Quality Control
Nov. 20th, 2015 05:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rynlingThis week, as I've been finishing up the Zelda/Ganondorf novel, I've also been going through all the fic I've posted during the past twelve months (since November 2014) and line-editing it. The process itself is unpleasant, and it's even more unpleasant to be confronted with all of my typos and inconsistencies.
The older stuff (written before May 2015) has one typo for every 500 words. The newer stuff is much cleaner, but also much longer.
Also, because I have a constant powerful hunger for Bowser/Peach, and because most other people write that pairing as either insipid fluff or violent rape, I ended up re-reading my own stories. I've been editing them on and off for years, but I was still in line-editing mode and caught a few typos. How embarrassing.
The most frustrating part of all of this is that I'm not careless. I generally work on a story for at least a week, and I always let it sit for a day or two before I post it. I constantly edit a story as I'm working on it, and by the time I post anything it's already gone through several readings and revisions. So how are there still typos?
It may be that I'm mildly dyslexic, but I think it's more likely the case that I read and write so much both for work and for pleasure that I'm no longer acutely attuned to every single word I encounter or produce. It's like breathing – unless something really smells, I'm probably not going to notice a tiny bit of pollution in the air.
These typos may also be a result of my tendency to make stylistic and plot-related edits during what should be the final proofing, meaning that I don't always re-read the last batch of edits. There's nothing to be done about this save to hold off on posting something for a few more days, but by the time I'm on the last stage of proofreading I'm usually so sick of something that I just want it out of my hands.
The obvious solution would be to find a beta reader. I've given it serious thought, and in fact I've been courting (for want of a better word) someone on Tumblr because I admire her work and think it would be cool to become friends with her. We're now mutuals, which is nice, but I still don't feel comfortable asking her to beta for me. Even if I did, I probably wouldn't, because I'm not overly committed to "fandom" as a way of spending my time. Who knows, it's entirely possible that I'll change my mind, but that will either take time or a major catalyst.
In the meantime, I need to figure out a better solution for quality control.
The older stuff (written before May 2015) has one typo for every 500 words. The newer stuff is much cleaner, but also much longer.
Also, because I have a constant powerful hunger for Bowser/Peach, and because most other people write that pairing as either insipid fluff or violent rape, I ended up re-reading my own stories. I've been editing them on and off for years, but I was still in line-editing mode and caught a few typos. How embarrassing.
The most frustrating part of all of this is that I'm not careless. I generally work on a story for at least a week, and I always let it sit for a day or two before I post it. I constantly edit a story as I'm working on it, and by the time I post anything it's already gone through several readings and revisions. So how are there still typos?
It may be that I'm mildly dyslexic, but I think it's more likely the case that I read and write so much both for work and for pleasure that I'm no longer acutely attuned to every single word I encounter or produce. It's like breathing – unless something really smells, I'm probably not going to notice a tiny bit of pollution in the air.
These typos may also be a result of my tendency to make stylistic and plot-related edits during what should be the final proofing, meaning that I don't always re-read the last batch of edits. There's nothing to be done about this save to hold off on posting something for a few more days, but by the time I'm on the last stage of proofreading I'm usually so sick of something that I just want it out of my hands.
The obvious solution would be to find a beta reader. I've given it serious thought, and in fact I've been courting (for want of a better word) someone on Tumblr because I admire her work and think it would be cool to become friends with her. We're now mutuals, which is nice, but I still don't feel comfortable asking her to beta for me. Even if I did, I probably wouldn't, because I'm not overly committed to "fandom" as a way of spending my time. Who knows, it's entirely possible that I'll change my mind, but that will either take time or a major catalyst.
In the meantime, I need to figure out a better solution for quality control.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 12:02 pm (UTC)Regarding betas, it depends on the writer's end-game, I think. A while back I decided not to use betas. I'd worked closely with a very good editor for several years and after we parted ways I found it challenging to go solo again. I recognized I have a tendency to become reliant on that type of collaboration and wanted to be more autonomous and personally calibrate my internal shit-detectors rather than using someone else's. Though I am reaching a point now where I suspect I would mightily from a... shall we say, firm and loving hand.
no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 09:17 pm (UTC)Seriously though, I was planning this extended rant about bad editors, but I think it's probably better to just say that I agree with you that a good editor is worth her weight in gold.
Also I had a dream last night in which I shot one of my current editors in the face. I mean, I love her, but sometimes I just want to... shoot her in the face.
For what it's worth, you're one of the best stylists I've encountered, like Catherynn Valente or Marilynne Robinson, except not so pretentious. So maybe Sarah Monette around the time she wrote the stories in Somewhere Beneath Those Waves? What I mean to say here is that if I've ever seen a typo in your work I've been too distracted to notice it.