Editing a novel on the computer screen...smart idea?

True · Jan 1, 2010

My finished novel is still sitting in a box, unedited, because I can't bring myself to actually get through more than one page at a time. As soon as I was done with it, I printed it all out and waited the six weeks they tell you to wait before you begin editing. But even though several months have passed, I still can't sit down and get to work on it. I've always heard that I should never edit a novel on the computer screen, but I find that this is the only way it works for me.

What about you? What are some good editing tips you can offer?

alleycat · Jan 1, 2010

I edit both onscreen and on paper. I prefer paper for finding typos and grammatical errors; for whatever reason I can find them easier on paper than onscreen.

One thing you might try, is setting your view to something different than you normally use (say, using a reduced-size reading layout). I find that it sometimes helps me to see what I've written with "fresher eyes." Plus, it's a little closer to how something would actually look if it were a book.

In any event, the Golden Rule as far as the technical aspects of writing is to do what works for you. If editing onscreen works for you there's no reason to follow someone else's dictum for this type of thing.

Cathy C · Jan 1, 2010

I've never edited a ms. EXCEPT on a monitor. Seems like a waste of paper for something you know you'll throw away. But then, I type on the computer for a living. Working on a paper copy is counter-intuitive to me.

In short, do whatever works for YOU!

bclement412 · Jan 1, 2010

I edit on both a computer and on paper. I print out my ms when I'm doing line edits, but when I'm rewriting or doing overall edits I use the computer.

YAwriter72 · Jan 1, 2010

I miss a lot of grammatical and spelling stuff if I edit on screen.

I am one who prints out the MS though and goes through it page by page making notes all over it. It always amazes me how many things I find when I thought it was pretty polished!

Smish · Jan 1, 2010

I prefer to do most editing on the computer. I like being able to cut and paste, and move things around easily. The final edits are done on paper, though.

Linda Adams · Jan 1, 2010

But even though several months have passed, I still can't sit down and get to work on it. I've always heard that I should never edit a novel on the computer screen, but I find that this is the only way it works for me.

There's nothing wrong with editing on the screen if that's what works for you. It's not like the agent is going to reject you because you edited on the screen instead of the paper.

I do all my major edits and revisions right on the screen. Paper copy is really only for a final pass to weed out any typos, minor editing, or continuity problems. Usually I'll print up a few chapters and take it to work. Then I can proofread at lunch time.

gothicangel · Jan 1, 2010

I highly recommend editing on paper at least once AND reading it aloud. It's the only way to catch out words that don't flow.

As for the trees, that's why God invented recycling bins (no-one said you can't use recycled paper for editing, just not subbing.) Unless of course - like me - you're first drafts are that bad you feel a need to consign paper and ink to the flames!

Clair Dickson · Jan 1, 2010

I don't edit on paper. It doesn't work any better for me than editing on a screen. In fact, it's often an exercise in frustration since I can't move things around and fix them when I find them. I have to wait until I get back on the computer. =P So, I work on the computer.

Careful with all the writing "rules" you come across. They are not rules at all, but suggestions for what has worked for many people before. But that's many, not all writers.

TRY IT. Revise and edit your M.S. on the computer. Do it a couple times. If you need them, find tricks to slow down your eyes. I often read aloud, esp. dialogue. I also like the Reading View in MS Word since it mimics book pages. If you're worried about it, print of a couple chapters after you've editing them on the computer and see if you catch anything on paper that you didn't on screen.

BTW, I heard that you must always write while dressed in a chicken suit. The unorthodoxed attire frees up your brain.

seeAlliwrite · Jan 1, 2010

I find it really hard to edit on screen, even on a 20" Mac, where I have a bit more room to move. I find I really need that physical book-like copy and to be able to flick back and forth easily, to bring out a couple pages at a time from different parts of the ms and lay them out before me on a table etc.. And I can do all this stuff on the computer, it just isn't the same!

I've got to say, though, keying in the changes is my most hated writing job. It's really boring!

Bufty · Jan 1, 2010

If editing on screen works for you - stick with it. I bet you also do an edit run on the print-out - it can't be avoided and everybody uses both methods as the opportunity/feeling strikes despite what some may say to the contrary.

To claim one only edits via one route is nuts - an edit element creeps in every time one reads the darned thing no matter what media is used.

Dave.C.Robinson · Jan 1, 2010

Whatever works for you.

