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Where do you edit?

Poll closed Oct 26, 2010.
  1. On print

    7 vote(s)
    43.8%
  2. On-screen

    9 vote(s)
    56.3%
  1. nastyjman

    nastyjman Senior Member

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    Editing: Print or On-Screen?

    Discussion in 'Revision and Editing' started by nastyjman, Oct 19, 2010.

    So I was wondering, do you edit your drafts (short stories, novels, scripts, poems) on print or on screen?
     
  2. Naiyn

    Naiyn New Member

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    I do a bit of both. It's kind of strange, actually. It seems like it should be easier on screen-- moving deleting changing etc... Yet I find I'm a better editor when I use a printed page. Not sure why. :confused:
     
  3. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    On screen, and then when I know that I've gone over everything so carefully that it just isn't possible for any errors to remain, I print out the whole thing and find a few I missed. Sigh.
     
  4. afinemess

    afinemess Active Member

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    both. I do a good read through on screen, then print it, leave it alone for a while, then read it and edit again from the page. I don't know why, but changing it up and giving it some time to get out of my head helps me see more errors.
     
  5. Agreen

    Agreen Faceless Man Contributor

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    Both. Individual sentences on screen, bigger issues like plot and characterization in text.
     
  6. nastyjman

    nastyjman Senior Member

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    Same here... feels like there's something magical about paper. :D

    I think it's better on paper because it's tangible and immediate. Whereas on-screen, you have to scroll up and down, and your view is limited to a section.
     
  7. hiddennovelist

    hiddennovelist Contributor Contributor

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    Print, for the most part. I really dislike doing anything on screen. I know it's horrible for the environment, but I print everything...articles that I'm reading, stuff that I'm reviewing...I just can't concentrate when I try to do it on the computer.
     
  8. Zombie_Chinchilla

    Zombie_Chinchilla New Member

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    Since technically, I haven't gotten to the edit stage on any novel I've written (I'm a very new writer, lol), so I can't say for sure. But I can definitely see myself editing on-screen. I do a lot on my computer, considering I have my own personal laptop and a desktop computer to write on. I do a lot of different writing, planning, etc all on my computer.
     
  9. Cogito

    Cogito Former Mod, Retired Supporter Contributor

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    I mostly edit on the screen. It saves paper, and I don't have the extra step of transferring all the changes back to the digital copy. Still, I like to do at least one edit on paper, with lots of notes and corrections in red ink. I tend to pick up mistakes in print that I've overlooked on the screen, too, as if I'm seeing it through different eyes.
     
  10. Taylee91

    Taylee91 Carpe Diem Contributor

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    I do both as well. I find it easier to edit on paper though. I can physically scratch out my choice/usage of words etc.
     
  11. Agreen

    Agreen Faceless Man Contributor

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    This is pretty much identical to my editting process- the text looks different in print, and also I'm able to mark up a piece of paper in a way I can't with my monitor. Well, I guess I could but...
     
  12. micki

    micki New Member

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    I find editing on-screen a lot easier - I type in Times New Roman - then I change the font to Calibri or similar and find the typos etc more evident. It feels as if I am reading from a different perspective. So far it is working, I blush to think the typos I do find. The most irritating the..... instead of they!
     
  13. Melzaar the Almighty

    Melzaar the Almighty Contributor Contributor

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    I can't afford the paper and ink to do that. :(

    Once every year or so I do a mass print-out of everything for my paper archives of my stories (at home home, wasting my dad's printer ink :p), and that involves some reading through that might have me running off to change stuff. But I'm so used to using a computer for 90% of the process I can edit pretty well on-screen anyway. If I need to re-write something I'll go back to my normal process of either a notepad for whole scenes or on-screen for fiddly editing.
     
  14. Banzai

    Banzai One-time Mod, but on the road to recovery Contributor

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    I prefer to edit on paper. I find it more difficult, for some reason, to spot errors on a screen.
     
  15. nastyjman

    nastyjman Senior Member

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    (Should have added "both" option)

    Yeah, I was wondering since I'm planning to submit a short story. I printed out my final draft, confident that it had minimal errors -- boy was I wrong. The grammar is fine, but the pacing was terrible. One thing I noticed with paper editing is that the error stays there, mocking you with its ugly face -- it makes slip-ups more personal.
     
  16. mammamaia

    mammamaia nit-picker-in-chief Contributor

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    you should have included 'both'!

    i do both and advise new writers to do so, since you will catch things on the page that you keep missing on the screen... and it's also a good idea to read what you write the way agents/editors will...

    with anything longer than a poem, i'll usually do two printouts... for the first draft, to catch goofs and glitches and stuff that needs adding/deleting/changing... then for the final draft, to make sure it's as polished and perfect as i can get it...
     
  17. w176

    w176 Contributor Contributor

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    Both if I'm ambitious, otherwise just on screen. I find what i need to change on paper, and changes it on screen.

    And I change font every step when i do it when I do it to give a slight mental boost to the "seeing it with diffrent eyes"-mindset.
     
  18. ChickenFreak

    ChickenFreak Contributor Contributor

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    Almost all of my editing is onscreen. For long pieces, I will print the whole thing when it's near done because I can spread out the pages and see more of the document at the same time than I can with a screen. And I do seem to catch just a few final errors when I'm looking at the paper, probably just because it looks different.
     
  19. Cardboard Tube Knight

    Cardboard Tube Knight New Member

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    The first go has been all on screen, but since the overall thing will be getting shorter, I think it will be easier to do now.
     
  20. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

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    I edit mostly on paper. That way, I can read it over and mark it up in the comfort of my easy chair, which is where I do most of my reading, anyway. Reading at my desk feels stiff and formal and uncomfortable. I like doing markups in ink, anyway - the manuscript looks great afterwards, like a piece of modern art. It's fun! Also, knowing that I have to copy the edits into the computer, forcing me to do another pass, allows me to edit more freely.
     
  21. Eunoia

    Eunoia Contributor Contributor

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    Same.

    But because printing costs money (and I'm a poor student :p), I only edit writing for uni on paper, and edit the rest of my writing on screen. Although, I tend to have two documents open side by side - one the original and then the other is me typing out a new edited version.
     

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