Editing & Revising

[therosesword]

thank you, I try, I really do.

[cherrystark]

It's an apt analogy. I can't start any art project until I have a picture in my head of what it's supposed to look like. I still struggle on occassion making my vision become reality.

[therosesword]

The two best pieces of advice I've ever gotten from established authors/teachers was:

1. Never think you don't need revisions.

2. Never think the first draft is perfect. And if that's what you aspire to you will be sorely disappointed when you've finished and realized you just had a brilliant idea that could elevate the story tenfold by big changes but you've already sent it out into the world and can't get it back. And he meant that for both pantsers and plotters.

[DasIstWunderblyat]

I have heard that one method to be keener on spotting whatever mistakes you are making (especially for processors without spell check feature) is to periodically change the font. Our eyes get too used to a font after a period of time, and changing it will refresh it. It is recommended to use an easy-to-read font like the despised comic sans, it is actually one of the less-tiring font to read.

But of course I am not doing that

[_Vels]

I discovered that going on a narrator free site has helped me a lot with bad spelling, something that sadly happens to me a lot.
sometimes we read spelling mistakes as correct because our eyes don't read every single letter. Hearing it makes a huge difference to me.

[cherrystark]

What is the website? That sounds interesting.

[_Vels]

I use this one https://ttsreader.com/... It might be a little robotic, but it does the job.

[Maps]

I think I have a similar method as OP. I generally just write out my chapter, read it over once or twice, and post it. I’m constantly re-reading my work, so I can find errors and revise them when I do (usually just misspellings or typos). Re-reading old chapters helps with revisions because sometimes I catch connections or loop holes I can seal in a future chapter or already written chapters. But I try to focus more on getting the story down and out than spending too much time on edits.
I think once I complete book one of my work, I’m going to revisit the whole thing and really give in a proper clean up. I don’t want to say my poster work is a “draft”, but I certainly have a lot I want to do to make it better when it’s completed.

[sevenstarsofeightIam]

Every time I paste in an episode I take the opportunity to make a check. Grammarly helps but not always. It will suggest the strictest use, which is not what I am after. Today I made minor changes in my latest "The Faerie Dusters" installment. I didn't like the flow of the dialog. Basically, I write like I speak. I write as a story teller, so, it is important to me that that the wording and the cadence have a certain 'flow.' They need to roll off the tongue and make sense in the process.