Do you print out your novel drafts?

[giaaddison]

At double lined spaced and font 10 - draft one is 200 pages.

How do you edit/re write your drafts?

[Bufty]

Print it out if you want to. If it's only for editing use both sides of the paper.

I edit on screen, but if I feel like it I'll print a section off and work on it in the conservatory or by the fire - do whatever turns you on.

You will be around the 50,000-word mark, maybe less. Or are you talking of Novel 2 - 22, 700 words. That's not a novel.

[donroc]

Always. I catch more errors on paper than on the screen.

[callalily61]

I always edit longhand. I print it out at 11 pt, with 1.5 line spacing and .5 margins. But I use single-side printing, because a) I don't have access to a dual-side printer, and b) when I rewrite, I often go onto the back of the page.

Then, of course, when I key the edits, I usually edit some more. :)

[ClaudiaGray]

I print it out to read it through, like a book, and get a fuller sense of how it flows. Some editing I can do on-screen, but for getting a feel of the overall manuscript, print really is best for me.

[HeronW]

I should print it out but I hate wasting the paper. I try to edit by changing the font so that the whole looks different, reading aloud catches alot of flubbs too.

[ishtar'sgate]

At double lined spaced and font 10 - draft one is 200 pages.

How do you edit/re write your drafts?
I always print out my first draft, then edit/rewrite from that draft until it's such a mess I have to reprint it. When I get to that point I generally reprint a chapter at a time and do a bit more onscreen editing. I know, I know - all that paper! I usually have extra paper lying around though because when I print out articles I want I usually end up with pages I don't need. I set those aside and use the backs for my drafts. A final clean copy isn't made until I've done the small nitpicky final edits onscreen.
Linnea

[joyce]

I've tried doing my editing on the computer but seem to miss too much stuff. I hate wasting paper but if I print it out I find more stuff that should be fixed.

[DeleyanLee]

First draft edit format: 11 pt Times, 1.5 line spacing, 1" margins all around, double-sided. Fits in more words per page, gives me enough room to scribble my notes, looks totally different from submission format, and lets me catch all kinds of errors, etc.

Final draft edit format is for reading aloud purposes, so it's 12 pt Courier, 1.5 line spaced to give me note-jotting space.

I never edit on screen. I can't catch enough errors to make it worth it.

[tallus83]

Print it out a chapter at a time.

I also reuse my paper, as long as there is only the laser toner on the previous side.

Easier for me to catch errors, plus it messes up the display when you write on it and scratch stuff out. :-)

[Jersey Chick]

I'm actually in the process of editing on screen for the first time EVER. I'm making my changes and then printing out chapter by chapter. Then I'll sit with the full, red pen in hand, and make changes all over the paper copy. I use front and back for notes and rewrites, so I make the most of my paper waste.

It's easier for me to do hard copy editing - on the computer, I'm too easily distracted (like now - I should be working... what am I doing here? And do I have any e-mail? And Oh, I gotta check out so-and-so's blog...:))

[dawinsor]

I need to print my first draft out so I can do massive revisions, moving things, setting pages from different chapters side by side, stuff like that. I do line editing on screen, but find it impossible to do structural stuff there.

[Phaeal]

I print out a copy of each draft, chapter by chapter as written, and keep them in those convenient MS sized boxes Amazon sends me. I like to do readthroughs on paper, in coffee shops, but I actually do most editing, big and small, on screen.

I email every day's work to myself as an attachment, just in case my computer dies. Plus then I can access the work from any computer.

I figure I'll be glad to have those paper copies when the infrastructure collapses and computers run out of juice and gasp their last, sniffle. ;)

[Gillhoughly]

I print, but want to save on paper waste, so I recycle paper that's got a clean side.

I single-space, double-column, and shrink the margins to .3 from the edge.

Then I print 2 pages to a sheet. To make it readable I set the font at 14.

It landscape prints, shrinking a 100K work down to about 50 pages. I scribble where I like and if there's no room I'll edit on screen.

If I used a Courier font, I shift to Times New Roman. (BTW--changing fonts on a WIP when you're proofing is an amazing way to spot typos!)

Hard on the eyes? Not for me. With tweaking it's about the same size font I see in most magazines. The magazine format makes it look like a "preview" and problems tend to jump out loud and clear.

