Trick from the Editor’s Hat: Use Paper or an Ebook Reader

You spend hours/days/weeks editing and you're struggling to get through it. Here is just one of the many tricks that I employ when editing both my own and clients' writing.

Use Paper or an eBook Reader

I never do all my editing directly on the computer. The back-lit screen is too much on my eyes. The smooth reflective surface will catch the overhead lighting, adding to the eye strain. This is why I don't use a tablet for editing either. They too are back-lit and reflective. No, when I can, when the size of a document permits me, I will print out the manuscript and pull out my trusty red pen, writing all over that printed document. In those instances where the manuscript is too large, say 100k words, then out comes my Kindle and I'll read the document on that, adding comments and notes to the file as I go. (Yes, you can do that on a Kindle.)

Here's the deal. When editing on good old-fashioned paper, our tactile sensations kick in and we see things differently. Don't ask my why, I'm not a psychologist. All I know is that's the way our minds work. Not only that, the illumination of a computer screen does add to eye strain; this is not good when you need to spend hours reading and editing.

eInk technology, the technology employed in the screens of traditional eBook readers, such as Kindle and Kobo, was developed with eye strain in mind, reducing glare and lighting, emulating the paper effect on eyes as closely as possible. While reading from an eBook, you won't engage the tactile sensations as you would with editing on paper, but you can still read/edit for longer hours then if you did all your editing on the computer.

Copyright © 2019 Judy L Mohr. All rights reserved.

This article first appeared on blackwolfeditorial.com

Posted in Tricks from the Editor's Hat, Writing and Editing and tagged , , , .

2 Comments

  1. You’re right, there is something different about editing on paper. But it’s expensive and not always practical. For my own work, I tend to reserve it for the very last edit or proof-read.

    Like you, I also transfer my work to an e-reader for review.

    I have some tips for editing on-screen, which may be of interest.

    In Microsoft Word, I make extensive use of Immersive View. (This is fairly new feature which might not be available in all versions of Word. if available, you will find it in the View ribbon.) Immersive View cuts out a lot of the user interface clutter, so there are fewer distractions. It also allows you to specify a background color, and I use black (the type will automatically be displayed as white in this case) I find this helps to reduce eye strain. That’s because of the way color is produced.

    On a printed page, you would never (I hope!) print lengthy sections of white text on a black background. That’s because, on a printed page (or other surfaces), color is generated using what’s called the “subtractive” model: that is, the more ink you add, the closer you get to black (with true black being the sum off all the primary colors, which in this model are cyan, magenta and yellow). Whereas white is the absence of any color. In other words, on the printed page, a black background assaults your eyes with the maximum possible amount of color information, which is a major contributor to eye strain.

    But on a computer screen, the exact opposite is true. Here, color is generated using the “additive” model: the more color you add, the closer you get to white. True white is the sum of all the primary colors (which in this case are red, green and blue), while black is the absence of color (or light). In other words, on screen, a black background produces no light and is thus kind on your eyes. On screen, it’s a white background that hits your eyes with all that light.

    The remaining tips may be helpful when editing one’s own work.

    When editing my own work, I will also use Word’s Read and Draft modes (in addition to the Immersive View described above). I have configured Draft mode to use a font called My Underwood, which makes the text look like it was typed on one of those old-fashioned typewriters. I find that reading in different views helps me identify mistakes, especially omitted words (my worst habit as a writer).

    My theory on why this works: the functions of composing words/sentences, reading and typing/writing are controlled by different parts of the brain. For whatever reason, when you read back something you just typed, your brain expects to find the words it just composed. That is, you tend to read what the composition part of your brain thinks should be there, instead of what’s actually there.

    However, if you change the physical appearance of the text (and especially the text flow), by switching to a different view in Word, this seems to force your brain to read what’s actually typed, instead of what it thinks should be there.

    Whether or not that explanation makes sense, I am better at finding errors (in my own work) when I read and edit using multiple views.

    And finally, two more tricks to proof-reading one’s own work.

    One is to use a program (such as Word) to read the text aloud. Yes, it’s robotic and strange, but it can certainly help identify certain types of mistake (such as missing words).

    The other is to wait as long as possible between writing and reading/editing. For me, overnight is the minimum, but the longer, the better. In this case, your brain simply forgets much of the detail (even if you remember the words accurately, over time you will forget the way they appeared on the page), which forces it to read what’s actually been written.

    Apologies for the long comment, and I hope at least some of it was useful!

    • Thank you for that quite extensive explanation. I believe most of these have been discussed in some of my other posts, but it is always good to have a reminder.

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