Comments on: Editing – In Print Or Onscreen?

By: Words on a page » A few links for the end of the week

Words on a page » A few links for the end of the week — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 10:08:14 +0000

[...] Anne Wayman asks editing – in print or on screen? [...]

By: admin

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 15:20:12 +0000

Re track changes… the thing I hate is it’s either all or nothing. And when I’m trading back and forth with a client it gets way too crowded. I’d like to be able not to show little corrections like elimination of an extra space without having to accept it.

Okay, I’ll work at doing more editing online… and Bill, I’ll try the typeface change. I do think using all that paper sucks and would like to avoid it when I can.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:37:26 +0000

Two comments:
I don’t much care for Adobe Reader, and you can find some good freeware alternatives.

When I edit on-screen, I frequently convert the entire doc from MS NTR, which seems to be the default, to either Garamond or Georgia. Much easier on the eyeballs.

Happy Holidays, all.

By: George L Ghio

George L Ghio — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 01:40:00 +0000

Bill, The main problem with track changes is that it up holds the fine tradition of MS.
i.e. “everything should be harder to use and waste the maximum amount of time”

Seriously, I really like track change as a concept. The problem is that the author needs to learn how to use it, not just the editor. It really should be developed to work with editable PDFs. Are you listening MS and Adobe?

By: Jamwes

Jamwes — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 21:19:56 +0000

I have to edit in print. It gives me the chance to jot down some notes as I'm editing, the stuff that I would like to see changed, and some shelf time to think about it. Once I get back to the computer I feel that my changes were better than if they were done straight from the computer. Jamwes’s last blog post..Can't Keep It Up

By: Karen

Karen — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:30:00 +0000

First of all, I love this blog, and I usually lurk. But I couldn’t leave this topic alone.

When editing my own longer pieces, I prefer printing it out, and when brainstorming, I use pen and paper as well.

However, much of my income comes from editing book-length manuscripts for publishing companies. With tight deadlines, printing a 100,000 word manuscript out, editing, and then transferring the edits to the file I need to submit would be far too inefficient. I have to agree with Bill regarding the Find and Replace feature in Word.

By: Bill

Bill — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 17:34:01 +0000

I used to be in agreement with you all, but I’ve done so much work onscreen in the last few years that I’ve switched. Plus, my handwriting is so atrocious that frequently I can’t read it.

Not sure what the problem is with TrackChanges. I use it constantly, and haven’t found any glitches.

One of the publishers for whom I work has now switched to having proofreading done on editable PDFs. This takes some getting used to.

The other, HUGE, advantage is being able to Find and Replace, which, in a large ms, can save hours of labor. To say nothing of being more reliable.

By: Elaine Starner

Elaine Starner — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:35:44 +0000

Hi, Anne,
Yes, gotta edit on paper before I send it off.
Is it because I spent decades reading print on paper before I worked on a screen? I don’t know. I have noticed, also, that my spelling — which always came naturally to me — is atrocious on emails; I make mistakes there that I never would make on anything handwritten.

I think the reason I need to print and edit is because after working on a piece on the computer and looking at it on the screen for hours, when I print I’ve got a different perspective on the words and sentences. I’m just looking at it differently, and I can see things I did not see before.

By: Veronica Shine

Veronica Shine — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:31:27 +0000

Hi Anne,

I am with you. When I was commissioned for a book, I just did not catch any errors on MS Word. I also would print out the chapter I thought complete and was able to find the error of my ways. I have been using a computer since 1984 but for editing, I still need the physical hard copy if it is more than 1000 words.

By: Dan

Dan — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:08:02 +0000

Hi, Anne: I edit on the screen for my magazine stories. But I also write scripts for comic books these days, and, for some reason, I tend to edit these on paper. I find that by editing on paper, I'm more able to pinpoint places where my dialogue falls a bit flat. In comics, dialogue, of course, is crucial. Dan Dan’s last blog post..Content writing and “real” journalism can co-exist