Check point...

[alexpgp]

I've gotten to a point where I've completed what's on the plate, but I'm going to wait for the morning to send the last part off. I finished it just short of leaving the house for tai chi this evening, and so I may need to give it an extra special eyeballing before putting it in the pipe.

It's been warm, but not stifling hot the past couple of days. Maybe that's what the weather dweebs meant, and I was influenced too much by the tone of their forecasts?

Comments

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

When I write something, particularly for LJ Idol, I always try to let it sit--preferably overnight--before I submit it. "Sleeping on it" is quite literally one of my best techniques for improvement.

I was wondering what sort of quality improvement and control you do with the documents you produce for work. I know sometimes you are working under such tight deadlines that letting things "cure" or incubate is not a viable option. But even with the briefest of turnaround times, what steps do you try to go through to produce the best possible product. (Recognizing that best is sometimes abandoned, but accurate should never be.)

[alexpgp.livejournal.com]

Well, I've described the principal steps I take—a process I call "despeckling"—back in a post from 2009 (http://alexpgp.livejournal.com/1447665.html). It hasn't changed much since then.

On a different note, I've found that if I don't have adequate time to get some temporal "distance" from something I've been working on for a long time, turning my attention to something sufficiently different—drawing up an invoice or working on a substantially different translation—has the effect of "simulating" that distance, to a certain extent, as such activities focus one's mind elsewhere.

As far as "the briefest of turnaround times" is concerned, I find that if the work is straightforward, I can generally just rely on whatever comes out of my fingertips. (I actually had an editor once tell me that my "draft" translations were routinely better than what other translators submit as final product, which may help explain why I get a lot of repeat business.)

Cheers...

[furzicle.livejournal.com]

I note that your initial answer was actually directed at me! I like your use of moving on to an alternate project when you don't have the luxury of time to let it sit. Heaven forbid having enough time to read out loud! Of course all good writers do "despeckle." Some are better than others at doing it as they go. At least with translation you presumably are spared the need to reevaluate your composition. That is probably the main reason I need to give my writing a rest before publishing. However, in your case, the need for accuracy no doubt makes the extra look essential.