Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Who reads your manuscript?

Do you edit and read your own work?

The problem with trying to edit your own work is, that you know what you meant to say, but is it what you said? Did you get your point across effectively to the reader?

As the writer, you may be too close to the writing to be totally objective.

Having someone you trust to tell you what you need to hear from the readers POV and not what you want to hear is the key to work that may be what the reader will get.

Unless you are writing for yourself and have no desire being published than don’t worry about editing or having a trusted source tell you what you need to hear to have the reader get what you are trying to say.

If your desire is to be published and have the public read your book, than a writing buddy, or some other trusted source to tell you with honesty what works and what doesn’t in your manuscript will make your writing better and the story more readable.

My wife is my reader and tells me what she sees that doesn’t work, or isn’t clear to her. If I haven’t made myself clear to my life partner, how clear can I be to a reader that doesn’t know me that I plan on entertaining, inspiring, or trying to change their life while they are reading what I wrote?

As an avid reader for more years than I care to admit, I find books with typos, wrong word choice, lack of consistency in terms, and other blatant errors as a reader is a turn off. I only read these books for review and not for pleasure. Reading for pleasure should be enjoyable and not a chore as some authors.

Authors should submit their best work while always striving to make their latest piece better than the preceding one.

The opinions expressed are those of freelance writer, Robert Medak.

Robert Medak

Writer, Blogger, Editor, Marketer, Poet, Proofreader, Researcher, and Reviewer.

Robert J Medak Writing & More

http://stormywriter.com

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4 comments:

  1. I count on an editor to help me clarify and close loopholes ... check out the folks at Blood Red Pencil.

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  2. Very good advice, Bob. I edit myself to the extent that I objectively can, then pass it off to beta-readers and finally, an editor. We all need fresh eyeballs!

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  3. Great advice, Bob. We really can't see our own work as fresh and do need those extra eyes.

    Karen Cioffi Writing and Marketing

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