Editing

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse

The technique I am using to edit my book is to block a dozen pages and increase the font size to 20 point. When I want to break off I reduce the size from where i have got to back to 12 point so it is easy find my place next time. Has anybody got any hot tips for making the job more accurate? I have one problem and that is that on a long document the positiong cursor on the right hand side does not seem to relate to where I am in the mss so I am not sue if the page numbers are right. I am using the header to page number  as a ack up

montholon

My tip is to print out your work and edit on paper.  No matter how I go about it, I always miss some mistakes on screen.

Carol

I agree, for a final edit I use hard copy.

M. Welshman

Definitely read a hard copy. Even then I missed dozens of mistakes which filtered through into my book.  'Glazed eye' syndrome. So get a relative or friend to check it through as well.

moira

Yes, I do a paper copy too, that way I'm more thorough  - reading things on screen makes my eyes tired after too long but paper eliminates the glare and I find it easier in general editing to do it this way, I can scribble, cross-out, change and look at it later on and still see what it originally said if I want to change it back.

dorothyd

I've never edited on paper, I tend to glaze over with so many words if it is not neatly printed on a page in a book.  I revise and edit on screen by using a bigger font size, as you do, CH, and going over it, then leaving it for some time, weeks maybe, then going back over it again. As I edit on screen for work, it is easier for me to edit on screen at home.  I can't be doing with a pile of paper which then needs translating to the screen, I edit there and then, as I go.  It's one reason I ask for all submissions to my business to be electronic, either email attachment or disc, as I edit immediately the file is opened.  On paper, it would mean going back to the author and I don't want to do that.

Butterfly

I also do a hard copy to edit, then go back to the computer to re-edit the computer copy as another file ie: version 5 etc. While I'm adding/removing sections I Highlight the line I'm working on in RED and mark the hard copy the same way. Then I repeat the whole process again for the final edit.....

robert

I agree with both points, I will certainly do the final edits on paper. I intend to edit on screen 3 times before printing to avoid as dorohy says a wodge of paper. Even at twelve point with line and a half spacing thats 300 A4 pages. I am hopng the final edit will be minimal. If omeone does read a submission do they read the printed cop or the electronic version?

Tessa Tangent

With short stories, I edited on paper, if there was anything left to do after my eagle-eyes had been back to it several times on pc.  With this draft, I type in double-spacing, but print in single per chapter and can only read it after a couple of days of doing something else. 

I don't mind if I send in final draft by email (double) or hard copy (double).

Howard

I have a blind spot for my own mistakes which developed after a car accident. Could be coincidence. In my last edit of the first chapters of my current novel I read it out loud off paper to capture the first person voice I needed. I was really pleased. I did it with a friend who, like the narrator, is fluent but not a native English speaker. I'll definitely read out loud in the future. 

sal

I edit by printing a few pages at a time from the computer then placing a white sheet over the words, I read one line at a time and correct on screen as I go along.

Butterfly

Being dyslexic, I also read from the bottom of the page and go backward. This way I tend to spot words I would normally read over, due to knowing the manuscript too well, it is an arduous task but worth it.

marglan

Generally, the author can make the worst proof-reader! It's not deliberate, but it's so easy to become blind to your own errors. The (near) final proofing should ideally be done by someone known to pay attention to detail. Grammatical errors, spelling mistakes etc., can be found that do not need familiarity with the subject, only a good command of English.

If you are using Word, try using coloured text to show the last sentence edited.