kathrynloch
New member
Well, from experience as a published author (and my book has errors in it too), every good writer needs a good editor. I have hell finding errors in my work because I've got the damn thing memorized from self-editing so much. I not only edit on the computer screen, I print it out and edit with the dreaded blue pencil. I do this over and over again when getting a novel ready for submission. I also read it out loud. At one of my writer's conferences, an editor said one of the worst things English teachers do today to kids is make them read silently to themselves. When you read it out loud, you can find tons of errors and awkward sentences. Even the English Dept. Chair I worked for at the University read out loud when proof reading something.
Spell check I agree, DR, but there's always the "one" vs. "won" or "their, there, they're" predicament. A big thing is that until recently Grammar Check was TERRIBLE for novelists. For writers, MS Word isn't a great program either because even though you turn off widow and orphan control, it still jacks with the formatting of the manuscript. This is not good because editors of the traditional New York publishing houses still figure word count a very specific way - the same way they did back when the typewriter was invented.
For traditional New York publishers, I still have to submit manuscripts in Courier New 12pt, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, and italics need to be underlined, etc. The manuscript is submitted as if I was using that old manual typewriter.
With MS Word in the 2010 version, I have seen a big improvement in the Grammar check. I haven't written anything in it except for my assignments but it does pretty well there. I haven't tried a fiction novel yet.
With publishing moving more toward electronic submission, determining word count by what the software says, and even being allowed to change font for italics or bold type, this is changing faster at the small-press publishers and for self-publishing than it is for traditional print houses. But that is also part of the problem. To keep costs down, no one prints to paper any more. Again from experience you can't find all the errors on a screen. You almost have to print it out to proof read it. But electronic submission to an editor, intern or whoever, then they proof it on screen, (after proofing zillions of other stuff) and they send it on to get printed or turned into an e-book. A lot of stuff is going to get through, then you get e-books like what Bloodhowl got.
Spell check I agree, DR, but there's always the "one" vs. "won" or "their, there, they're" predicament. A big thing is that until recently Grammar Check was TERRIBLE for novelists. For writers, MS Word isn't a great program either because even though you turn off widow and orphan control, it still jacks with the formatting of the manuscript. This is not good because editors of the traditional New York publishing houses still figure word count a very specific way - the same way they did back when the typewriter was invented.
For traditional New York publishers, I still have to submit manuscripts in Courier New 12pt, double-spaced, 1 inch margins, and italics need to be underlined, etc. The manuscript is submitted as if I was using that old manual typewriter. With MS Word in the 2010 version, I have seen a big improvement in the Grammar check. I haven't written anything in it except for my assignments but it does pretty well there. I haven't tried a fiction novel yet.
With publishing moving more toward electronic submission, determining word count by what the software says, and even being allowed to change font for italics or bold type, this is changing faster at the small-press publishers and for self-publishing than it is for traditional print houses. But that is also part of the problem. To keep costs down, no one prints to paper any more. Again from experience you can't find all the errors on a screen. You almost have to print it out to proof read it. But electronic submission to an editor, intern or whoever, then they proof it on screen, (after proofing zillions of other stuff) and they send it on to get printed or turned into an e-book. A lot of stuff is going to get through, then you get e-books like what Bloodhowl got.
