Okay, so I used to go through my manuscripts over and over (okay, I still do that!), and then finally when I thought I had it, I'd print it. The hard copy was the last version I went over to find all the little things I just couldn't see on the screen.
I mean, I couldn't print my 350-page novel every other day, you know?
But now, I find that I'm not printing anymore. The goal was always to see the manuscript in a different way.
I'm using my Kindle. I can email any document (PDF or simply a Word doc) to my Kindle email address and ba-bam! It shows up, ready to read. I can change the font, the size, the background color. And I can see it in a different medium -- anywhere!
Not only that, but I recently discovered that I can HIGHLIGHT things in the text. I used to keep a notebook with me as I read my manuscripts on the Kindle. I'd take notes on what needed to change/be fixed in each chapter.
Now I can highlight those things -- and it's easy to find those notes, because Kindle keeps them in a list for me!
It's a match made in heaven. Not only that, but I can email myself a new version of my book every day if I want! I even sent myself my launch day speech. No more printing for me!
Have you used an e-reader to actually edit before? Did you know you can highlight the things you need to fix in the manuscript?? I mean, seriously!
I've never done that. I'll have to figure out how to do that with my Nook the next time I want to see a print version of my manuscript. Thanks for the suggestion.
ReplyDeleteI haven't used an e-reader. I'm currently editing/revising my WiP on screen in Word, and I will highlight and use the 'comments' feature as well. When I'm particularly stuck, I like to print out the offending section or chapter. I find 'changing things up' is helpful, plus I like the physical act of scribbling on the page.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've been revising this way for about 2 1/2 years now. I stopped printing stuff because I was buying too much ink before, and then I discovered my Kindle and i never went back. Now I do all of this on my iPad, which I like even better than my Kindle. It helps that my publisher sends digital passes, as well.
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ReplyDeleteI haven't tried that on the Kindle. I have printed my novels by removing double spacing and reducing font size ( a little less paper!) Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a Kindle or iPad so it's hard for me to imagine how a screen is a different enough medium. BUT this gives me another excuse to buy an iPad and try it out for myself because I don't even own a printer!! :) Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteI've used my iPad to edit before although I still prefer to print out the pages.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea. Now I just need to get a kindle!
ReplyDeleteYES!
ReplyDeleteIn fact, when I first got my Kindle, the FIRST thing I looked up how to do was send a document to it, NOT how to buy a book on it, lol!
I've been using my old Kindle 2 for editing for some time now, but now my husband has a Kindle Fire, and the pages I send him look even better on his Kindle than mine. I am beginning to feel some Kindle envy.
I've used it a little bit for editing, but you've reminded me of how many wonderful features it has. I need to start using it for something other than reading, again! :)
ReplyDeleteThat sounds too good to be true! I don't have a Kindle yet, though, so I'll take your word for it. Looking forward to someday doing paperless editing!
ReplyDeleteI did it a few months back and was shocked how well it worked! As an added bonus it looks like a 'real' book :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I have a basic kindle, but it would totally work and still give my eyeballs a break from the computer screen.
ReplyDeleteOn my old Kindle I could also turn on TEXT TO SPEECH and listen to the story read aloud while I drove to work. It was a robotic voice, but even so, listening to it out loud added a totally different dimension. I have not figured out how to do that on the Kindle Fire or on the Kindle app on my iPad.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've been doing that for a while. Printing an entire manuscript seems such a waste. But most importantly, reading on a Kindle shows me exactly how it will look for real to readers so if I need to shorten paragraphs I know to do that. And it feels like a real book where 300 printed pages doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI haven't used the highlight feature yet, but I should try it out! Thanks for the reminder.
I like to use scrivener to compile it into a .mobi file, then transfer to either my kindle fire or kindle keyboard. The plus side about my kindle keyboard is it has txt to speech and I can sit and listen to my own book.
ReplyDeleteJust today I was thinking that I would do that for my last draft! I think it would be very helpful for re-seeing the book and, yes, cheaper than printing the whole thing out again.
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