How is everyone? The start of a new week. I'm feeling great. I finished lots of editing for a novel. However, I heard you need to take a break from editing (like a week or two) so a fresh pair of eyes can find mistakes I wouldn't find before. Can someone explain why a break will help find things missed before?
By taking a break, you’re effectively gaining a fresh pair of eyes.
I often spot bugs I missed before, after a few weeks break. If I had to guess, it’s because my mind was glossing over the faulty bits and filling them in with whatever my intention was, something those removed from your work aren’t prone to.
Congratulations on finishing your edits.
Taking a break from a task will make you forget the tiny details of your task, essentially clearing your short term memory. When you come back to the task you need to learn its details again, making you ask why it was done a certain way. Thus raising your ability to spot inconsistencies, errors and bugs.
Congrats on the finished draft. The reason a break works comes down to prediction: your brain knows what each sentence should say, so it autocompletes the words and skips past the typo that sits there. Distance erases that memory, and you read what's actually on the page. A shortcut if you can't wait two weeks? Change the font or read it aloud.
