Hello everyone!
I'm absolutely horrendous at editing my own writing prior to submission. Yes, I've read, re-read, and "know" all the rules of grammar, etcetera.
However, when I go to edit or check my work I don't "see" my own errors, I more or less "see" what I meant, rather than what I wrote. I'm sure that the moderators now probably give my stories to each other as punishment!
I'd like to have a much more keen sense of editing and structure. It isn't that I don't know, I just don't catch my own errors.
Do you have any tricks or methods that you use to maximize your accuracy when you self-edit your own work?
thank you
K
Am I a good witch, or a bad witch? History will decide
look over your story from bottom to top for grammatical and spelling errors and typoes. That way you won't be reading the story, just looking at the words. It's easier to catch. Also, I suggest reading it out loud from top to bottom.
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Sharing your work with an editor or trusted friend before you publish is the best advice. But, you specifically asked about self-editing. Not wanting to share your work with an “outsider” is perfectly valid and purely your prerogative.
Rachel’s advice (reading from bottom to top for spelling errors and/or reading your work out loud) seems good.
If you don’t like the sound of your own voice or find the process of checking for grammar and spelling mistakes cumbersome, there are ways to automate the process.
Many word processing applications have built in spelling and grammar checkers. The most popular, Microsoft Word, allows you to tweak these settings {File / Options / Proofing}. Go to the “AutoCorrect Options …” or “Custom Dictionaries” or “Writing Style / Grammar / Settings …” sections to make refinements (such as including certain words, like dialect, in your story that would be considered spelling errors otherwise). You can launch the spelling and grammar editor simply by pressing the F7 key.
The most up-to-date version of Microsoft Word comes with the “Read Aloud” [url=https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/listen-to-your-word-documents-5a2de7f3-1ef4-4795-b24e-64fc2731b001]option. You can launch it via the Alt+Ctrl+Space keyboard shortcut. While in operation, the controls should appear to the right of your screen (Previous, Play, Next, Settings, and Stop buttons).
Read Aloud defaults to the Microsoft David voice. If you don’t like it, click the Settings button. Under Voice Selection, change it to either the female Microsoft Zira voice or the male Microsoft Mark voice, which is slightly higher than David. You can also change reading speed via a sliding bar. The review tab also allows you to launch spelling and grammar from there as well.
On the first read-through, I change the font size and face to something very different from what I write in. The change in appearance and position of the words on screen will sometimes cause errors jump out at you. The first read is for flow and continuity errors, though I'll correct grammar when I come across it.
Next I run it through the Grammar checkers in Wordperfect and Word. Neither are perfect, and they don't always agree, but every time one stops to alert you, there's a chance of finding something that could be tweaked.
Next it goes into text-to-speech. The free ones have robotic voices, and they'll always mispronounce some words, but you'll probably be amazed how many you->your/his->her type errors you'll catch hearing it read to you. If you can spring for a paid version, the voices are often more natural, and the better ones let you tweak pronunciation of common words ( like pussy, which mine butchered and drove me nuts with ) and character names via phonetic spelling in a pronunciation editor.
The final step used to be sending it off to my editor, but unfortunately, he retired after years of invaluable assistance. The search to find someone I meshed with was exhausting, and I haven't felt up to wading into the process again. So apologies to the mods for how many comma tweaks they have to do to my stuff nowadays.
Hadn't considered changing the font size/face for editing. That's a neat idea, thanks for sharing. Part of the reason things get missed is because the brain is tricked into skipping words, and this is especially true due to familiarity with word order and position.
Otherwise, yeah, all the good advice above. Reading aloud, even muttering under your breath as you read, is a fab way to figure out if sentences are too long or don't flow, or need commas for pauses. Or require a tweak/rewrite.
My biggest problem when writing is not carrying on from where I left off, but going back to the beginning to reread, and I end up editing some of it, work my way to the part I stopped at last time, and run out of steam.
