I have a backlog of RSS reading and today I’ve decided to get it done. It’s 9 pm Eastern now and I can now see I was trying to eat the elephant with that goal. There was just so much good info in my “to read” inbox.
I did want to pass along something I just finished reading on Bobbi Linkemer’s blog posted on April 10, 2009 – yes, I’m way behind!
I think Bobbi wrote this post and not her guest blogger, Christine Frank, who she was introducing in the article. Well anyway, Christine, if I get this wrong, let me apologize now.
Let me go ahead and cut and paste the section from her article that lit up my light bulb…
“Editing Tasks You Can Do Yourself
- Create several editing checklists and make discrete, small passes to check a few items at a time. It could be people’s names and titles, geographical facts or spellings, or footnotes.
- Don’t start at the beginning every time and read from front to back. Start at the back, or check all the even-numbered chapters or pages and then all the odd-numbered ones.
- Ask a child or another handy, agreeable person to read your work aloud to you.
- Alternate electronic and hard-copy editing.
- Arrange your production schedule so you have time away from the manuscript between reads. Months are great, but weeks away also help you to come back with a fresh eye.”
You can read the whole post here. I love the checklist idea. I looked in my “writing how to binder” (where I keep all my good stuff over the last 20 years) and realized I have about 30 checklists – five on editing. I need to begin using these again (guilty!).
Hmm, second dot – edit back to front or old numbered chapters or pages. This is the first time I’ve heard this one. Cool. Will try it tomorrow.
Wow, third dot. I ask people to read it but never aloud back to me. Then again, I think I did this in some writing class years ago. Okay, that one slipped by me these past years. Got it now. And a child…whoa, I wonder how that’s going to work. Don’t know or have any children around here – hmm, I guess it could be my 32 year old son. He qualifies.
Fourth dot. Cool. Do that. Can move on.
Last dot. Got a little nervous with this one. Stay away for a month? No way. I’d never come back to it. I’d be off starting another book or too far removed from where I was going. Could always use some helpful advice on whether this one works. I know it doesn’t work for me. I’ve got boxes of stuff I went through four or five drafts with and said I’d come back to it in just a few days. And it’s sat there now…okay…embarrassed…let’s just say “many” years. I’ve been wanting to toss it all out but I just can’t seem to let it go. Maybe a therapist can help me with this challenge.
Well, no more dots left. Remember, read her article (which ever “her” wrote it), and say the tips out loud…it’s an exercise that places them into long term memory, and maybe you’ll remember it in the future (unless you add it to your checklist – and use it -- chuckle).
Many blessings to Bobbi or Christine for inspiring me to use their post to “write off their page.” Here’s the link again if you didn’t pop over there earlier.
Good night!
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