May 27. 2024
How do you turn off your internal editor when you are reading for enjoyment?
Every author knows how hard it is to spot the mistakes in a first draft—or a final one.
And how easy it is to spot mistakes in the books you are reading. It’s a hard habit to break, looking for those misplaced commas and typos. I’ve stopped trying. Instead, I use them as a moment to hug myself and say, “See, it happens to other people, too.” (Especially in the case of big-name and best-selling authors.) With that, I can move along and not let it interfere with the pleasure of reading.
Now, that’s for minor mistakes. Like we talked about last week, many errors create a different scenario. I can’t overcome those and will stop reading.
It’s not just reading.
My internal editor is finely tuned to pick up missteps in other forms of communication. My ears pick up on bad grammar in TV shows and commercials. (If I happen to walk by the TV when my husband is watching.) Even you-tube videos can be a target. Of course, those can be research for dialogue in my writing.
So, I don’t think my internal editor ever turns off. I even edit my dreams. (You know, getting half-awake, going back to sleep, and dreaming the same dream but making it change.)
How do other authors do it? Find out by following the links below to more posts. Not seeing any? Check back. Most of them show up on Monday.
FYI, next weekend (June 1&2) I’ll be selling books at the 3 Rivers ComicCon in Pittsburgh PA. If you’re in the area, come by and say hi! As always, until we get together again (in person or on-line), please stay safe.
May 27. 2024
How do you turn off your internal editor when you are reading for enjoyment?
Ha! I feel you on hearing all the mis-steps. I’ve learned to stop pointing them out to others, at least. It gets annoying! Best of luck at your event! @samanthabwriter from
Balancing Act
I know I’m not perfect, so I really shouldn’t pick on other people.
I wince at the standard of spoken English in news media, things I used to get shouted at for saying in lessons are now commonplace. Good luck with the event.
Language changes all the time. Keeping up with it is a pain.
At school, saying Haitch instead of Aitch for the incriminating eighth letters would have been punished by pitiless humiliation. Never did,
because my family didn’t.
Now, Aitch just seems to mean you’re an Oldie.
Different to, instead of from meant at least a verbal rap on the knuckles.
Why did they care so much ?
but as for first drafts… Just completed a long and brutal rewrite of my ghost story, hopefully, far better now. .
dangeroys eighth letter was a crime i’d
Spoken language is a living, growing and changing being.