Forging Lots Of Letters

Originally posted June 28, 2010

I noticed some interesting things while working on the manuscript uploads for the POD publisher, so I thought I would pass them along.

One of the chronic problems I have (and I assume I am typical in this) is that after going over a manuscript forty or fifty times it all becomes a blur, and I simply don't see the minor glitches that still exist.

Part of preparing these uploads is changing format from double space to single space, and font from Courier to Times New Roman (which most POD printers insist on). When I did this, it completely changed my whole perception of the work, and the small flaws, odd punctuation, and incomplete thoughts stood right out.

In a similar vein, my eyes aren't what they used to be, so I have recently started enlarging my MS to 200% on my computer screen. Again, the new perception made subtle flaws pop right out.

I already knew (and I believe I mentioned it before, but I will again) that pulling a print of your work to use as an editing draft gives a whole new view of it. From the experiences above, it seems plain that one trick to doing good editing is to change your perception of the work by any of these methods. I spent most of the last week going over MS which I swore were done and needed nothing more, making corrections. Most of them were small things, but they stand right out when you take a new look at the work, as the reader will when reading the published piece.

Keep pounding away,


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