Why to edit your stuff

[TheWritingGroup]

In a work in progress, I say this: "She shyly looked at the pretty face across the counter."

The next paragraph contains, "Ro hadn't realized until that moment that there wasn't a counter between them this time."

Yeah ... no.

 

[TheLobster]

In a work in progress, I say this: "She shyly looked at the pretty face across the counter."

The next paragraph contains, "Ro hadn't realized until that moment that there wasn't a counter between them this time."

Yeah ... no.

But that's not contradictory? Assuming "that moment" is contemporaneous with the paragraph it is said in.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Far too many writers here are on their own where editing is concerned, and this results in developmental, copy, and line editing being neglected, with only proofreading taking place.

Even with loyal and honest alpha and beta readers, unless they have the requisite skill and knowledge which would allow them to perform developmental or copy editing, what they can contribute is usually limited from a technical writing perspective.

Some have tried to counter this editing resource void by utilizing AI technology, which then results in rejections.

I wish that I had more bandwidth to offer editing assistance, and I'm sure that I am not alone in that desire.

 

[lwppp000]

My spelling, grammar, and punctuation are slightly better than average but I still make mistakes. My worst editing curse is that when doing edits I become blind to errors. I read right past them time after time.

 

[ElectricBlue]

My spelling, grammar, and punctuation are slightly better than average but I still make mistakes. My worst editing curse is that when doing edits I become blind to errors. I read right past them time after time.

Change the font, the font size, and the font colour regularly, as you write and do rolling edits. You've got to trick the brain to see what's actually there, not what you think is there.

 

[SimonDoom]

It really matters. My spelling, punctuation, and grammar are much better than average, but I still make mistakes constantly in the process of writing. I hate seeing errors slip through. Good proofreading and editing definitely make a difference to my enjoyment of a story as a reader.

I don't use another person for proofing and editing. I do it myself, and invariably there are mistakes. It can be frustrating.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

My spelling, grammar, and punctuation are slightly better than average but I still make mistakes. My worst editing curse is that when doing edits I become blind to errors. I read right past them time after time.

Listen to it instead of reading it.

 

[TaniaTulle]

And whatever you do, don't think 'sod it, I'm sure it's fine' at two in the morning and hit publish, only to discover you've changed a character's surname mid-story or had a maid magically reappear after saying she was gone for the day.

Give it some time, and look at it with fresh eyes (not tired ones that just want to publish now, dammit!).

 

[WaxPhilosophic]

Listen to it instead of reading it.

Yes. Text to speech helps catch a lot of things.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

And whatever you do, don't think 'sod it, I'm sure it's fine' at two in the morning and hit publish, only to discover you've changed a character's surname mid-story or had a maid magically reappear after saying she was gone for the day.

Give it some time, and look at it with fresh eyes (not tired ones that just want to publish now, dammit!).

Patience, Young Grasshopper.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

That moment (same WIP) when you realize this story has characters named Rowena, Rena, and Renee.

I'm probably going to have to change that.

 

[Stanfield2025]

Far too many writers here are on their own where editing is concerned, and this results in developmental, copy, and line editing being neglected, with only proofreading taking place.

I'm a big believer in "If you want something done right, you do it yourself." Editors are hard to find.

 

[dirk2024]

Change the font, the font size, and the font colour regularly, as you write and do rolling edits. You've got to trick the brain to see what's actually there, not what you think is there.

I swear my eyes grow numb to my stories after a while. I have to use Words, text to voice function to help.

I'll try this as well. Thanks.

 

[TheLobster]

That moment (same WIP) when you realize this story has characters named Rowena, Rena, and Renee.

I'm probably going to have to change that.

The sprawling, two-million-plus words pornographic epic Six Times a Day has two main characters named Susan and Suzanne. If that author could do this, then I’d say you’re good

 

[anthrodisiac]

I swear my eyes grow numb to my stories after a while. I have to use Words, text to voice function to help.

I'll try this as well. Thanks.

Your brain will read what it expects the words to be, not the actual words on the page sometimes. You know what it SHOULD say, so when that doesn't match it, it can result in your brain reading the expected word when in reality it's wrong. Happens to me with tense and minor typos on a semi-regular basis.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Change the font, the font size, and the font colour regularly, as you write and do rolling edits. You've got to trick the brain to see what's actually there, not what you think is there.

These are good tips for line editing and proofreading.

Do they help you much with developmental or copy editing, or do you have other tricks for doing that yourself versus using someone else?

 

[ElectricBlue]

These are good tips for line editing and proofreading.

Do they help you much with developmental or copy editing, or do you have other tricks for doing that yourself versus using someone else?

The only other thing I use is word clouds. I drop the draft into Worditout every several thousand words, to see a cloud of the hundred most used words. It's handy to identify too much repetition, and to calibrate the character weighting, name-wise, if I'm writing more than a couple.

I do a rolling edit - before I start a writing session I'll go over the previous thousand words or so, tidying up as I go, also to get the continuity and flow back in my head for the next bit. Which means, by the time I get to the end, the rest of the story has been scrubbed many times, and there's not much else needs to be done.

I'm what I call a stream of consciousness pantser - I like to keep as close to the original text as I can, which keeps it raw. I don't write convoluted stories, plot wise, so I rarely need to worry about deeper levels of continuity editing. What you read is pretty much what I write, with words and phrases tweaked, occasionally sentences moved around, but not much more than that.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

I do a rolling edit - before I start a writing session I'll go over the previous thousand words or so, tidying up as I go, also to get the continuity and flow back in my head for the next bit. Which means, by the time I get to the end, the rest of the story has been scrubbed many times, and there's not much else needs to be done.

It sounds like we operate similarly.