The Proof is in the Pudding–and in the Proofing

By Doug Peterson

The expression, “The proof is in the pudding,” goes back hundreds of years, although the original wording was a bit different. The longer version said, “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”

Back then, pudding wasn’t a creamy dessert that you eat with a spoon; it actually referred to sausage and meats stuffed into animal intestines. Because it was tricky keeping meats safe without refrigeration, you had to test the food with small bites to make sure it didn’t make your stomach do somersaults. So the “proof of the pudding is in the eating” meant you had to carefully sample the meat. Today, the expression means that you don’t know if something really works until it’s been tried or used.

When it comes to writing, however, you don’t know if a story really works until it’s been edited…and edited…and edited. The proof is in the pudding—and in the proofing.

I can be a bit obsessive when it comes to proofing text. You might even say that I have OCD—Obsessive Copyediting Disorder. Back when I was primarily writing 1,000-word magazine articles, I would edit a story until I got it to just where I wanted it—and then I’d proof it another 20 or more times to polish it up.

It’s a bit more difficult to be that obsessive when I’m dealing with a 90,000-word novel, rather than a 1,000-word magazine story, but I still go over the manuscript with a fine-tooth comb—an expression, by the way, that comes from using a comb to pick out lice eggs, or nits, from a person’s hair. That’s also where we get the expression “nitpicky.”

Here are some of the techniques that I use to nitpick as I edit a story:

1. Proof the story in print. I don’t think I’m alone when I say that it’s much, much easier to notice mistakes on paper than on the screen. A text can look immaculate on the computer screen, but as soon as I print it out and proof it on paper, other mistakes suddenly start jumping out at me. Therefore, I do all of my initial editing on-screen. Then, once I feel good about a story, I print it out and do the rest of my editing on paper. It makes a difference. A huge difference.

2. Read you story out loud. When you read something out loud, you hear things that you wouldn’t notice by reading it in your head. You get a better sense of the flow of sentences, and you’re more likely to notice the repetition of certain words in a sentence. When you read silently, your mind may automatically skim over words, but you can’t do that when you’re reading aloud. It forces you to read every single word, and your proofing is more thorough.

If it’s a short magazine story, I might read it out loud several times during the editing process. But if it’s a novel, I can read only a small section at any one time. So I spread out the chore, trying to read each chapter out loud at least once. I might read Chapter 20 aloud on one day, and Chapter 21 aloud the next day.

3. In addition to reading the entire book or story out loud, read the dialogue by itself. Running through the dialogue tells you whether the words sound natural or forced. Would a real person talk like that? You might even do a bit of play-acting, speaking the lines as you imagine the characters would talk.

This strategy is especially important when writing screenplays.

4. Set your story aside overnight. When I set a story or chapter aside for a night or two and then return to it, I come back to it with fresh eyes and notice things I didn’t see before.

5. Edit a story until you’re sick of it. When I’m starting to get sick of proofing a story, that means I’m getting close to the end of the process.

Finally, when you’re done with your story, find a person whose judgment you trust, and then let them take a whack at your manuscript and give you feedback. After all, the proof is not just in the pudding. It’s also in your readers, especially nitpicky readers.

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5 for Writing

• Get writing. Find the time to write. Then do it.
• Learn by listening—and doing. Solicit feedback, discern what helps you.
• Finish your story. Edit and rewrite, but don’t tinker forever. Reach the finish line.
• Thrive on rejection. Get your story out there. Be fearless. Accept rejection.
• Become a juggler. After one story is finished, be ready to start another. Consider writing two at once.