Self-editing for authors

[TheLobster]

In response, I believe you are making the point of the OP who suggested using MS Word Audio as an editing tool (…)

Perhaps, but I don’t think that’s comparable. Prerecorded audiobooks are meant to be listened for enjoyment, which is quite different to going through a TTS’d version of your own story for the purpose of proofreading it for mistakes.

For the latter I actually prefer those early robotic voices that read everything dispassionately, because it forces me to pay attention to the words being spoken and prevents me from getting lost in their flow, such as it is.

 

[old_prof]

I think that's just the fault of the medium. In reading the 'saids' are largely invisible, so it's rarely the case that authors actually overuse them to the point of drawing attention to them and making those dialogue tags grating. I can't even say that I'm reading speech tags, most of the time, as much as I'm perceiving the names for a blink of an eye before moving on to the next piece of dialogue.

For myself personally, I find reading tag after tag to be tedious. Maybe my brain is just not as good at filtering them out. It's why I use them sparingly, especially in two person dialogues where the speaker is obvious.

I will agree they are more important for audio books.

 

[lc69hunter]

I have always self edited ( I write in WordPerfect). My work is always spellchecked, uses the proper syntax.

However, I used @Djmac1031 as an editor for the first time, and he really opened my eyes to things I had never even thought about before. He has made me a better writer, just with this one edit. A second set of eyes can be important

 

[Djmac1031]

I have always self edited ( I write in WordPerfect). My work is always spellchecked, uses the proper syntax.

However, I used @Djmac1031 as an editor for the first time, and he really opened my eyes to things I had never even thought about before. He has made me a better writer, just with this one edit. A second set of eyes can be important

I'm happy to have helped.

And I am by no means an expert when it comes to writing. But that's not what editing is about.

Editing is simply bringing a fresh, unbiased perspective to the writing. As authors, our writing makes sense to us - it's our minds that put the words to paper (or computer screen) after all.

A second set of eyes from another source can see things we easily miss, not because we're stupid or bad at writing, but simply because our brains are too attached, too close to it.

I have editors help me all the time, most notably my friends @EmilyMiller and @Eosphorus

Their fresh eyes vastly help my stories every time.