Editing Mode

September 18, 2018 at 3:40 pm (Editing)

Every writer needs an extra cup, or two, of their preferred beverage when editing. Am I right? Well, here’s a little trick that I’ve recently found helpful.

 

I write either on paper or on a computer. If I write on paper, then I edit for the first time as I type my manuscript into the computer.

 

If I write on the computer, I may make one or two passes reading through the manuscript and editing on the computer. Then I print it.

 

I edit it on the paper copy and transfer the changes to computer document.

 

Now I’ve added a new method for finding my mistakes and taking stock of the landscape of the draft. I turn it into a .pdf file and load it to my Kindle, where I have a free .pdf file reader.

 

Something about reading on the Kindle, the way I might another book, helps me to catch even more mistakes and edit the overall plot and flow of the story. It’s almost as if I were reading someone else’s writing.

 

I might try a suggestion from author G.H. Monroe, and read it into a recorder so I can play it back for myself.

 

Pretty soon it’ll be the beta readers turn! Yay!