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My biggest problem when writing is not carrying on from where I left off, but going back to the beginning to reread, and I end up editing some of it, work my way to the part I stopped at last time, and run out of steam.
It's like you're looking over my shoulder. I do this all the time.
I too just do not have a brain that edits well, whether it's my own work or someone else's, and whether I read it aloud, read it backwards, use different fonts, yadayadayada. I don't "see" errors either.
My only useful technique is to read through it a million times. Time-consuming and exhausting, but it's the only thing that works.
Long run, I recommend marrying someone who will proofread all your stories, porny and non-porny alike, give you honest advice, and thank the moon and stars for having the pure dumb luck to find her.
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As a person who finds it difficult to string a sentence together without making multiple mistakes. I save it as a PDF and use the Read Out Loud function. I’ve downloaded IVONA voices. The one that sounds most like me is Amy. Regards, Verity
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Not sure it has been mentioned yet, but I usually let a story "simmer" before I do a final edit. Just ignore it for 24 hours (or more). Things that completely went by me previously tend to come out when I go back at it after a long break.
That said, as Kistin said, micros don't really require all that. I usually just let them "simmer" for maybe a couple hours if at all. I have written a micro in the morning and had it up by end of day. After all, there's only so much even a nitpicky editor like me can do with 100 words.
Quote by krystalg Hello everyone!
I'm absolutely horrendous at editing my own writing prior to submission. Yes, I've read, re-read, and "know" all the rules of grammar, etcetera.
However, when I go to edit or check my work I don't "see" my own errors, I more or less "see" what I meant, rather than what I wrote. I'm sure that the moderators now probably give my stories to each other as punishment!
I'd like to have a much more keen sense of editing and structure. It isn't that I don't know, I just don't catch my own errors.
Do you have any tricks or methods that you use to maximize your accuracy when you self-edit your own work?
thank you
K
The only thing that has worked for me when it comes to catching typos is either convince a peer to read it, or *listen* to my writing through text to speech software.
No matter how many times I scan my own writing, I'll always find an absurd amount of typos later.
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Quote by Caramel_Infidel
Sharing your work with an editor or trusted friend before you publish is the best advice. But, you specifically asked about self-editing. Not wanting to share your work with an “outsider” is perfectly valid and purely your prerogative.
The most up-to-date version of Microsoft Word comes with the “Read Aloud” option. You can launch it via the Alt+Ctrl+Space keyboard shortcut. While in operation, the controls should appear to the right of your screen (Previous, Play, Next, Settings, and Stop buttons).
Read Aloud defaults to the Microsoft David voice. If you don’t like it, click the Settings button. Under Voice Selection, change it to either the female Microsoft Zira voice or the male Microsoft Mark voice, which is slightly higher than David. You can also change reading speed via a sliding bar. The review tab also allows you to launch spelling and grammar from there as well.
For me, after reading over my stuff via different displays such as Grammarly, Word, and finally, how it will be displayed on Lush proper, having my final text read back to me by software usually picks up those visual blind spots. Having said that, some weird oversights still manage to get through occasionally. Hearing my prose read back to me also gives a sense of how aesthetically pleasing my sentence construction is.
I've found that after these many years of writing, I have become much better at spotting errors.
To the OP: Keep writing and your skill at editing should improve.
"the Great God (snicker)" - James 'Bear' Llewellyn
Like others have said, word processor F7 - I use LibreOffice (based on OpenOffice) and it is still learning.
Then I load it into Grammarly and let that have a go. Though I don't just accept everything, it has a need to change certain words irrespective of context - we're to were and a way to away have been recent culprits.
After this I fire it off to my editor to let loose with his red pen. This usually takes 24 or more hours and that is my simmer time. I get it back, fill in the changes I accept (he's American, I'm British, so certain things are different, though 2 years on he recently caught me with a bought instead of brought and draws instead of drawers...). The great thing about him being American, some of the things he picks up although I don't accept because it's a trans-atlantic thing, it is useful when writing my note to the mods.
