Paper or Screen - Editing

Editing can be tough, as those of you that follow me know, I have a western I have been re-editing for five years. Ok- so I am afraid if I publish it no one will read it. But I have still edited it to death, and do find an occasional mistake.

So which is best? Editing off the screen with all the fun little red marks from the editing program, or a red pen and paper? Give me the hard copy. Seems like I can find things I need or want to change much easier on paper. My non-fiction book was an easy edit, but only after I printed it out, then used my red pen to change, eliminate or add what I wanted.

I do not think it is possible to find errors on the screen as easy as finding them on paper. Maybe that’s just the old school teacher in me. It also is likely the reason I post these, then later, sometimes much later, am horrified when I find what I consider a grievous error. Oh the horrors!

I do use the spell check and editor on word, everyone should. I also use the screen to move large blocks of text around, much easier.

Maybe I am a poor screen editor because when I am on my laptop I also watch TV, mess with my phone, talk to others and constantly interrupt myself. Editing on paper, I sat quietly and did my edit. Yep, I may have found the answer.

One final thought. Younger generations that have always used technology to read and write probably are more comfortable editing on the screen. Now back to that game I was playing on Kindle, and maybe I should check twitter on my phone, oops, a bird on the feeder better check it out, looks like spring.

Where did I put my golf clubs?