Proofreading Explained | Catherine, Caffeinated

By Robert Duran:

“There exists a common misconception that if your manuscript isn’t in great condition, it needs a structural edit; if it is in reasonable condition, it needs a copy-edit; and if it’s in pretty good condition, a proofread is all that is required. Well, I have some bad news. The truth is rather different, and it goes something like this: every manuscript needs all three, because each of the three contributes something distinct and valuable to the project. OK, Ian McEwan or John Banville will get away with skipping the structural edit, but there are very few manuscripts that wouldn’t benefit from one.

Click on Catherine’s banner to read on-

 

 

Our own Novel Girl, with some great – and simple – tips on how to edit out unneeded stuff from your book…:)

How to edit out crap from your manuscript.

The case for professional editing…

  Yours Truly 

     I’m a rookie – let me just get that out of the way first. I’ve put out my first novel, was fortunate (lucky?) enough to have my manuscript picked up by a publisher, and it’s now in the editing process. And that is exactly where my real education in writing begins. 

     My whole start in writing had a bit of a herky-jerky start; I didn’t know if my manuscript would get picked up, what if it didn’t, should I just go independent, etc, etc. So, I decided to start reading up on what to do, in order to publish my book indie. Anyone interested enough to be reading this up to this point knows most if not all the ingredients to publishing. What I want to comment on is the editing.

     Every article, blog, tweet, website and post I read said emphatically “If you do nothing else, have your work edited by a professional.” Period, end of story. One article I read went so far as to say his finished work was almost unrecognizable. Reading that, I wondered, “Well, did the story suck to start off? What’s the big deal? I edited the spelling, typo’s, punctuation, and all. What else could there be?”

     All of you see what’s coming. Boy, did I have a lesson to learn.

     My publisher put me in touch with the young lady who was to do my editing, and she received my manuscript. I got the first chapter back in about a week. She wanted to pay particular attention to the first one, because that’s the hook, and we want to make sure it’s a close to perfect as we can get.

     After I staunched the flow of blood from my many wounds, I sat down to really read her comments. They all made sense, and I would (HAD) never given a thought to any of them. In the days and weeks to come, I’m going to relate what she told me, subject by subject. I’ll go over what I did wrong, included the passage in which I did it, and show how she told me it should be corrected. Hopefully, it will prevent some others from making the same mistakes.

     One thing is certainly clear to me, at this junction. Without my friendly neighborhood Red Pen Nazi, my work would not (NOT, do you hear?) be the same book as it’s about to be, and now, I’m even more excited to see how it turns out. I’ll echo the others who have gone before. Professional editor, if nothing else. Period, end of story.

     I’m a rookie – let me just get that out of the way first. I’ve put out my first novel, was fortunate (lucky?) enough to have my manuscript picked up by a publisher, and it’s now in the editing process. And that is exactly where my real education in writing begins. 

     My whole start in writing had a bit of a herky-jerky start; I didn’t know if my manuscript would get picked up, what if it didn’t, should I just go independent, etc, etc. So, I decided to start reading up on what to do, in order to publish my book indie. Anyone interested enough to be reading this up to this point knows most if not all the ingredients to publishing. What I want to comment on is the editing.

     Every article, blog, tweet, website and post I read said emphatically “If you do nothing else, have your work edited by a professional.” Period, end of story. One article I read went so far as to say his finished work was almost unrecognizable. Reading that, I wondered, “Well, did the story suck to start off? What’s the big deal? I edited the spelling, typo’s, punctuation, and all. What else could there be?”

     All of you see what’s coming. Boy, did I have a lesson to learn.

     My publisher put me in touch with the young lady who was to do my editing, and she received my manuscript. I got the first chapter back in about a week. She wanted to pay particular attention to the first one, because that’s the hook, and we want to make sure it’s a close to perfect as we can get.

     After I staunched the flow of blood from my many wounds, I sat down to really read her comments. They all made sense, and I would (HAD) never given a thought to any of them. In the days and weeks to come, I’m going to relate what she told me, subject by subject. I’ll go over what I did wrong, included the passage in which I did it, and show how she told me it should be corrected. Hopefully, it will prevent some others from making the same mistakes.