Once that is all done, I give it a final read and make final tweaks. A lot by that stage is about flow and meaning, what was clear and perfect when I first wrote it sometimes becomes a jumble of words.
I have helped edit for a few people, I think that has also helped me with my writing.
I had never heard of Sprite's suggestion and it seems bleeding obvious...
Have you read the Cambridge study about scrambled letters? That gives an idea on why it's hard enough to edit other people's work, knowing what you mean before you scramble the letters or drop some just makes it harder.
I believe self-editing it's impossible. For how many times you read it, being the one who wrote it, you'll miss typo or other mistakes like name changes. I have a friend who reads my work and I read his. Find a friend who can read your work.
Having the computer read it aloud to you is the ultimate editor, IMO... Here is my process that took me a year to get to this point and even that is not foolproof:
Scrivener editor first go around
Cut and paste to word- word editor second go around Have your computer read it aloud to you
Make edits based on reading it aloud (Word doc to Lush friends or Beta readers also works here if you have a friend to read it for you)
Cut and paste to Lush- Grammarly editor (Remember that Grammarly- at least the free version- does a crap job at dialog and dialog punctuation)
Final read through- push submit
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART that no one has mentioned yet!:
Once accepted I go back and look at what the mods changed so I learn from my mistakes. It made me a much better writer in the long run- now I'm an advanced idiot. If I had questions on the changes I'd google it. If that didn't work, I'd politely PM whomever verified it and ask a question so I didn't make the same mistake on the subsequent submission.
It's all a process, but if you want to get better, Lush certainly helps with that compared to other sites that will publish anything, IMO...
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I feel that my biggest weakness, other than being a rank amateur, in my writing is that I am too close to the thoughts behind the words and thusly don't read or hear the words themselves, only the intent behind them. I'm also in a big rush to move on to the next thing (thanks to my moderator friend for pointing out that blatantly obvious point that i was ignoring). With that in mind, I have decided that my next story, while hopefully as torrid as I think it is, will deal with something that is really messing with my heart and mind. Because I am emotionally close to the events, that should make me take pause so I can choose the proper phrasing. I'll also hopefully recruit a small militia of folks that wouldn't mind reading it as a work in progress as the muse strikes me. That will hopefully give me good, organic, feedback in the moment rather than afterwards when I feel that the story is complete.
Am I a good witch, or a bad witch? History will decide
I don't let other people read my work before publication unless it's a novel and I'm paying a real editor to go through it, or if it's a non-sexual short story that I will read aloud to my family--or anyone who will listen. Otherwise, it's a three step process.
1) Of course, I re-read my work for the day, run the spelling and grammar checkers, but this is almost totally useless. Nearly a complete waste of time. So, in addition to that, I have the Google Docs read-aloud add-in read my story into my headphones. Why headphones? Nobody wants to hear my agonizing repeatedly if I should use cum, or jizz or maybe juice or fuck her ass, no plow her tender behind, no, how about ram her back door. Insert screaming sound effect.
2) When I'm done with the whole thing, I re-read and re-grammar check the entire story. Sometimes I even find things that way. Then I have the reader talk me through the entire story. Then I find LOTS of issues. Lots and lots of them. Always. Even when the darned computer has already read every word to me at least once before!
3) Finally, when everything is a good as I can possibly make it, but still not as good as I really want it, I copy and paste into Lush. Then, like those above who change the font and size, suddenly even more errors magically appear. This time, I read the story off the Lush edit page, aloud if I'm alone, or very critically and slowly if I feel I need to be discreet.
I would be willing to coax special attention out of the Lush editors by offering sexual favors, but they do a great job without all that (and I'm not sure they'd want my vanilla ass anyway). NOTE: Special thanks to all the volunteer editors on Lush. You are the best!
