Through Lattice Windows: Editing A Manuscript When You Can't See The Type
"Ten years ago, it would have been impossible for me, as a partially-sighted person, to think of editing a manuscript on my own,'' writes Leanne Hunt.
Ten years ago, it would have been impossible for me, as a partially-sighted person, to think of editing a manuscript on my own. Hooked up with the latest computer software, I could still only just manage to get my thoughts down in complete sentences. Today, with the incredible strides that have been made in accessibility tools, I can do the job as well as any sighted person.
This week, I have been occupied with reviewing the manuscript of my novel about a woman's struggle for selfhood, set against the backdrop of the run-up to the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. A professional evaluation had yielded a positive report with just a few stylistic suggestions, and I had already gone through the document to make the changes. All that was left in this stage of the process was to check spelling, punctuation and paragraphing before submitting it to my creative support team for a final polish.
Now, if you are familiar with text readers, you will know that they have various settings, depending on your needs or preferences. You can choose a high, medium or low level of speech verbosity, for example, which refers to how much spoken guidance you get while navigating around the screen. Other settings relate to the way capitals are indicated, how complex numbers are read, and how much punctuation is spoken. All of these come in useful at various stages in document preparation, but actually employing them requires a special kind of concentration.
Editing a sixty-thousand word manuscript with the punctuation setting on high, for instance, means that every punctuation mark gets exactly the same treatment as every word. A typical sentence might be read as follows:
"quote Hey exclaim quote said Paul period what are you doing question quote new line"
When a string of lines is read in a continuous stream, it takes a lot of effort to stay with the text. "Listening to each paragraph break, checking each pair of quotation marks, verifying each period or colon or question mark, and considering its value to the story requires a high level of concentration. The intense focus and the ongoing sound of the digital voice can produce quite a headache if you don't take regular breaks. Using earphones under these conditions makes it worse, with the result that I closeted myself in a room and did the whole thing with the external speaker on low volume.
As painful as this sounds, though, it is a massive improvement on not being able to edit my work myself. Relying on somebody else to correct sentences is never satisfactory. An author likes things to be just so, and when there is a glitch in the narrative, it is beyond an outsider's capability to refashion it according to the way the author intended it.
Besides, editing is a chore for anybody. Even those with perfect sight find it tiring. As I go through my document, listening to the text reader stating "misspelt" or "period period", I sometimes think I may have an advantage over those who are reading text on-screen. Granted, a spelling-and-grammar check may pick up duplicated commas, but when it comes to sentence flow, an author accustomed to reading what he has written may easily be lulled into a false sense of complacency.
The power of accessibility software never ceases to amaze me. I use Apple's Voiceover feature to get around text documents, emails and internet sites, but in searching out keyboard commands, I came across a whole list of sounds associated with refreshable Braille displays.
Voiceover actually converts text into dots for those accustomed to accessing information through their fingertips … a fact which I find staggering, even in this age of digital wizardry. I guess it would also be possible, then, for a blind person fluent in Braille to edit a manuscript, even though they are two steps removed from the text on the screen.
Having finished the task of editing, it was with a great sense of achievement that I uploaded my file in Rich Text Format to my publisher. This wasn't difficult either, thanks to clear labelling. Between the website designer and Voiceover, all links were easily reached and activated, proving that, if you can follow a simple instruction, you have the power to self-publish. How marvellous is that?
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Do visit Leanne's rewarding Web site
http://diamondpanes.blogspot.com/
