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Why don't all authors read their work?
Thu, 09/25/2008 - 14:33 — Jonathan_Avery
I constantly see people messing up names about who is talking or reversing their pronouns so that Harry becomes a she in one sentence. I see sentences repeated, and have even seen whole paragraphs repeated.
I regularly see beta notes and editing notes left in a final chapter. I see continuity problems all over the board. These are prevalent problems even in the most popular fanfiction out there. I also see those non-sensical sentences that just make you scratch your head. For example, last night I ran across this sentence:
The magical communities of Britain, being the blind sheep that they are (And I don’t mean that in a good way), believed this without question.
Beyond the inconsistent tense in the sentence, the inserted author comment in the 1st person, and the horrible phrasing, I can only wonder at the thought process of this person to even believe that being a blind sheep can be a good thing. Which leaves me with the question, did the author even read what he/she wrote?
It is an interesting question. The more fanfic I read the more I have come to the conclusion that most authors do not actually read their own work. I know, it sounds ridiculous. They wrote it, how can they not have read it?
My belief is that most authors write in a stream of consciousness state or that once a scene is written it is finished and they don't go back and check it as they continue to write. So, if they take a day off or a week off from their story and go back, they have forgotten what they have written or assume that they have already edited it. Which leads to problems that are very easy to fix.
When I write, I often go back and reread what I have written. Before I start to write a scene I need to go back and read the flow up to that scene to make sure I understand the rhythm that has developed in the prose. It also allows me to double check on character and phrases. I constantly find sentences that are vague or difficult to understand that made perfect sense to me when I wrote them. I also use this time to edit and check my work, which means that by the time my beta team sees it, I have already edited it several times myself.
Rereading counteracts a problem we all have. Our brains move much faster than our fingers can ever type. I am usually at least a few words ahead of what I am writing on the page, and, occasionally, I accidentally slip in a phrase that should have gone to the next sentence. I don't always catch these as I am writing, but once the section has been written, I go back and read it and catch the mistakes.
So in conclusion, read your own fiction before you post it. You'll be surprised at what you might catch.
P.S. Reading your own fiction does not negate the need for a beta.
-Jonathan
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Comments
Mind-boggling
Mostly, all I can do is agree. I can't imagine not reading and editing something I'd written, but I know that not everyone does it.
I can, however, add a frightening anecdote. There was once a story submitted to SIYE. It was rejected for plenty of reasons, and it was deleted from the validation queue. The author, very upset, contacted one of the archivists about the rejection and deletion. As it turns out, the author had composed the story directly into SIYE's submission window, and when s/he was finished writing it, s/he hit submit. The author never saved a copy of the story for themselves, never proofread it, or anything else. So when the archivists deleted it from the queue, it was gone.
I shiver at the thought.
Reading what you've written
is certainly necessary, but I'd say that reading it aloud if at all possible, is just as important. Hearing the words usually makes it possible to not only catch awkward sentence constructions and poorly placed or chosen words, but it also allows you to better hear the rhythm and flow of your story. I think that is particularly important in writing dialog and interaction between characters. It can also affect punctuation or how you split up or combine sentences.
I also think that when rereading what you've written, it's a good idea to read it a couple of times but then take a bit of break from it before reading again. I've found that useful to avoid the "read it so many times that it's blurring" syndrome.
Amen to that
Before I managed to smash the display, my PDA provided an antidote to this. Since I was entering text using the on-screen keyboard, I had to slow down to an appropriate pace. This had the natural consequence of making me think and consider each word: when it's that much more effort, you don't want to waste it. Even taking into account the predictive text feature, I found myself making fewer spelling errors than ever I do with a conventional keyboard. The contrast between this laborious system, and my current interim solution is marked: I scribble stuff out longhand in odd moments by the kettle or wherever and then type it up later, and the error rate in both instances is terrifying ;-)
Reading aloud is a good
Reading aloud is a good idea. I do that when I am editing people's works. I also do it for the dialogue I have in my story, however, I should do it for all the prose.
- A good novel is an indivisible sum; every scene, sequence and passage of a good novel has to involve, contribute to and advance all three of its major attributes: theme, plot, characterization.
Ayn Rand - The Romantic Manifesto p. 74 (pb 93)
Oh yes!
I totally understand what you mean. That sentence is really rather unbelievable actually. Also, I hate author notes in a story, put them at the beginning or end but really, don't break my 4th wall please!
I recently read a story where the author renamed a main character. This is always a risky thing to do in my opinion. They still narrated the character's thoughts and dialogue with the original name which got confusing and then they kept slipping up in the dialogue and having characters call the character by the original name and not the new one, even though they weren't supposed to, so you were confused as to who knew the character's identity and who didn't. Though there was a worse one where the author had another story that they had renamed Harry to James and kept messing up and referring to James in the story I was reading where he was still named Harry. I got...vastly confused for a bit since James is supposed to be dead!
Also, why would you have characters speak a language other than English if you don't know that language at all? Perhaps I'm being too uptight, but if you want your character to speak French, do NOT rely on online translators...pretty pretty please, it's paaaainful.
I keep seeing such...well, lazy writing lately; things that aren't hard to catch, but people just don't bother to check. I do my best to point out glaring mistakes and inconsistencies, but it would often require me to break out my track changes toolbar.
'Also, why would you have
'Also, why would you have characters speak a language other than English if you don't know that language at all? Perhaps I'm being too uptight, but if you want your character to speak French, do NOT rely on online translators...pretty pretty please, it's paaaainful.'
And often funny to those that do speak the language. I do use French and Welsh the former more than the latter, but I do have access to people form whom it is a first language. The easy way to do French is to use their speech marks thus :
«Harry, so good of you to pay us a visit once more.» The woman gave Harry the customary kisses on his cheeks before stepping back to inspect him.
«I must say that Quidditch agrees with you, Harry, you have filled out wonderfully.»
She turned towards Ginny and smiled warmly.
« And this delightful young lady must be the charming Miss Weasley. Are you sure that you don't want a double rather than two singles?»
« No, Sylvie, two singles will be fine. I don't think her dad would forgive me if I took advantage of her like that.»
« If you say so.»
Ginny tapped her foot impatiently as the conversation proceeded without her involvement.
"Erm, when you two have finished promoting the Entente Cordiale, some of us are feeling a bit left out."
They both had the good grace to look suitably abashed and apologised profusely before Sylvie led her inside, leaving Harry to bring in their bags.
Friday's XKCD
This made me think of Friday's XKCD comic.
http://xkcd.com/481/
'This made me think of
'This made me think of Friday's XKCD comic.'
Please can someone write this code? ;p
It would greatly benefit
It would greatly benefit mankind...
To answer the original question . . .
. . . because that requires *work*.