Do you ever get the feeling that you're typing the cracks? These "cracks" seem to get us when we're writing drafts. That's why we need to edit and edit until we're thoroughly tired of our work.
I find these "cracks" between chores are the best time to edit. Our minds aren't focused on the topic as much as finding goofs. Therefor it's easier to spot mistakes.
Beta readers are also a big help. I once assisted a woman in correcting a huge boo-boo in her book by listening to my computer read it aloud. She wrote "a women" instead of "a woman." Her spell checker missed the mistake but I heard it loud and clear. Like a wrong note in a tune, it sounded jarring to me.One book which never needs editing is the Bible. Other so-called holy books are riddled with mistakes but not the Holy Scriptures.
I don't know if all those whom God used to write the scriptures were writing between work and other obligations. Even so, divine books in the Bible were compiled under the guidance of the Spirit.
Even the writers knew that they were writing sacred words from the Lord. Check out what Peter wrote in 2 Peter 3:15 and 16 (Bible in Basic English). "And be certain that the long waiting of the Lord is for salvation; even as our brother Paul has said in his letters to you, from the wisdom which was given to him; And as he said in all his letters, which had to do with these things; in which are some hard sayings, so that, like the WREST of the holy Writings, they are twisted by those who are uncertain and without knowledge, to the destruction of their souls."I capitalized the word "rest" because it shows that these men knew they were writing under the power of the holy Spirit. Therefore we can be assured that quoting those writings needs no correction.
Though we have no such scripture-writing privilege, we do write for our Master. We edify others and call the sinners to repentance. May our Lord use the work of our hands to free many from Satan's grip.
Great post Bruce. I do remember the Monkeys! You are on to something when it comes to listening for mistakes, too. I always find some when i turn the text to speech function on.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you use the text-to-speech function. Unlike our minds, it reads exactly what it finds. We tend to think everything sounds right until the program reads aloud what we've typed. This is why I find it more effective than reading it aloud.
DeleteI'm also glad you're one of the smart writers who uses text-to-speech or lets somebody read your work to you. We know what we're saying but others don't. So when they read our work verbatim, the mistakes stand out.
DeleteI always edit by reading aloud. Not only do I catch mistakes, I can hear if something sounds awkward and needs to be reworded.
ReplyDeleteTrue but we still can read something aloud without realizing that we've misused a word or have learned to gloss over some grammatical error. That's why I love Narrator or my screen reader. It pronounces everything to a set of rules and it lacks the self-consciousness to excuse errors.
DeleteAh, the Monkees. Love the musical analogy - both the written word and the musical score have a cadence all their own. No wonder we catch mistakes when we allow our physical ears to hear as well as our internal ears.
ReplyDeleteSo true about music and language. It has such a strong link with language. It's why children love making up their own songs.
DeleteMusic and language--how true that they go together. Learning a song is one of the best ways of remembering it. I read scripture passages that have been set to music, and I remember the song so well.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, in speaking the words we write, our ears do catch what our eyes don't pick up!! Thanks for this blog!!