That's as much as I can stand. More editing than that, and I start to get crazy migraines and episodes of OCD manifesting as nail chewing--fingers and toes!
Sad fact is i cannot see many of my mistakes when i proofread. For some reason my mind fills them in and i have to make myself slow down a lot to have any hope at all. i know i need to improve at proofreading, but so far those skills have escaped me The best thing is to read aloud, but sometimes it get impatient because i haven't read aloud since grammar school.
I just get it right the first time, so I don't have to edit later.
Okay, kidding. I do make my share of mistakes. A Spell/grammar checker can be helpful to catch minor errors, but you have to be cautious because while it catches about 85% of errors, some of those errors could be intentional style choice (especially when it comes to dialog). Also, because they don't do well with context, they are prone to making almost as many errors as they fix.
I find letting a story rest for a few days and then returning with fresh eyes is probably the safest approach to DIY editing.
Don't believe everything that you read.
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Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know
Okay, kidding. I do make my share of mistakes. A Spell/grammar checker can be helpful to catch minor errors, but you have to be cautious because while it catches about 85% of errors, some of those errors could be intentional style choice (especially when it comes to dialog). Also, because they don't do well with context, they are prone to making almost as many errors as they fix.
I tend to refer to it as a "typo checker" because that's most of its value to me. I find that for grammar and style, my own guts generally work better than software still. I just have to put in the time to do it properly.
I have used two techniques that may or may not work for everybody. First, since I seldom write more than a few paragraphs at one setting, when I go back to write, I read the story, article, whatever, from the beginning watching for sentence flow and other typical writing issues. After I have finished the piece, I may have read it more than 5 times which increases the chances of picking up basic mistakes. Secondly, I read the piece aloud. This is not foolproof because we can read what we want to say rather than what was written, but it is a good tool. I had never heard of having a program read the piece back to me. That should work very well too and I will probably be trying it soon.
I use Google Docs, which has a pretty good grammar and spellcheck feature. Before I publish a chapter, I copy/paste it into Microsoft Word just to see if there's anything a different program catches. Then I do a read through looking for errors that the algorithm struggle with, (like when I accidentally write "ad" instead "as" for the thousanth time).
Last I do a read-through for how the writing flows. If I find myself skimming, I know I wrote something boring. If I find myself hitching on a description or sentence structure, I rework that section.
Nothing beats a real editor, but when I don't have one this works well enough.
Being a non native English writer/speaker, I had to develop strategies to help get my stories through moderators (first story was refused on first submission for very good reasons). Here is what I do.
While writing the story, I write it as it goes, I do not fuss about errors or misspelling. I just want to put on paper my creative idea.
Once the story is fully written, I review the story many times for finding issues with wording, words too often used and other structural issues. I correct grammar if I find some, but I do not focus on it. It is now that I recite my story out loud. It's weird and thankfully I'm living alone, but it helps as you find those turn of phrase that are weird or words that could be replaced for more fitting words.
Once the story is to my liking, I pass it through Grammarly. The free version is good enough for me, but look at the paid offering if you want to have advanced suggestions (have not tested, cannot say if it is good or not). Though, note that Grammarly is not perfect, do not simply accept all corrections, think about each of them before you commit.
Then, I use my cheatsheet. I created a document where I put all of my common mistakes, from homonyms I confuse (e.g. licking, liking; breath, breathe;), specific spelling for specific situations, turn of phrase that aren't correct ("if ... would" is my sin), words that are better than more generic words (all vs every; small vs short vs thin), and more. This document should evolve as you write, add things that you see you often do, remove others that you have finally mastered. I usually find many things to correct at this point, even though I've done manual correction, Grammarly, Word and the lot.
My second to last step is to read it on my Kindle, in bed, relaxed, not in a "let's correct this story" mode. As some others has noted, changing how you present the story can help you.
Finally, I prepare the story on Lush and do the preview. I re-read it and usually find one or two things.
