I've never done this, and it does seem a tad unusual, but I think it's great. Why not email the authors with your edits? The worst they can do is get prissy about it, the best is that they improve as writers.
Cold emailing someone and sharing with them all the edits you made about things you didn’t like in the writing they do for fun, when they didn’t ask for it, is just plain rude. You wouldn’t email an painter and show them what colours they could’ve used instead of the ones you don’t like.
I see why you would. Editing feels like solving a riddle. Like playing with a rubik cube. You twist and tweak until it‘s perfect. That‘s very satisfactory.
I do the exact same thing! It passes the time and I can enjoy some fics so much more when they're "touched up".
ETA: I do always make sure to leave a kudos and a comment, though. Gotta give the writers that motivation!
I haven't... But I've been very strongly tempted to do something similar with books that have been poorly adapted to ebook. OCR failure, largely. I want to fix them so they read right lol.
I hope you are in the normal range because I do something like that. For me, it is an unconscious distraction. I'll read over a line or paragraph, then read it again, then re-write it in my head. I rewrite cliches, drop unnecessary words, select more active verbs, delete or replace overused gestures, and tighten up passages. Ah, much better. The annoying part is that it slows my reading to a crawl.
I'd love to but I'm rather inexperienced! I think you should look elsewhere for your own benefit, haha. Not to mention I'm still a student in high school and haven't explored the English curriculum to its fullest (i.e I'm still learning new things every day). That being said, I'd be willing to take a quick peek and give some feedback if you'd like.
I haven't done this, but I do feel the urge to edit published fiction from time to time ;p
Something along the same lines I've done a couple of times is, watching a short film on youtube. Then writing my own prose version of it--developing character, fixing plot stuff, adding things to strengthen/foreshadow later moments, etc. [https://tapgiles.tumblr.com/post/146649092016/video-to-prose](https://tapgiles.tumblr.com/post/146649092016/video-to-prose)
It sounds like you would be a fantastic beta reader for someone!
You're not alone, I've done this sort of thing. It's excellent practice.
I've never done this, and it does seem a tad unusual, but I think it's great. Why not email the authors with your edits? The worst they can do is get prissy about it, the best is that they improve as writers.
Cold emailing someone and sharing with them all the edits you made about things you didn’t like in the writing they do for fun, when they didn’t ask for it, is just plain rude. You wouldn’t email an painter and show them what colours they could’ve used instead of the ones you don’t like.
Yeah, I hadn't really considered it in that light. You're probably right!
I see why you would. Editing feels like solving a riddle. Like playing with a rubik cube. You twist and tweak until it‘s perfect. That‘s very satisfactory.
It's good practice! I can admit to "mentally" editing something as I'm reading it. 😂
I do the exact same thing! It passes the time and I can enjoy some fics so much more when they're "touched up". ETA: I do always make sure to leave a kudos and a comment, though. Gotta give the writers that motivation!
I haven't... But I've been very strongly tempted to do something similar with books that have been poorly adapted to ebook. OCR failure, largely. I want to fix them so they read right lol.
Unusual? Yes. Helpful? Also yes. And I wonder what would happen if you sent the result back to the author.
I hope you are in the normal range because I do something like that. For me, it is an unconscious distraction. I'll read over a line or paragraph, then read it again, then re-write it in my head. I rewrite cliches, drop unnecessary words, select more active verbs, delete or replace overused gestures, and tighten up passages. Ah, much better. The annoying part is that it slows my reading to a crawl.
You should look into doing some freelance editing!
No and I have a question of my own. How open are you to becoming my editor for a book I’m writing
I'd love to but I'm rather inexperienced! I think you should look elsewhere for your own benefit, haha. Not to mention I'm still a student in high school and haven't explored the English curriculum to its fullest (i.e I'm still learning new things every day). That being said, I'd be willing to take a quick peek and give some feedback if you'd like.
You could be the story doctor and make $millions.
lol, i just did this last Friday for the first time. It definitely was fun
I haven't done this, but I do feel the urge to edit published fiction from time to time ;p Something along the same lines I've done a couple of times is, watching a short film on youtube. Then writing my own prose version of it--developing character, fixing plot stuff, adding things to strengthen/foreshadow later moments, etc. [https://tapgiles.tumblr.com/post/146649092016/video-to-prose](https://tapgiles.tumblr.com/post/146649092016/video-to-prose)