Tag Archives: proof reading

October 8, 2012 · 11:48 am

A salutary lesson…..Never rush a blog post or a comment!

I was checking the statistics of my blog posts just now and was surprised to see that the post:

‘Legends and Folktales ~The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter’ came near the top, alongside ‘Can you Snuggle in Bed with a Kindle’ and ‘I feel somebody has pressed the pause button on my life.’ Strange I thought.

Are school children in the country doing projects on lighthouses?

Is the school on Alderney researching it’s own folklore?

You see, it is not just in at a particular moment in time but the same post pops up as having been read fairly regularly. This prompted me to return to read the post which, incidentally,  I wrote back in April 2011.

The post said nothing remarkable. It is a story I know well but it never seems to lose its charm, of a lighthouse keeper’s daughter who was born on les Casquets, a rock just off the coast of the island of Alderney. It goes on to talk about population trends and gives a link to an article about the benefits of moving to Alderney. Maybe that’s the reason why there is an unusually high number of readers, those who are looking for a simpler life, away from the rat race, on a beautiful island within fairly easy reach of the UK. (If only I could) Ah, it began to make sense.

Then I checked through the article and that seemed to be fine but

Ouch! Then I checked the comments.

One of the last light house keeper’s on les Casquets had taken the trouble to let me know that the name of the young girl was Rosebud, an unusual name since she lived on a rock, with no roses in sight. Unfortunately I must have been in a hurry when I wrote the reply because, I’m ashamed to say, that there were no less than two mistakes in my short but polite reply. Oh dear.

It was a salutary lesson and I’m sure my blush sent waves back through my newly acquired Wi Fi. As writer’s we compose blog posts, sometimes when our mind is on other things, but we need to remember:

Our blog is like a showcase to the world

Many posts may be read and thought little of

A few of our posts will have an impact but

Grammatical or punctuation mistakes will certainly be remembered and come back and haunt us.

Will anyone else admit to making mistakes which embarrass them?

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April 11, 2011 · 4:46 pm

‘The Last Word’ or ‘Oh dear, which word?’

As an English teacher I’m intrigued by the power of words and why, when proof reading, I change one for another or delete it altogether. Looking carefully at the words we use is only one small part of the proof reading process, but nevertheless it is a vital one if we want our writing to flow with ingenuity and succinctness and, more importantly, we hope that the story will read seamlessly.

Here are some of my word sins. Are they the same as yours?

1.       Repetition of a word

Repetition is the most obvious culprit. It creeps up on me unawares when I am writing, so much so that when proof reading I feel a painful ouch of embarrassment. How could I do that? I’ll give you an example from my recent reading.

Within a small stretch of conversation I had written the word ‘island’ four times. Oh dear! What to do? Changing three of these to ‘place’, ‘Riduna’ and ‘there’ suddenly and simply had the conversation flowing happily again.

2.       Repetition of a concept

I often find that I have repeated myself but with different vocabulary. Why, I do not know?

(Ha. I’ve even noticed it my sentence above – suddenly, simply and happily all in one breathe – back to the drawing board!)

Anyway, here is another example:

‘welcoming them home cheerily, with good humour’ I changed to ‘welcoming them cheerily’

3.        Adverbs

If in doubt leave it out!

I remembered being most indignant on the first writing course when I heard that I should to be selective with my use of adverbs and to try to leave them out altogether if I could. As a teacher I was dismayed by the quality of my student’s writing and had always encouraged them to use more adverbs and adjectives but I gradually realised that the majority were superfluous. Nevertheless old habits are hard to break and an example I reread this morning was:

‘He nodded his head silently.’ which became ‘He nodded.’ Why? Of course he was nodding his head and of course he was silent! I am stating the obvious twofold, but I still catch myself doing it.

4.     ‘To boldly go’

The age worn joke still sets me questioning. When I do decide to use the occasional adverb, especially in relation to time, where should I place it in a sentence. For example:

‘When he did finally wake up,’ becomes the more succinct, ‘Finally, when he woke up,’ …..

