| The following proofreading exercise is designed to | | | | balance, moving in fits and starts, using the trees |
| prepare you for the eventuality of proofreading | | | | to steady himself. |
| fiction. Now, proofreading factual documents is a | | | | From behind him, from the direction of the |
| relatively straightforward affair. Proofreading | | | | burning farmhouse, a shriek. John recognised it |
| fiction is altogether a different kettle of fish. In | | | | instantly. It was the feral woman. He could |
| fact, the more experience you have proofreading | | | | remember her name now: Olivia Priestly. And the |
| factual documents, the more difficult you're likely | | | | tall man with the pocket-watch eyes, he |
| to find it when you are handed, say, the | | | | remembered his name, too. |
| manuscript of a novel. | | | | Abaddon. |
| How do you proofread fiction? In a very real | | | | As he stumbled down the hill, John prayed. Prayed |
| sense, it isn't something that can be taught. | | | | and cried. |
| Better to just have a stab at it and then see | | | | Proofreading Exercise: Solution |
| what happens. | | | | Okay. Did you find any errors? Of course, you did. |
| The 'solution' to this exercise follows on from the | | | | There were all those fragments, for a start. And |
| exercise itself. | | | | what about all those sentences beginning with |
| Good luck. | | | | 'and'? And what about this little beauty: "Downhill, |
| The Proofreading Exercise | | | | about three or four hundred yards away, what |
| For a couple of seconds, John thought he was | | | | might have been a road or a river, it was |
| lying in his bed, crawling out and away from the | | | | impossible to say at this distance, in the dark." |
| shards and splinters of a particularly vivid | | | | How many pieces of information are we trying to |
| nightmare. Something about a tall man with | | | | squeeze into one poor little sentence? |
| pocket-watch eyes and a feral woman who ate | | | | Of course, you're right. This little chunk of |
| broken glass like it was candy. Something about a | | | | narrative contains all those errors. However, as a |
| fire, an explosion. Horrible. A horrible nightmare. | | | | proof reader with some 20 years of experience, I |
| And then he felt the cold, wet grass threading | | | | wouldn't have requested a single correction. Why? |
| through his fingers. And the smell of burning | | | | Because this is fiction. This is creative writing. And |
| timber scratched at his nostrils. And the pain in his | | | | creative writing can bend, and even break, the |
| shoulder flared suddenly. The pain in his shoulder | | | | rules. Creative writing is about pace and |
| where the tall man with pocket-watch eyes had | | | | atmosphere, about creating a narrative which |
| shot him with an antique pistol. | | | | draws the reader in and drags them along. It isn't |
| John jerked to his feet, spun around, trying to get | | | | a corporate brochure or a press release. The |
| some sense of where he was. A forest, laced | | | | preceding piece is both fast-moving and |
| with smoke. Night time. Uphill, through the trees, | | | | informative, no easy task. It also captures the |
| he could see a burning building. The old farmhouse. | | | | central character's sense of confusion, then panic, |
| Where they had taken him, the man and the | | | | whilst remaining eminently readable. If we were to |
| woman. The fire had claimed all but its frame and | | | | apply the strict, technical rules of grammar in this |
| that looked about ready to collapse. Downhill, | | | | case, we'd kill the story, a crime for which our |
| about three or four hundred yards away, what | | | | employer (be it novelist or editor) would never |
| might have been a road or a river, it was | | | | forgive us. |
| impossible to say at this distance, in the dark. | | | | So, the twist in the tale of this little proofreading |
| If it was a road, there might be cars. There might | | | | exercise is that even though there were errors, |
| be people, someone to help him. Someone to | | | | there was nothing for a proof reader to mark up. |
| save him. | | | | Okay, so it's not exactly 'The Usual Suspects' but |
| He started down the slope, side-on to keep his | | | | I'm a proof reader not a novelist. |