Janet Gogerty's Blog: Sandscript - Posts Tagged "proof-reading"
Sandscript
Diary of a KSP - Kindle Self Publisher.
My latest novel is floating in the ether, like all Kindle books you might say, but my book is in Kindle Limbo, still in draft.
After downloading, the author can read it on the computer screen as it will appear on any e-book reader. If there are any mistakes to correct then the writer must return to the original document. No problem, because you may download again and again...when you are sure the book is ready, then press publish!
I am proof reading for the fourth time, still amazed how commas disappear, speech marks drop off the end of sentences and 'there' and 'their' have swapped themselves round during the night. A traditional proof reader would spot mistakes, but they could not make changes to phrases, improvements to wording as the author can.
We owe it to ourselves and readers to make the manuscript as perfect as possible and perfect is impossible I'm sure. With the variety of e-readers the author has no idea whether his novel will be read minutely on a phone or in giant letters on an Ipad by someone with bad eyesight - all mistakes glaringly obvious!
My latest novel is floating in the ether, like all Kindle books you might say, but my book is in Kindle Limbo, still in draft.
After downloading, the author can read it on the computer screen as it will appear on any e-book reader. If there are any mistakes to correct then the writer must return to the original document. No problem, because you may download again and again...when you are sure the book is ready, then press publish!
I am proof reading for the fourth time, still amazed how commas disappear, speech marks drop off the end of sentences and 'there' and 'their' have swapped themselves round during the night. A traditional proof reader would spot mistakes, but they could not make changes to phrases, improvements to wording as the author can.
We owe it to ourselves and readers to make the manuscript as perfect as possible and perfect is impossible I'm sure. With the variety of e-readers the author has no idea whether his novel will be read minutely on a phone or in giant letters on an Ipad by someone with bad eyesight - all mistakes glaringly obvious!
Sandscript in Manuscript
When we stayed for a week in a cottage in a secluded cove, I was glad to discover there was no reception for mobile phones, nor was there a land line in the cottage. At the very top of the cliff, if you held your phone high in the air, you could be lucky and get reception. A peaceful place for a holiday and proof for writers that there are still settings where mobile phones cannot be used; where characters can escape without being traced or where persons in peril cannot call for help.
The plots of crime fiction, spy thrillers and romances changed for ever when mobile phones became ubiquitous. No running along dark lonely roads or knocking on strange doors to fetch help, a quick call on your mobile and an air ambulance or armed response unit could be with you in minutes. No wonder authors enjoy putting their heroes and villains in spots where there is no mobile reception.
But you can’t always trust your characters. Reading through the third draft of the third novel in my trilogy, I realised several of my leading characters, in several scenes, had casually used their mobile phones when they knew perfectly well there has never been any mobile phone reception at Holly Tree Farm. Some minor plot changes were needed for the fourth draft.
Proof reading and editing the manuscript of one’s novel is not just about lost commas, the wrong ‘their, there and they’re’ and ‘from’ turning to ‘form’ when you’re not looking. Whether you work on the computer or from a paper manuscript, continuity is just as important as on a film set. Robertson or Robinson, Thomas or Thompson, Sean or Shaun? Minor characters have no regard for accuracy and frequently change their Christian and surnames from chapter to chapter. On to the fifth draft….
But ‘Lives of Anna Alsop’ will be on Amazon Kindle soon and in the meantime you can catch up with the first two of the trilogy ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Three Ages of Man.’
The plots of crime fiction, spy thrillers and romances changed for ever when mobile phones became ubiquitous. No running along dark lonely roads or knocking on strange doors to fetch help, a quick call on your mobile and an air ambulance or armed response unit could be with you in minutes. No wonder authors enjoy putting their heroes and villains in spots where there is no mobile reception.
But you can’t always trust your characters. Reading through the third draft of the third novel in my trilogy, I realised several of my leading characters, in several scenes, had casually used their mobile phones when they knew perfectly well there has never been any mobile phone reception at Holly Tree Farm. Some minor plot changes were needed for the fourth draft.
Proof reading and editing the manuscript of one’s novel is not just about lost commas, the wrong ‘their, there and they’re’ and ‘from’ turning to ‘form’ when you’re not looking. Whether you work on the computer or from a paper manuscript, continuity is just as important as on a film set. Robertson or Robinson, Thomas or Thompson, Sean or Shaun? Minor characters have no regard for accuracy and frequently change their Christian and surnames from chapter to chapter. On to the fifth draft….
But ‘Lives of Anna Alsop’ will be on Amazon Kindle soon and in the meantime you can catch up with the first two of the trilogy ‘Brief Encounters of the Third Kind’ and ‘Three Ages of Man.’
Sandscript
I like to write first drafts with pen and paper; at home, in busy cafes, in the garden, at our beach hut... even sitting in a sea front car park waiting for the rain to stop I get my note book out. We
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