5.    Word fillers

I have to watch out for unnecessary words, big time. They slip in, leaving me unawares and, even when I think I’m proof reading for the final time, I find them lurking. Your list may be quite different to mine but these are a few I’ve noticed recently:

at all, just, then, specifically, actually, still, now, somewhat, really

‘he just glanced over his shoulder’           becomes             ‘he glanced over his shoulder’

6.       A ‘better word’ or choosing ‘apt vocabulary’

We’ve all reread sentences and puzzled long and hard over particular words and even turned to a Thesaurus in our despair. Occasionally we arrive at a solution which makes us buzz with excitement and at others we are just pleased with the improvement.

‘He was a little embarrassed at first,’   became ‘He reddened.’

7.       Finally – avoiding time worn phrases

It’s hard not to fall into the trap of using these, but it is whilst proof reading, when the story is already comfortingly recorded, that you can indulge in optimizing your creativity.

‘Come on Diana,’ a kindly friend rebuked on reading a chapter. ‘I like the story and look forward to reading the rest,’ (note the encouragement before the bombshell here, the method of a diplomatic and a successful critique) ‘Everyone’s boat’s bob. Can’t you think of anything more imaginative?’ I did of course.

 ‘Small boats mingled, chattering messages as they fidgeted against the glittering water.’

These are a few of my sins with words. What are yours?

© Diana Jackson April 9th 2011

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January 31, 2011 · 4:32 pm

The Many Layers of Proof Reading – A personal experience

I have learnt so much since my early years of writing a decade ago and something I’ve discovered quite by chance is that proof reading has many layers:

The writing in progress – layer of proof reading

At the end of every writing session I have tried to get into the habit of printing out a copy of the day’s writing. I leave this aside until my next ‘writing’ time and then I sit down and read it aloud. At first my husband thought I was forever talking to people on the phone and joked as to how little writing I must be achieving. As my characters took on voices of their own I can imagine it sounded just as if I was talking to someone. Most of the time I try to do this when he’s out, so that I can stretch out on the sofa in the lounge, but otherwise I have a small couch in the office and I close the office door. In this way I get rid of many glitches as I go along and it also settles me into a rhythm, ready to write again the following session.

The specialist chapters – layer of proof reading

With the nature of my current project I have the support of many experts in their own wide ranging fields from fishing to The Hampshire Regiment. As I prepare a section to be sent to be scrutinised I read it several times before I’m fully satisfied, often leaving it several days and rechecking before putting it  in the post or clicking the ‘send’ button.

The feedback can lead to mainly minor but occasionally major changes and then I need to scan the chapters once more.

The overview – layer of proof reading

I have to put my hand up here and admit the error of my ways. In my ignorance, and also because I was rarely free for a long enough period of time, I did not proof read ‘Riduna’ from cover to cover over a short period of time, before I had a request to send the full manuscript off to Pegasus Elliot Mc Kenzie. I can only thank them for their patience at that stage of the project, as they guided me though a proof reading process which sorted out any discrepancies in the story, as well as any errors I’d missed along the way.

This time I have carried out an overview proof read long before the novel is ready to be sent off.

The writing Buddy – layer of proof reading

How does your story read to someone else? Have you painted a picture of your characters or made the most of a dramatic, moving or humorous chapter? I get together with my writing partner about once every three weeks. We put the world to rights before talking about our writing, passing sections over for each other to read in the mean time. I find feedback of this nature as I am writing vital. It is wonderful to be spurred on by positive encouragement, but it is also excellent to discuss sections that do not scan so well or scenes which have not been set as effectively. A writing group would be equally beneficial and supportive in a similar way.

It’s all in the detail – layer of proof reading

Now, this is the layer that can be time consuming. I’ve heard it recommended that you do this by reading the sentences backwards, but that doesn’t work for me. There is also the common comment that an author reads what she/ he wants to read and not always what’s actually in print.  That’s certainly true. (I’ve found mistakes the following day on my blog when I’m sure that I have proof read it carefully before and after publishing) As you scrutinise the writing for errors in punctuation, spelling, grammar, repeated words and phrases, you mustn’t forget inconsistencies of formatting too, like an extra space or unnecessary line space.

It’s been said many times before, but it’s worth repeating that getting a friend whose knowledge of English you trust to check it at this stage is an excellent idea. Mind you, this is a totally different favour to ask than the friend who gives you piecemeal feedback on the content of the novel.

Well –so there you have it. Do any of you know of any other layers I’ve missed?

And remember the old adage – The mistakes are all mine and mine alone!

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