I've decided it's time to start editing Chaos Season, the next book in the Season Avatars series. The first step I take in editing is rereading the entire work. These days, I like to do that on my Kindle. By sending it to my Kindle, I can read it in a different format so I can read it with a fresh eye. I can also check formatting at the same time. Whenever I see something I want to add, change, or delete, I highlight it and type a note. It works well for line-item edits but not so well for larger edits, which is what I should really be working on at this stage. However, I can at least take mental notes of sections I want to change. Even though I need to revise the opening chapter (it currently starts right at the end of Scattered Seasons; I need to move the action forward a bit to skip some of the less interesting bits), I still wound up making a lot of line comments on lines that will probably be deleted. It may not be the most efficient way to edit, but I may be better at seeing smaller issues than larger ones. I may need to outline the current draft to check for other plot problems before I revise.
How do you edit your work? Do you use a Kindle or some other way to view it differently?
5 comments:
I might read a final version on my iPad, but otherwise I prefer to print it out on paper. I stare at enough screens and I see things I don't notice otherwise.
I review a paper copy too, Alex, but that's later in the process.
I put it on my Kindle and listen with the text to speech as I read. Long ones I print on paper first.
I edit electronically on my computer for the first round. I print a hard copy after that. The final round is electronic, too.
How exactly do you send it to your kindle? As a pdf?
I like to edit chapters out of order and sometimes from back to front. I also change the font to force me to read the actual words and not 'read' what I think I had written.
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