Editing on paper, pt 2: Editing a proof copy

[Infinimata]

I'm most of the way through reading and marking up the proof copy received from the printer for my latest novel, Shunga-Satori. I've already done one on-paper edit pass by way of printing 2-up mockups of each page, but editing in an actual printed copy is its own experience too. At least two major omissions caught my eye, both of which are going to require some rewriting and some new material.

The experience is a little like reading someone else's book, but having the freedom to red-pen(cil) it as you see it.

 

[Maryn]

A number of us here need to work with "fiber media" at some point late in edits. Some just print a draft on the wrong side of used paper, others print it on clean three-hold-punched paper with wide margins for notes and keep it in a binder, while a few have a single copy of it printed and bound into a book. And they all like the method that works for them, which is the bottom line.

Me, I don't work with paper. I've tried it, at the urging of people who found it amazing, but it failed to be amazing for me. Since you caught those two omissions, it works for you! Now you know another thing about yourself as a writer.

Maryn, still learning

 

[Infinimata]

A number of us here need to work with "fiber media" at some point late in edits. Some just print a draft on the wrong side of used paper, others print it on clean three-hold-punched paper with wide margins for notes and keep it in a binder, while a few have a single copy of it printed and bound into a book. And they all like the method that works for them, which is the bottom line.

Me, I don't work with paper. I've tried it, at the urging of people who found it amazing, but it failed to be amazing for me. Since you caught those two omissions, it works for you! Now you know another thing about yourself as a writer.

Maryn, still learning

The thing with paper for me is that it forces me to interact differently with the text. When I first started doing this I used to put the printed ms. in a three-ring binder and edit there, but it was a LOT of paper. Then I learned about the 2-up/2-side trick I mentioned in the other thread, and started using that. Now it's that plus a pass on the proof copy. And in each case - edits onscreen, edits on 2-up, edits on proof - they each force me to interact with the text differently and assume fewer things about it.

That said, I also know plenty of folks who never go to a paper copy! To each their own.

 

[Al X.]

One thing I've noticed in doing proofing runs, is that if I say, change the platform, affecting the size, spacing and font, I find all kinds of errors I would have missed prior. And what I mean by changing the platform, is downloading the draft ebook file for review which I can do on an ebook reader. But the same applies if I simply change the font and size in my Word document.

One of the advantages of having a paper copy to edit of course is you can carry it with you, so if you have some downtime, you can read through it and start reviewing. But your phone or tablet can offer the same portability.

I know, some people need the paper copies. I used to be that individual. I'm fairly old school and up until the late nineties the computer was just a better typewriter that you didn't have to spend a little money in ribbon and a lot of money in correction tape. Now, I can't bring myself to go back to those days. Even if I read through a printed copy, I would only highlight areas that needed attention later, or, I would sit down side by side with the computer and just hash through the edits as I go.

When I started engineering as a career, although CAD was not in its infancy, PDF's weren't a thing and you plotted full D sized sheets so you could mark them up and hand them back to your drafters. Today, we have large format paper roll plotters, which were the state of the art 20 years ago, sitting there unused. They sit there unused because it is easier, and more productive to review and edit with comments electronically, with the ability to zoom in where you need, than it is to have your drafter print you out a set, you mark it up in pen, package it up, get it back to your engineer or drafter, and the process repeats hopefully no more than three times, and it's usually days between iterations. Now, email, bam bam bam, return, a few hours later another set, a few more edits, and you cut the time in a fraction of what it would have otherwise been for the same level of quality and detail.

 

[Infinimata]

One thing I've noticed in doing proofing runs, is that if I say, change the platform, affecting the size, spacing and font, I find all kinds of errors I would have missed prior. And what I mean by changing the platform, is downloading the draft ebook file for review which I can do on an ebook reader. But the same applies if I simply change the font and size in my Word document.

One of the advantages of having a paper copy to edit of course is you can carry it with you, so if you have some downtime, you can read through it and start reviewing. But your phone or tablet can offer the same portability.

I know, some people need the paper copies. I used to be that individual. I'm fairly old school and up until the late nineties the computer was just a better typewriter that you didn't have to spend a little money in ribbon and a lot of money in correction tape. Now, I can't bring myself to go back to those days. Even if I read through a printed copy, I would only highlight areas that needed attention later, or, I would sit down side by side with the computer and just hash through the edits as I go.

When I started engineering as a career, although CAD was not in its infancy, PDF's weren't a thing and you plotted full D sized sheets so you could mark them up and hand them back to your drafters. Today, we have large format paper roll plotters, which were the state of the art 20 years ago, sitting there unused. They sit there unused because it is easier, and more productive to review and edit with comments electronically, with the ability to zoom in where you need, than it is to have your drafter print you out a set, you mark it up in pen, package it up, get it back to your engineer or drafter, and the process repeats hopefully no more than three times, and it's usually days between iterations. Now, email, bam bam bam, return, a few hours later another set, a few more edits, and you cut the time in a fraction of what it would have otherwise been for the same level of quality and detail.

Yes, in cases like that it absolutely makes sense to use the advances in tech to make the job easier. I've actually seen many other analogues of this sort of improvement in workflow in other industries. We just bought a house, for instance, and the vast majority of the paperwork was done electronically with e-signing. I honestly prefer that to throwing around reams of paper!

I have tried changing fonts, etc., but for me it doesn't quite generate the same level of remove as going to an entirely new medium. That trick has worked very well for several of my also-writer friends, though.