     One thing is certainly clear to me, at this junction. Without my friendly neighborhood Red Pen Nazi, my work would not (NOT, do you hear?) be the same book as it’s about to be, and now, I’m even more excited to see how it turns out. I’ll echo the others who have gone before. Professional editor, if nothing else. Period, end of story.

The case for professional editing…

  Yours Truly 

     I’m a rookie – let me just get that out of the way first. I’ve put out my first novel, was fortunate (lucky?) enough to have my manuscript picked up by a publisher, and it’s now in the editing process. And that is exactly where my real education in writing begins. 

     My whole start in writing had a bit of a herky-jerky start; I didn’t know if my manuscript would get picked up, what if it didn’t, should I just go independent, etc, etc. So, I decided to start reading up on what to do, in order to publish my book indie. Anyone interested enough to be reading this up to this point knows most if not all the ingredients to publishing. What I want to comment on is the editing.

     Every article, blog, tweet, website and post I read said emphatically “If you do nothing else, have your work edited by a professional.” Period, end of story. One article I read went so far as to say his finished work was almost unrecognizable. Reading that, I wondered, “Well, did the story suck to start off? What’s the big deal? I edited the spelling, typo’s, punctuation, and all. What else could there be?”

     All of you see what’s coming. Boy, did I have a lesson to learn.

     My publisher put me in touch with the young lady who was to do my editing, and she received my manuscript. I got the first chapter back in about a week. She wanted to pay particular attention to the first one, because that’s the hook, and we want to make sure it’s a close to perfect as we can get.

     After I staunched the flow of blood from my many wounds, I sat down to really read her comments. They all made sense, and I would (HAD) never given a thought to any of them. In the days and weeks to come, I’m going to relate what she told me, subject by subject. I’ll go over what I did wrong, included the passage in which I did it, and show how she told me it should be corrected. Hopefully, it will prevent some others from making the same mistakes.

     One thing is certainly clear to me, at this junction. Without my friendly neighborhood Red Pen Nazi, my work would not (NOT, do you hear?) be the same book as it’s about to be, and now, I’m even more excited to see how it turns out. I’ll echo the others who have gone before. Professional editor, if nothing else. Period, end of story.

     I’m a rookie – let me just get that out of the way first. I’ve put out my first novel, was fortunate (lucky?) enough to have my manuscript picked up by a publisher, and it’s now in the editing process. And that is exactly where my real education in writing begins. 

     My whole start in writing had a bit of a herky-jerky start; I didn’t know if my manuscript would get picked up, what if it didn’t, should I just go independent, etc, etc. So, I decided to start reading up on what to do, in order to publish my book indie. Anyone interested enough to be reading this up to this point knows most if not all the ingredients to publishing. What I want to comment on is the editing.

     Every article, blog, tweet, website and post I read said emphatically “If you do nothing else, have your work edited by a professional.” Period, end of story. One article I read went so far as to say his finished work was almost unrecognizable. Reading that, I wondered, “Well, did the story suck to start off? What’s the big deal? I edited the spelling, typo’s, punctuation, and all. What else could there be?”

     All of you see what’s coming. Boy, did I have a lesson to learn.

     My publisher put me in touch with the young lady who was to do my editing, and she received my manuscript. I got the first chapter back in about a week. She wanted to pay particular attention to the first one, because that’s the hook, and we want to make sure it’s a close to perfect as we can get.

     After I staunched the flow of blood from my many wounds, I sat down to really read her comments. They all made sense, and I would (HAD) never given a thought to any of them. In the days and weeks to come, I’m going to relate what she told me, subject by subject. I’ll go over what I did wrong, included the passage in which I did it, and show how she told me it should be corrected. Hopefully, it will prevent some others from making the same mistakes.

     One thing is certainly clear to me, at this junction. Without my friendly neighborhood Red Pen Nazi, my work would not (NOT, do you hear?) be the same book as it’s about to be, and now, I’m even more excited to see how it turns out. I’ll echo the others who have gone before. Professional editor, if nothing else. Period, end of story.