I do a lot of editing on screen - but I also have a dual-widescreen setup on my desktop which makes editing much easier for me. The big advantage I've found to dual monitors is not so much the extra space (though it helps) but the way it helps with organization. It even gives me the ability to "lay two pages side by side."

fadeaccompli · Jan 1, 2010

I'll echo the "whatever works", with a side order of "and if it's not working, try another format." If you're staring blankly at sheets of paper, see if the ease (and easy undo functions!) of working on the computer unblock things. If you're staring blankly at the computer screen, see if the tactile and kinetic flow of working with a pen and sheets of paper helps.

If neither computer screen nor paper works, I'm not sure what's left. Reciting your work out loud into a tape recorder? (Hey, it would be an interesting way to see how things flow.)

kaitie · Jan 1, 2010

YAwriter72 said:
I miss a lot of grammatical and spelling stuff if I edit on screen.

I am one who prints out the MS though and goes through it page by page making notes all over it. It always amazes me how many things I find when I thought it was pretty polished!

I don't think I still have pictures of my old hand edit (I could take a new one), but if you saw the sort of things I did to it you'd have been amazed. I was ripping apart entire scenes, cutting all over the place, etc.

Anyway, I'm the exact same as this. I miss too much on the computer screen. Plus, by hand I can actually see how much progress I'm making and how I'm doing. I just finished my last hand edit, and the latter chapters would have only a few small changes on each page. Compared to when I first started and each page was covered in pencil, it's a huge difference. It gives me a really visual way to see improvement.

Penang · Jan 1, 2010

I edit on computer. When I completed my first ms I printed it out and tried to do editing and revisions there. I got to chapter 4 and gave up. So 357 pages of waste, since I made some serious changes to plot, character and sequencing.

If you're not motivated by it sitting in front of you on paper then I say try it on the computer.

Good Luck!

bearilou · Jan 1, 2010

Clair Dickson said:
BTW, I heard that you must always write while dressed in a chicken suit. The unorthodoxed attire frees up your brain.

OMG Is that what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

:tongue

Matera the Mad · Jan 1, 2010

Nobody had better ever tell me that I should never edit on the computer, because that's the only way I'm ever going to do it. Tough shight.

bettielee · Jan 1, 2010

I always go through my works twice before printing it. I write 100K doorstops, and that is a lot of paper.

I need the physical beast in front of me, to know where to put in additions. I get confused! It's also easier on the eyes! But I don't do it until the very last possible moment.'

Both ways have their benefits.

Now kids, why do we fight over these issues? I don't understand.

BigWords · Jan 2, 2010

I do initial edits on screen, followed by two passes on print-out. The small mistakes which might otherwise slip past me on screen stand out better when I'm reading through on a hard copy.

kaitie said:
Compared to when I first started and each page was covered in pencil, it's a huge difference.

Which raises the further question - is it better to mark up the required edits in pencil or pen?

Parametric · Jan 2, 2010

I've never had enough paper to waste on printing out an entire novel. :tongue

I edit onscreen. Compile a list of revision notes and work through from beginning to end. Of course the finished product didn't turn out all that well, so you might want to take advice from someone else. :tongue

Lady Ice · Jan 2, 2010

If it's a major edit, such as adding in a new scene or something, I'd do it on-screen. But at some point you ought to print, read,and pencil/red-pen. Reading a hard copy, you experience what the reader's doing. How you see it on the computer and how it reads are not always the same. Once it's on the computer, you can fiddle about with it for eternity; printing means that you stop fiddling and get down to the essentials.

unthoughtknown · Jan 2, 2010

True said:
I've always heard that I should never edit a novel on the computer screen

Wow, I hadn't heard this before.

Darzian · Jan 2, 2010

I can't even imagine printing out and editing. I find it much easier to make changes on the PC. I will anyway have to make those changes on the PC even if I did print out the MS and edit.

seun · Jan 2, 2010

I used to print and edit but it got too expensive for ink and paper so now I just go through it on screen.

And there's no right or wrong way. There's only the way that works best for each writer. I'd love to know who comes up with these bollocks rules.

gothicangel · Jan 2, 2010

Jane Wenham Jones' Agent had this to say in her book 'Wannabe A Writer?':

'It makes me incandescent, if people don't edit on paper.'

So I suspect it is a myth that has begun with agents.

Editing a novel on the computer screen...smart idea?

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