On the other hand, I've been doing this for about 18 years. I'm really good at self-editing and by now only need to rewrite 2-5% of my copy.

When I was new at it I had to rewrite 98% of my copy.

Practice-practice-practice switched things around!

[Storm Dream]

I like to get the ms as clean as I can onscreen, but I always print out a copy to go over at leisure and tear apart. It's just built into me; I was a tutor in college and always went over hard copies, and as an editorial assistant, copy editor, and whatever it is they have me doing now (Jill of all trades) we always print out articles to look at. I'm hardwired for it.

Hate the amount of paper it wastes, but I find an editing session goes much better for me if it's something I can look at and touch and rip apart with my bare hands (literally) if I feel the urge. =)

[Michael Davis]

I review my draft MS so many times, to print it out would consume the national forest. I'm not kidding when I say I review my stories 20 to 30 times. Each time, I find better ways to enhance the MS, the senses, the environment, character descriptions, more emotion, etc. However, once I've done all I can, I print out copies for two on my hit squad that review my stories. They refuse to read it in electronic form, and their inputs are too valuable for me not to comply with there preferences.

[Julie Worth]

I never print it out, but sometimes I get a bound copy from lulu. Mostly I edit directly onscreen. And often I use the "reading layout".

[mscelina]

yep. always. I do the first couple of edits on screen, then print out the ms (1.5 spaced, 13 NTR font, .5 margins) and red ink it.

and Bufty is right--200 double spaced pages does not constitute a novel. It is novella-length.

[Julie Worth]

and Bufty is right--200 double spaced pages does not constitute a novel. It is novella-length.

200 double spaced pages in TNR-10 would be around 70,000 words.

[underthecity]

After completing the first draft, I printed it one chapter at a time and revised on paper: on the couch, in the car, at work, everywhere I could. The text reads a lot differently this way.

Then I input the changes on the screen, heavily revising as I go. I'm STILL not finished generating that second draft! Each chapter takes approximately a week to revise (after the paper revisions have been inputted). More complex chapters, especially those with a lot of "problems" that need ironed out take two weeks or more.

Currently I'm about 40 pages away from the end. And recently I've tried doing something a little different. Although I might be revising chapter 51, I am printing out each previous chapter which I am further revising during my breaks at at my day job. This way, more work gets done to recently-revised material while in the evenings I'm stil making slow but steady forward progress. I hope to keep going backwards like this until I reach the very first chapter.

When this process is finished, I will in effect have created the Third Draft while still working on the Second Draft. When I go to revise again, revsions won't be as cumbersome and time consuming as they are right now.

allen

[Dave.C.Robinson]

Once I've got it written all the way through I use yWriter to get my structural edits because I can move my scenes around anywhere I want.

After that I print it double-spaced in 12pt Courier or TNR (usually courier), hole punch it and stick it in a binder for readability edits. I'm left handed so I do my notes on the back of the previous page.

Then back to the computer to put the fixes in-- as the paper stuff is more questions than answers.

[astonwest]

I print it a chapter at a time while I'm working the first draft. Then I go back and edit them by hand. As I'm inputting the edits, I edit on the screen until it's ready for a final run-through. Get it printed in full, and edit by hand.

Make those edits (both by hand and on the screen), and then get a few copies printed up for beta readers to run through.

Make all those edits, and then make one last pass-through on-screen.

[kzmiller]

Like many others here I do editing on screen, trying to smooth things out and when I think I'm happy I print out a copy and find out I must have been blind or asleep or something.

I find that editing on hard copy in a completely different location than my office is helpful. I have 'office brain' when I'm in the office and I need a different brain to discover those bad patches in a ms that are completely invisible to my office brain.

I often have changes on every page (sometimes nitpicky, sometimes major.) I keep a spiral bound notebook handy for notes and for writing new passages/scenes/chapters but anything short I just write in the margins or on the back of the appropriate page. Red ink is a must because it stands out so much better on a page.

Some writers use highlighters and use a different color for each element of story (narrative, action, dialogue) to see if they have big, uninterrupted chunkaroos. I haven't tried that yet. I might on the next project.

