Monday, April 04, 2011

New program makes it easy to edit backwards

I love the cool stuff that happens at the Catholic Writers Conference Online!

During the conference, some of us were chatting about editing, and a couple of us mentioned the value of reading your manuscript backwards. I've told you this before: Start with your last sentence; read, evaluate and edit; then move to the next sentence; and so on until you reach the first sentence of your manuscript. It separates the words from the context and lets you consider each sentence on its own merit.

Bill Powell said, "There ought to be an easy program for re-arranging the manuscript for you." People loved the idea. Most of us thought it'd be some kind of programming nightmare, but he said he could do it.

And he did!

Check out Proofread backwards. It's a free program online that will re-arrange your manuscript. It's super-easy, too. I plugged in a plain text version of Fern Gullible, and got this:



========================================================================
PROOFREADBACKWARDS.WINESKINMEDIA.COM
Original file: Fern_Gullible_by_Karina_Fabianpt.txt
Reversed for free at http://proofreadbackwards.wineskinmedia.com
Email to leave comments and feedback.
========================================================================

[Original End of Manuscript]

Fabian--Fern Gullible--7
----
I tilted my head toward the third-story apartment, where with my keen senses, I could hear Willow and Maden laughing as Fern told her all about her "dream."
----
Like I said, it's on my Territory."
----
"Nah.
----
Are you charging to department for this one, Vern?"
----
I'll think about it.
----
"All right!
----
Santry sighed.
----
The shut the window, but not before we heard the laughter.
----
"Rumplestiltskin!"
----
We looked to where Willow, Maden and Fern leaned out the window, Fern's head on the gnome's.
----
"Captain Santry!"
----
He grumbled.
----
"Yeah, I'll consider it."

All I can say is, "Bill! You da MAN!"

1 comment:

교인애 Inae Kyo said...

and so if you write your novels backwards it will let you proofread forwards?