Editing How Do You Edit?

[CameronCooke]

I understand it can be hard to edit your own work. So how do you avoid looking over your mistakes when you self edit?

 

[minacia]

If I'm serious about editing (like for school essays), I'll print out the document and carry it around with me.

Printing out the document does real wonders for catching stuff...

I also read it aloud.

Finally, the more time you give yourself between when you first write something and edit it, the better.

 

[NotaNuffian]

Pretend that you are reading the work of someone you hate. Someone you would waste a bucket load of time to find his/ her mistakes just to screw them over.

Or just mark it like it is others' work or something, I have a great memory loss capability that allows me to not even remember the names of my colleagues, getting high on my own porn has never been more easier.

 

[Jolliapplegirl]

I usually wait a day or so before rereading the chapter. It helps I think to distance yourself from what you wrote.

 

[UYScuti]

Write the chapter. Read through paragraph by paragraph and replace telling words by adding details. Check grammar for issues. Line edit vigorously an hour later, removing sentences that aren’t needed, words that create clutter, and rearrange sentence structure for the mood I’m looking for. Make sure I’ve added all the information I wanted to include in the chapter. Check grammar again. Another round for word choices. Throw it in a text to speak for errors, then upload as a draft to my tablet. Read on my tablet in a different place than where I wrote, and correct any issues I find. That’s roughly my process.

 

[TLCsDestiny]

I don't do It if I'm not paying attention. My chapters are shorter lately tho, which helps me edit. I edit at least twice before publish, sometimes more depending on how much was changed in a sentence. I like to use colours to remind me where I'm up to. Green is first draft (just change a few words at beginning of paragragh). Red is for secondary editing. I also use colour purple to what hasn't yet been published.
Anyway, I edit only when paying attention and use colours to state how many times something has been edited.

 

[yansusustories]

I do several rounds of editing:
The first edit comes after the chapter is finished (sometimes directly after but it can also be several days later if I have a stockpile at hand). That's where I read over everything, try figuring out what I wanted to say (I'm dictating so what is on the page can differ drastically from what I actually said ), add some sentences here and there, cut some others out, fix some phrasing issues, and edit all the typos I see.
Then I throw the result at Grammarly and see what else comes up red and decide whether it needs fixing. I don't usually look at the other options like what it dislikes in terms of passive or something because I find Grammarly much too strict there. After that, I post the chapter online.

I do another round of editing after at least one volume (but often more than one) or maybe even a whole series has been finished. For that one, I'll print the whole thing out with different formatting (e.g. different font) and go through each line by hand with a pencil, adding notes, marking mistakes, and everything else I find. Then I change back to the laptop and input the edits there while looking up stuff where I might have been unsure (e.g., if I noticed inconsistencies with other volumes or wasn't sure about some information I mentioned). I also make my final decisions on notes I made where I wasn't sure before. If there is something I am still not sure about, I add a comment in the document at that specific place.
After I've inputted the edits into a chapter each, I throw that chapter at Grammarly again for good measure in case I put in some typos. Here, I might check the passive etc. warnings from Grammarly but usually, I still ignore them unless I was originally on the hunt for those already I don't change the version online but this is the version I format and put on Amazon, for example. So there are finally two slightly different versions out there.

Other than editing, there is also what I refer to as revision: This comes after the online posting. It's usually if I find a story overall a bit lacking after I'm further in. For example, I had a story where I started with one chapter per week so to make sure it wouldn't drag on forever, I cut quite a bit and did a lot of time skips. It still reads nice enough and readers haven't really complained but I know the story could be better if I went back and filled in the details. So, after the whole story is finished, I'll first do a revision where I'll go through everything, fill in the details, maybe cut out some other stuff, add other things that come up because of what has changed before, and just make the story more in line with my idea of what it should be like. If I do that, I will still edit after every new chapter immediately and then do another one after the revision is finished.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

Use a tts program to read it aloud. You used to have to pay for a good program, but now you can just use a free version like this: https://ttsreader.com/

 

[JayDirex]

looking at it in different mediums helps as well.

after you write your chapter on your computer or laptop, you should keep a copy of your new chapter in your phone and then read it that way as well. by changing the media you change the way the eye reads the chapter, and you catch everything. (If you write on Google docs this is way simple since it goes to all of your devices)

 

[EternalSunset0]

I compile them in one huge-ass document and go over it as a whole to see how the plot points fit, then do some rewriting while trying my best to keep the overall plot still intact.

I also get to see some plot inconsistencies that way and catch some mistakes. Of course, it's not foolproof, and I still had some mistakes show up in the final product, but more than half of the errors get caught in that pass.

 

[Sushirollw]

you guys edit?

 

[Temple]

Write a different chapter and then come back to it and read it aloud. That should help out so you won't gloss over your own mistakes.

 

[OkuraTsukiko]

I usually write the early script over google docs, once one chapter is complete I copy-paste it into here. For editing, I usually checked my grammar again with the help of Grammarly(sometimes). Or on other occasions, I started to reenact the scene as if I'm looking from my characters' perspectives since I'm using First Person POV.

I do that because I want to see if there's anything unnecessary or missing needed to be edited in to out. Just getting the feel of my characters helps me to get a better perspective on what they will do in that situation. Then I would check again the day before I released my chapter to see if anything's aloof with it. Especially when I'm using illustrations, I need to be very aware of where I put them.

 

[CameronCooke]

Thanks so much for the helpful tips guys. Really great advice.