I don't suffer from eye strain yet so to save on paper I reduce my margins, reduce the font size, use TNR rather than Courier, and 1.5 spacing. Changing all that makes errors stand out better as well, for some reason.

Good luck!

[Mumut]

I've weaned myself off printing my work to edit it. I make lots of changes over time and don't like reading from much-scratched-over pages. Onthe other hand, I didn't like reading from screen. But by keeping at it I've probably saved a couple of forests - big ones.

[bluntforcetrauma]

I only print out my short stories. The novel would test my parience.

[Constantine K]

I print every chapter so I can see my progress in actual pages. It may be silly, but it gets me pumped to finish when I see the MS stack rising every day.

[Dale Emery]

I printed mine in three chunks of about 60 pages each, single sided, double-spaced, spiral bound. Now I'm stepping through (crawling through) with red and green pencils marking it up beyond recognition.

Dale

[dreamsofnever]

Revising on paper has really helped me to find the issues with the book. I really should print on both sides of the paper so I'm not wasting, but leaving it double spaced leaves room for me to make marks and oh boy do I like to go to town with editing notes.

Julie, I might just have to use your idea and get a bound copy from Lulu next time around though. It's a pain to have to lug around all my pages!

[spacejock2]

I don't print anything until the first draft is done. Then I print the whole thing and read it through, pen in hand. Enter the corrections, print another copy. Repeat 10-20 times.

If you recycle the printed manuscripts, where's the waste of paper?

[L M Ashton]

We - the husband writer and I - don't print out until we've edited until there's nothing left for us to see. But we've also taken to doing collaborative editing - he'll take a turn, then I'll take a turn - because we each see different things wrong with the manuscript. We also use Word with Track Changes on so the other can see exactly what's been changed. I also change font/size/colours/whatever periodically so my eyes don't get tired.

Paper here is relatively very expensive and recycling is only just this month starting in this country (or so the rumours tell us).

[DeleyanLee]

We also use Word with Track Changes on so the other can see exactly what's been changed. I also change font/size/colours/whatever periodically so my eyes don't get tired.

I give you a lot of credit for that. I have to deal with Track Changes at work and I hate it with a passion. All those boxes and lines and BS and when there's more than three people involved, it's just a mess to have to try and follow what is what. I'd rather stop writing totally than have to deal with track changes on my manuscripts.

[Lyra Jean]

I'll definitely have to try the idea of putting my draft in a binder and using the previous page to write notes. I'm left handed too and seems to be a lot easier to do than what I'm doing now.

Of course so far I've only done short stories so yeah.

[giaaddison]

i didn't realise i would get so many replies.

[L M Ashton]

I give you a lot of credit for that. I have to deal with Track Changes at work and I hate it with a passion. All those boxes and lines and BS and when there's more than three people involved, it's just a mess to have to try and follow what is what. I'd rather stop writing totally than have to deal with track changes on my manuscripts.Yep, I can see how it would be frustrating to deal with three or more people and track changes. Happily, with us, it's only the two of us. And, since we both work from home, sitting on the couch beside each other, both with our laptops, when we disagree or need clarification, all we have to do is elbow the other. :D

But we do use track changes A LOT. We also edit a print magazine, so we send drafts of those articles back and forth, too. Track changes is invaluable to us. :)

[Andre_Laurent]

I edit the first couple of drafts on screen, then I start printing them. I catch more mistakes on printed copy than the screen.

[ACEnders]

I review my draft MS so many times, to print it out would consume the national forest. I'm not kidding when I say I review my stories 20 to 30 times. Each time, I find better ways to enhance the MS, the senses, the environment, character descriptions, more emotion, etc. However, once I've done all I can, I print out copies

This is how I do it. I revise in Word as much as possible, then I print it out and review it again.

[Snowstorm]

I think it's important to print it out and use a different font and letter size. My husband was an editor for UW's literary and arts magazine. He reread the submissions so many times (and I reviewed also), he ended up missing things because he reread the same paper.

By shaking up the text, not only did I find tremendous errors that I never caught on screen, but also the new look shook up my brain cells and made new ideas pop in my head. Plus I think printing it out allows for me to go to a different room and sitting differently, different light, different air and curling up on the couch, allows for different viewpoints.