Here you go, hope it helps. Of all this, I strongly suggest you create a cheatsheet. I find it very good to focus on one thing to correct at a time, search for that specific issue in my story, correct it if necessary, then move to the next item to look for.
Quote by krystalg Hello everyone!
I'm absolutely horrendous at editing my own writing prior to submission. Yes, I've read, re-read, and "know" all the rules of grammar, etcetera.
However, when I go to edit or check my work I don't "see" my own errors, I more or less "see" what I meant, rather than what I wrote. I'm sure that the moderators now probably give my stories to each other as punishment!
I'd like to have a much more keen sense of editing and structure. It isn't that I don't know, I just don't catch my own errors.
Do you have any tricks or methods that you use to maximize your accuracy when you self-edit your own work?
thank you
K
I was given a great piece of advice. I use chrome and android. I downloaded a TTS (Text to Speech and listen to my stories as I drive or do other chores. It lets me know if I need to edit more or if it's ready to publish. I also find errors my eyes missed dozens of times.
Why, no, I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every fucking minute of it.
Besides getting some tips and advice here, I want to mention I feel much better knowing my struggles with editing stories is not uncommon. I identify so closely with the errors and tribulations others have mentioned here. Thanks to all who have commented.
“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anais Ni
Grammarly helps me with that. It not only gives you the edit but tells you why it needs to be changed. That allows me to learn exactly why what I've done is wrong and improve on it in the future.
Grammarly is a huge help for me. It’s a bit pedantic at times, other times it makes no sense, but 98% of the time, it’s helpful.
To be realistic, dialogue may often be grammatically incorrect, but it will still correct it. These suggestions can be ignored if you want to retain the colloquial.
‘The pious fable and the dirty story Share in the total literary glory.’
Edit and re-edit, over and over and over and over and over and over ... well, you get the idea. After I've finished the initial brain dump of getting my story out, then I start going over it repeatedly. The first few times usually involve some pretty heavy editing, moving whole paragraphs or sections around. I'm amazed how much I repeat the same thought multiple times in different ways on the first write, so I try to prune those out.
Even after I've got what seems like a half-decent story, more or less publishable with few if any outright errors, I go over it a bunch more times. I try to make the dialogue snappier, my internal monologue more concise, the pre-sexual tension more delicious, the action hotter, the physical descriptions more evocative. I can easily end up going through the story a dozen times, sometimes more than twenty, before I'm satisfied with it. I usually don't consider it ready until I can do a full read-through with few if any corrections or improvements, though I admit sometimes I lose patience and jump the gun on that.
I try to read it out loud to myself at least a couple of those times, if no one is within earshot ... or at least mouth the words with my lips to make sure I'm processing every word, every punctuation mark, and not just skimming or speed-reading, which is all too easy to do when you're reading your own work. I haven't used text-to-speech (maybe I'm not comfortable with the potential data collection of those apps), but maybe I'll at least try the native Apple functionality one of these times.
And then as soon as it's published, I see things I could improve upon. I don't dwell on it too much, though. Published is published, and I try to move on to the next stories in the hopper, learn from those mistakes and keep improving my writing.
Can't believe I never replied to this. My self-editing process is as follows:
Re-read out loud several excruciating times. This helps me amend anything that doesn't sound right such as redundant phrases and overall suckage.
Somewhere in these several out loud rereads, I open a new document and paste sentences I believe need to be rewritten at the top, then do the rewrite below it. After, I paste the rewritten sentence where the original was in the original document.
Use an online tool that highlights repetitive words, two word and three word phrases. This part usually helps my stories to really start sounding like something, because the majority of the redundancies are eliminated.
Run it through the free version of Grammarly.
Do a final reread out loud and checking specifically for my dialogue formatting.
Talk myself into not being overly attentive so that I can finally paste it into the Lush editor and hit 'Submit.'
I've only had stories returned 2 or 3 times for the 2.5 years I have been on Lush, so I must be doing something right.
