by Gayle Bartos-Pool
Editing is a major endeavor for any writer. Even if you hire it done or your publisher actually provides one, you need to go over your work a few times to make sure the story you thought you were telling made it to the page.
Before I published my first novel, I hired a professional editor. Back then, most publishers were dropping their editors at an alarming rate because they thought the writer would do a good enough job and the cost of an editor on staff was too much for the publisher, so they were let go.
The editor I hired had worked at a large publishing firm. She’s the one who told me about all the layoffs. I paid a tidy sum and expected her work to be good, if not excellent. I got back my manuscript and happened to ask my sister-in-law who worked as an editor on a large newspaper in Orange County California if she would mind going over the pages. She said yes, did the job, and found numerous errors the overrated editor hadn’t found. I paid my sister-in-law $50 just to be nice. I had paid the “professional” $1800.00. This was back in 1996, even though it took eight years before I got that book into print.
I did my own editing after that. I know there were errors in my subsequent books, but like I say: Only God is perfect.
Recently, I happened to pick up one of my spy novels and decided to read it. I wanted to send a copy to someone whose book I had read and wanted to make sure the book wasn’t too full of errors. I did find a few mistakes during that quick read, but they might be overlooked if the reader didn’t pay too close attention to every comma.
I enjoyed reading my book after all these years and decided to read one of the other books in the spygame series, but this time I let my computer read it aloud to me. I was still watching the screen as it was reading my words, but that’s when I started seeing Spell Check underline a word or two…then it wanted me to add a comma here or delete another comma there or change a phrase or use a different word. I actually agreed with a few of those changes, but I was having a problem with the computer wanting me to add way more commas than we were told to do back in 9th grade English. I didn’t remember old Mrs. York telling us not to use a comma before a “but” in a sentence,,, but the new Spell Check didn’t want the comma.
There were some words that had an obvious typo, but I was surprised I hadn’t caught them myself, but then again, when we read our own work, we know what we were going to say and we “read” it even if it’s not there. That’s why in my newer books I do have the computer read my work back to me so I can hear what I wrote. Many times, I would find a typo that I hadn’t seen when I read through the first draft of the book in actual printed form. When I wrote my first few books which included the three spy novels, I didn’t have the luxury of that audio editor to help me.
So, flash forward several decades and all those computer tools have made the editing somewhat better. I still have errors in my books, but hopefully fewer.
But wait! Sometimes the computer program might be a stickler for “correct English” when you want your words to have more of a regional accent or colorful flair. I continued letting the new Spell Check go over those old words and I started finding things it wanted me to change like in the phrase “everything was socked in” referring to the weather, but AI came up with “shocked in.” Then there was my word “noose,” and it wanted “nose.” Or “chicken coop” was changed to “chicken cop.” “Sliver” to “silver.” “Antiaircraft flak” to “flake.”
“Houston, we have a problem…”
There were dozens more of these stupid mistakes the AI “genius” was making. They weren’t just possible words you might want to use which more or less meant the same thing. These were totally incorrect.
Fortunately, the AI Spell Checker wasn’t making these changes without my Okay like it does on my cell phone or Kindle Tablet, so I didn’t let it have free reign. And as I was making the changes I thought were correct, I still had the WORD program read back my words because hearing them still allowed me to make sure that’s what I wanted to say. I re-edited those three spy books and reissued them this year. Hopefully most of the mistakes were corrected…even with all the blasted commas.
So, be aware of the little goblins hiding in your computer. They might have less education than you do. In fact, I never saw an AI sitting in one of my English classes in high school or college. But I certainly discovered that these AI creatures aren’t writers, because a computer program has no imagination. If you don’t believe me, sit in front of your computer without touching the keypad and tell it to write a novel. Without the human element, human imagination or human touch, or without Internet access to hundreds, if not thousands, of books already written by humans, that conglomeration of motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD and HDD can create nothing. Try unplugging your computer with its AI capability and see what it can do by itself. I don’t need to be plugged in or have my batteries replaced in order to tell a story. And my stories are the ones I created, not by a machine that cobbles together bits and pieces of other work and then mashes it all together in an incoherent jumble.
A computer helps, but the human heart, brain and talent will always be better.
Write On!
