Re: Reading a draft "for content only"

[Herman Holtz <holtz -at- CLARK -dot- NET>]

On Thu, 9 Feb 1995, Marguerite Krupp wrote:

> OK, Folks, here's my contribution. Whenever possible, I have another
> writer look it over for the silly typo-stuff that I'm too close to see. A
> friendly pair of eyes can catch such things before they damage your
> credibility with reviewers. ("If she doesn't know her own business, how
> can I trust her with my baby?") And I offer to return the favor. If
> you're the only writer in the group, find a friendly person who knows
> something about writing.

I go back to a time well before the pc (I was tech writing in the
fifties), so I compare the pc keyboard with the typewriter keyboard. I
get most of my proofing and self-editing done by beginning each day's
work with a careful review and editing of everything in the file to date.
(That is most commonly whatever chapter I am working on.) Thus, most of
writing gets repeated going over, with repeated computer spell-checks.

I would be uneasy to rely on anyone else to reveiw my copy. Too often, I
have gotten a manuscript back from the publisher's contract editor (more
and more, they are contract editors) with unacceptable changes and
shocking grammatical innovations. (Why can't they learn to move "only"
close to the word it modifies, for example?)



                                 * * *
Herman Holtz [holtz -at- clark -dot- net]: Marketing Consultant/Proposal Specialist,
Writing & Ghost Writing Services, 35 years experience. Author of 60+
professional/business books, including best-selling How to Succeed as an
Independent Consultant (Wiley). PO Box 1731, Wheaton, MD 20915. Tel:
301-649-2499. Fax: 301-649-5745.