the fun, to understand that the satisfaction of a finished product that meets higher standards is a better feeling of its own.
I did pick up that color/font change idea from ElectricBlue. It works quite well. Usually I use blue, dark red, or purple.I have a rolling edit process. Before each writing session I'll read over the previous five hundred or so words, correcting typos, misspellings, that kind of thing. Proofreading, to keep Pink Silk Glove's separation of duties. That also refreshes my mind as to the flow of the story, where it's going in terms of characters, story, the plot; but most importantly, to get what I call "the cadence and cascade" of the prose right: its beat, the rhythm, the musicality. I sometimes refer to it as the "song" of the prose. That's where I pay most attention, to the words and phrases: repetition where I want it, find another word where I don't, make it flow.
By the time a long story is written, the early parts will have been reread maybe forty or fifty times, and I know that the text is clean, and makes sense.
I'll frequently change the size, colour, and the font itself, during writing, to force my brain to see it differently. That flushes out most of the things I might otherwise miss, missing words, doubled up words. Word spellchecker catches the rest. I'll often put content through a word cloud, which is handy for finding unwanted repetition.
I used grammarly once or twice, just to see what everyone was on about, five years ago. It might be okay for bland business writing if you can't already do that, but I don't think it's useful for fiction at all. It wants to make every sentence read like a business report, if you slavishly follow its suggestions. I can see why it's so problematic as part of the current AI debate.