Share this:
The Writers in Residence 
AARG! One of my pet peeves is how with each “upgrade” of my computer, the grammar checking seems to get worse. The oddest correction I can recall is changing my maiden name, Koplowitz, to Snowplough. I used to depend on Spell Check more, but with all the foreign words I’ve had to use in my manuscripts, I’ve learned to ignore it and rely on common sense.
LikeLiked by 3 people
So funny, Miko! At least you have an “authorized” alias if you ever want to use it. Perhaps to write a completely different type of book? Haha.
LikeLike
It has gotten worse. Maybe that will force us to do an even better job editing our work just to catch their stupid mistakes.
LikeLike
I love this, Gayle! You are always trying to make your writing better, and it definitely shows. It’s amazing that you reissued the Spy trilogy! I know about the AI thing trying to change words, EVEN IF they are in quotes. I do a daily Bible Study blog and often quote what the Bible says. I have a modern English version, but some words, especially spoken to or by God are quite beautiful as they are. I’m NOT going to replace them…especially in a direct quote!
This is so funny, “AI creatures aren’t writers, because a computer program has no imagination. If you don’t believe me, sit in front of your computer without touching the keypad and tell it to write a novel.” That is absolutely true!
Your quote, “ Try unplugging your computer with its AI capability and see what it can do by itself.” reminds me of people who say the world was created by accident. No, writing books and stories takes heart and brain and skill, just like you said.
Excellent article, Gayle.
(PS: Maybe explain to some of us oldies how you get your computer to read back your stories aloud.)
LikeLiked by 3 people
To utilize the Read Aloud feature on Windows 10, click on the “Review” button at the top of the WORD document page. That changes the ribbon at the top of the page. Next Go To the “Read Aloud” button, click on it. You will want to either highlight a section you want read or place the mouse at the beginning of the sentence and let it start reading. When you hit the “Read Aloud” link again, it will stop. Also, there will probably be an icon at the top of your page that looks like the capital letter A)) with a “sound” icon (a couple curved lines) next to it. Click on that and it will start reading.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Interesting and challenging post, Gayle. I’ve never attempted to use AI and I’m so untechie I think I’ll just let editors work with it. I do find it interesting these days, as a grammar nut, that things are always changing and so, though I know when things aren’t the way I learned grammar, I even make some of those changes myself. But maybe I should let AI figure them out and scold me!
LikeLike
I haven’t tried the Read Aloud feature, but I plan to try it once I finish my WIP. I usually do my own reading aloud, and I enjoy getting expressive and dramatic. It seems like regardless of how many times I read my work, and others do as well, there will always be a blasted typo. A reader emailed me about three typos in one of my novels. I saved the email and corrected the typos when I re-released my three novels last year. Speaking of re-releases, congrats on yours, Gayle!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really like the fact the Read Aloud feature reads what’s on the page, not what I thought I wrote. I’ll read back my stuff when I am writing it and do what you do, read it like a script. I even italicize words so hopefully the reader will give more emphasis to that particular word or phrase. But all we can do is our best.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is fascinating, Gayle. I haven’t even delved into the AI world – but I will try the Read Aloud program. It’s amazing how many typos we can miss.
I still get so frustrated with the auto correct program (or whatever it is) that keeps adding commas and hyphens and ‘suggesting’ a rewrite of my sentences and keeps inserting new spellings of names. Urgh!
That’s why I like to write the first draft on a yellow pad, with a pencil. At least I have a record of what I intended to write – until the computer decided to rewrite it! Great post, Gayle.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Using Read Aloud helps catch a lot of errors I miss. Because it doesn’t dramatize the reading, It also catches overused words as well as unwanted rhythms in phrasing, like sing-song passages.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have reread paragraphs where I used the same word three times. That’s why that Read Aloud feature works great. We can hear what we didn’t see.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great post, GB, and so right-on. I get really annoyed with Autocorrect on my phone because it changes many words into something totally different, and totally wrong. I do love Read Aloud and added that button to my Quick Access toolbar in Word so I don’t have to search for it–and it does help me see glaring errors in my work.
It’s a challenge to find a good editor! I, too, hired a high-priced editor for one of my novels, and not only did she miss some errors, but she also added a few of her own when she changed things. For Turn Back the Clocks, however, I found a terrific proofreader here in Boise, and she did an amazing job. So they do exist–it’s finding them that poses a challenge.
LikeLike