Today is the second Wednesday of the month, that means it's Indie Life time, time for us to share with one another little useful bits that have helped us along the way. For most of us the initial writing process, the outlines the quick first draft are all fun, but it's the editing, that long journey through the pits of hell that takes up most of our time. I know editing is fun for some of you, but for most of us, it feels like work. Period.
Two suggestions: Grammarly. It is an amazing source to help find those grammar errors you didn't even realize you were making. You can find it here.
And your Kindle. I send all my final drafts to myself and read it on my kindle. You would be surprised at all the typos and misspellings I catch this way.
Both of these suggestions are not for fixing plot flaws, but they can be very helpful with copy edits.
How about you, any editing suggestions?
Reading sections out loud, and if possible, reading it all out loud. It's time consuming but it's nearly impossible to miss mistakes that way.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the suggestions!
I'll have to try reading it on my kindle. I have so much trouble picking out my own mistakes.
ReplyDeleteI save mine as a PDF and read them on my iPad.
ReplyDeleteI print mine out before I publish. Yeah paper and ink. I see more. Now that I can easily create my own files, I put it on my Nook before publishing too. I see things I otherwise wouldn't that way too. When I reach the next stage in business, I think I'll add a proofreader to my team.
ReplyDeleteI don't read it out loud myself but I have a text to speech program I use. Definitely hearing the words out loud makes a big difference.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I like the idea of sending the document to your kindle to catch errors. once you make those corrections then printing out the book in paper form also help. I'm sure there are *strange* people love editing....yah, strange, but I'm not one of them. I hate editing my work. Editing others work, not so bad, but mine, ugh.
ReplyDeleteSia McKye Over Coffee
I love reading my work in a different display. Your Kindle viewing makes sense to me. Generally I've printed out passages and read them on the train or porch; a different format and a different place can lead to different states of mind. I've rewritten the end of one novel on a printout pressed up against my steering wheel!
ReplyDeleteLove it!
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