rereading the works. - Writers Forum

bluecurtaindg · 10-17-2004, 10:30 PM

i have posted a short story in the critique section, and got a comment that says i should reread the work before i post it.
i definitely do read the work before i post it. at least once.
i think that really doesn't change much.
i don't really get to see the mistakes easily.
i might have to go through each sentence by sentence and fix one by one.
so questions are these.

how long does it take for you to reread and fix your work?(it would be helpful if you describe how long your piece usually is. also the kind of piece you write)
how do you reread your work?
and what kind of things should i look for in my work when i reread it?

River1034 · 10-17-2004, 10:51 PM

I write novels for the most part, but when i write short stories they are usually 1000 to 5000 words.
When rereading you should look for random character changes, like your main characters hair mysteriously going from black to blonde, you should look for plot flaws. Like, lets say you wrote a story about a haunted house and some kids went in, if the kids didnt have a motivation to go in, they wouldnt have. Spelling and grammatical errors can be harder to find, especially spelling errors if you arent looking for them, because you can read over them without it hindering your reading, so you dont always notice them, for spelling and grammer just go over the piece line by line.
For novels it can take a week to reread/fix your piece, for short stories it depends on length, it usually takes me about twenty minutes to three hours to reread/fix it. however, i reread my works many times. I write fiction.
I reread it like i read other peoples short stories and novels the first time, just to see if anything really jumps out at me. Also, look for repetitive he said, she said's and so on. Dont overuse adjectives or verbs either. Vary your sentence structure and length.
Like i said, the first time i read it, i read it like other folks work, the second time i go back and look for more detailed problems, then the rest of the time i just nitpick with it until i'm satisfied.
Hope this helped.
-River

Capulet · 10-17-2004, 11:03 PM

Are you asking for advice on continuity errors, or grammatical errors?

I've found that if you read your writing out loud, you'll catch more errors. By reading it you're involving your eyes, your mouth, and your ears in the process. You might catch it because it looks wrong, sounds wrong coming out or sounds wrong coming in!

It's always a good idea to have someone else check your writing. You can't catch mistakes you aren't aware of, and since you actually "know everything" about your story, stuff that might make sense in your head might not make sense to your readers.

River1034 · 10-17-2004, 11:06 PM

I never thought of that capulet, i've had other people read my work but i've never tried reading it out loud, i'd probably feel like a goof ball reading to myself, but its worth a shot it if helps with catching errors right? thanks cap.
-Riv

Tyson · 10-18-2004, 12:10 AM

Hey blue your writing in that post was way clear to me and I think somehow you have improved it. Anyways, I reread it and take out whatever is dumb and add new stuff to make it better, and then I have someone else look at it for me because it is really hard to edit your own work you don't do as good a job when you edit your own compared to others I think. Hope that helps.
Tyson

Czerez · 10-18-2004, 12:11 AM

i personally just keep rereading what i write. I might add a chapter to my novel or a paragraph but i go through the whole thing once and a while. Usually there are gaps in between too so my knowledge of what i write becomes fuzzy and making edits is a bit easier. But mostly i read, and read, and reread again. just keep doing it till it sounds right.
then i read it again

Chris · 10-18-2004, 12:40 AM

I agree with Capulet, reading your work out loud is a great way to spot errors, awkward phrasing, bad dialogue etc.

I like to print out my first draft and attack it with a big red marker. I hate reading on screen and tend to miss a lot of stuff, so having it on paper is a definate.

When I do reread (or rewrite), I look for awkward sentences, grammar and spelling issues, character motivations, actions and consistency, plot points, structure (story as well as sentencing), and dialogue.

And to have people check your writing is a great idea too.

Marska · 10-18-2004, 02:04 AM

I've reread my stories quite a few times, just feeling them up.

Editing them with footnotes and all that is very helpful; making generalizations about what you like and don't like about your own style give quite a bit of insight for you into your own workings and let you improve on what needs on improving and gives you an idea of where you are/should be headed.

Reading it outloud helps as well, as does getting another brain to shift through your words.

As Douglas Adams said "My goal is to set 100,000 words in a very precise and understandable order"

mammamaia · 10-18-2004, 12:40 PM

good advice from everyone... especially river's, to read as if you didn't write the piece... that's the key to finding story and continuity goofs... and the line by line nitpicky read is definitely the only way to find all your technical flaws... even the computer checks don't find them all and often find ones that don't really need fixing...

not everyone has a discerning reader handy to go over their work, but having a really knowledgable volunteer check it out is the best last resort...

hugs, maia

Rob · 10-18-2004, 01:49 PM

It's common to find that you become blind to the errors in your own writing, even assuming that you know enough to recognise them in the first place.

As suggested, reading the work aloud helps, so does running it through software that reads it back to you (I use SayzMe). Another useful tip is to simply put it away for a few days then read through, and you'll often see things you never noticed before.