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Sunday, January 17, 2021

Thoughts on revision



18 comments:

  1. The advantages of a typewriter and word processing software. Each have a place. Will you be posting the final edition?

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    1. We’ll see. If I think it’s strong enough, I may run it by my agent and see if it might have commercial potential. Or I could self-publish it with Loose Dog Press.

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    2. Indeed, it has a great potential, so much that I'd love to translate it to Spanish! :D

      I also would like to self-publish my book with Loose Dog Press. :D

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    3. It seems word processing software in English-speaking countries has enough power to indicate what to cut off from a text. That's great. Word processing software in Spanish-speaking countries confuse grammar errors between each other! :P

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    4. Oh no, I wouldn't trust the software to tell me what to cut—that is my judgment. But the computer helps me look for useless phrases (for instance, "I saw X happen" instead of "X happened," or "I found myself doing X" instead of "I did X"). (I also hate the grammar-check function, and never use it!)

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  2. Found this post to be very interesting. Thanks for a peek at the recipe!

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  3. Great insights as I begin to start on my own writing journey. We will have to set up a typing contest between the Selten Evertype and the Triton TII Portable. I am sure I know which will win!

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  4. I know that feeling, as I slog through my November novel here for the fifth or sixth time. Why don't you scan your typescript to OCR? Maybe too late to suggest I know! Only after I printed and bound my own book was I able to catch all the typos, and not until several goings over at that.

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    1. I ran OCR on the PDFs, but the results had too many errors to be useful.

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  5. Everytipe? Interesting...
    It sounds better than "Appointment with the Inferno". ;)

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    1. "Appointment with the Inferno" may still be the title of Part 1. It's melodramatic, I know!

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  6. After typing notes with a typewriter I'm doing my first draft on a Hermes Ambassador. After that I plan to rewrite it into word. I'm somehow afraid of how much work it will be.

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    1. It will be worthwhile work, and maybe enjoyable too.

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  7. Great insight, gotta fight the self-criticism everyday, ahahah!!

    On the nerd(ish) side of things, I love that double-red-line-margin of yours. Can you tell me something about it? What's it used for, can you still buy it? In Portugal we only have single-line margins.

    Cheers, thanks for keeping this blog alive and kicking.

    Bruno Pires (Portugal)

    PS: On a double-nerdish side, I leave an article I just published about a photography road-trip I did in 2019 in my country. Wrote it on a Skyriter I found for 30€ and it was an AMAZING feeling, writing without digital interference. And the story has something else about typewriters, but I won't spoil the fun, ahahah!! Here it is, hope you don't mind: https://emulsive.org/articles/photoset-story/getting-a-6x6-kick-on-portugals-route-66-with-a-rolleicord-yashica-and-hasselblad-500c

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    1. The paper with the double red line is vintage stuff with a somewhat slick, erasable surface. You'd have to search on eBay.

      Thanks for the link — great report and photos. Yes, typewriters do one thing only, and that is so valuable.

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  8. Good OCR of typed text is usually faultless. I use this all the time https://www.onlineocr.net/
    Good luck with the novel.

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  9. I agree with your critique. My main issue while reading was "chunkiness" and I think your own criticisms of yourself are all things which will help reduce chunkiness. You seem to be a very aware and objective self-editor, that's a great skill to have.

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