In this day in age, we have the advantage of having a software system proofread an entire essay and search for grammar and punctuation errors. However, when drafting a novel these softwares can only go so far since a novel is a lot more than grammar and punctuation.
The software is not capable of sensing a character’s voice nor can it search for character voice consistency, plot holes, need for character development, etc. Therefore, an editing software can only go so far when it comes to editing a novel, which leaves the necessity for an actual editor, whether it is a professional editor or yourself.
It’s very important to have the ability to distinguish what the four main types of editing are: developmental editing, line editing, copyediting, and proofreading. To make it easy, divide the edit types into two groups: one focuses on grammar and punctuation and the other focuses on the development and readability of the story. Copyediting and proofreading focus on grammatical and punctuation, while developmental and line editing focus on the development of the story. Editing softwares are specific to grammatical and punctuation editing not developmental in line editing.
A line edit or developmental edit would not be accomplished effectively through these softwares because the program is not coded to listen for character and author voice. Could you imagine coding the program for each individual writer? That’s eight billion chances that a person may need a software coded specifically for them and their writer voice. In addition to writer voice, a manuscript specifically contains characters, and a story more often than not has at least 5 different characters within one manuscript alone. And that is not including miscellaneous characters.
Grammatically, if a sentence does not make since it is helpful when the software detects the error because the line may need to be rewritten altogether. However, it is not the same as when line edited. Line editing and copyediting have been used interchangeably, and they are not. Moving forward, even though the editing software is programmed to detect grammatical and punctuation errors, it cannot be trusted to provide the correct grammatical or punctuation suggestion one hundred percent.
For instance, I am doing a project where one of the sentences states:
“If that is the case, then why are you telling me now?”
The dilemma here is Word is picking up a singular sentence, therefore, it is suggesting:
“Why is you telling me now?”
Technically, the sentence is singular but there are exceptions to the rule. So, if every suggestion made by Word is accepted without review there will be errors in Word. This alone shows why a program cannot be trusted to give correct suggestions one hundred percent of the time.
Another example is when you have to use a double word in a statement. For example, you can say:
“I had had a breakfast sandwich this morning.”
That would look to the software as if one of the “hads” need to be deleted, when in actuality it is still correct. Alongside this, there is a need to take into consideration that that could be the way that specific character speaks. If it is the way a character speaks, whether it is grammatically correct or not, you don’t want to change it because then it would not be consistent with the character’s voice.
Furthermore, when it comes to character voice, each character has their own personality that can be highlighted through their inward and outward expression. A computer system will not be able to detect this. Therefore, if your character comes from another country and they speak in broken English, this is not something a software program will understand, because it is incapable of understanding human expression.
This post is not to say not to use an editing software, but it is to say be mindful of the software that you are using and for what reason. Again, there are various types of editing, and if you want to break it down to only grammatical and punctuation, that is the time to take advantage of editing softwares.
Consider, this as a possible editing plan.
1. Perform 2-3 developmental edits yourself.
2. Obtain a line editor.
3. Use an editing software for copyediting.
4. Obtain a professional proofreader.
This path will give you the opportunity to remaining heavily involved in the editing process and you’ll save lots of money because let’s face it, editing expenses are not cheap.
To wrap up, when using an editing software, make sure the developmental and line editing processes are complete. Next, when you are going into your copy editing or proofreading phase, be sure to have at least one more person check your work. I suggest proofreading to be the very last edit to occur. A proofreader will go over your work to catch any of the last strays that could have arisen during the other editing processes. Again, editing softwares are not made to detect consistency, they are made to catch grammatical and punctuation errors.
