I got soooo ticked off the other day.
I want to finish proofing/editing my first book so I can:
- make it into an e-book
- try a publisher
- sell it through my website
- throw it in the garbage
So I’m going through it ONE LAST TIME, and I keep coming across all these ; ‘s and — and … and overusing first names in conversation.
And THIS is one reason why you shouldn’t be the only editor of your publication.
I will cover this in my series “How To Write That Book”, but being as ticked off as I am I need to share this life lesson NOW.
You can be as meticulous as you can be; you can read and reread and spell check and go through each sentence 10,000 times and you will still miss something that an outsider would see.
This has happened to me throughout my writing career. That’s why I don’t hit “send” or “publish” right away.
You never know what will pop up.
Most of us cannot afford an editor to look over our book/magazine article/term paper. If you CAN spend a few bucks on any part of your writing, this is where to spend it.
If you just can’t, and still want/need/should look professional, have someone else read your paper for grammar, punctuation, and repetitiveness. They don’t have to get into the “flow” of the story (although that helps, too).
But an outside eye can catch things your mind cannot.
To prove my point, this came through on my Facebook feed yesterday:
Now. What did you just read?
Maybe you read it right the first time. Most likely you did not.
Neither will your readers.
If you edit your own pages, no matter what they are, either read them out loud, take note of punctuation, sentence structure, think of how people speak. We write faster than we think — we also read faster than we think.
Hope you got a chuckle out of my post.
Thank goodness it was proofread first.