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Nov

29

Elmer Corrections

Filed Under Elmer, My Art, My Comics | 10 Comments

Yes, I’m embarrassed to admit, there are a few errors in Elmer #4. It’s all my fault. I had been trying to finish Elmer #4 just in time for Komikon. The printer needed the files and I’d been up all night laying it out and proofreading it. I basically had an hour for final proofread and in that hour I was already falling asleep. I caught a lot of errors in that time, but I knew some would simply get past me.

I found the errors after I got home from the Komikon and you can just imagine my horror. Here’s a few I spotted:

“May” on panel 2 of page 19 is supposed to be “Helen”
“Chicken Scratch Scratchings” on page 32
The last panel of page 37 (the news report) has several errors in spacing and spelling.
A stray “m” in one of the balloons. I have to look again.
There’s “Advise” in panel 4 of page 59 which I could change to Advice. Although not technically wrong as it’s correct when the British are concerned. I’d still like to change it.

Someone emailed me with a run down of grammatical errors which I found to be very useful. I can use all these to correct the mistakes when I do the compiled edition.

If anyone spots any errors, please feel free to tell me about it either in the comments section or via email. Please consider that there are many intentional errors in the writing. The early chickens are supposed to be talking in broken English for instance. And Farmer Ben isn’t the most sophisticated guy and can run off with all kinds of errors. Beyond that, I’d appreciate any help. Thanks!

Comments

10 Responses to “Elmer Corrections”

  1. Jon on November 29th, 2008 10:01 am

    Nangyayari ho talaga yan sa work ko. Mahirap mag-proofread ang author. Dapat talaga iba ang titingin for a different perpective.

  2. Jose Mari Lee on November 29th, 2008 11:48 am

    Manong Gerry:

    Hindi ko pa nabasa ang Elmer, pero nangyayari talaga ang ganyan kung minsan, lalo pa kung mabilisan.

    When Shakespeare said: “FAMILIARITY BRIDGE CONTEMPT”, he wasn’t kidding, especially when it comes to proofreading :)

    Always get another pair of eyes to look at your work. You’re just too close, too familiar with it – that you just won’t see everything.

    However, you make you feel better, your goofery isn’t as big as what Edward Bulwer-Lytton did in his book PAUL CLIFFORD when he opened it with the now ingamous line: “It was a dark and stormy night”…

    Yet, he was the same guy who coined one of the most amazing statement related to writing: “The pen is mightier than the sword.”

    In short, you win some, you lose some. Therefore, be happy. As the old saying goes: “there’s no use crying over spilled milk”. Most specially nowadays when the Canadian-designed Holstein cows can produce milk five times the volume the normal cows can. Besides, ilang mga mata lang naman ang talagang mga eagle eye, eh. Karamihan sa mga readers, dahil sa excitement, halos di na mapansin iyan.

  3. Jose Mari Lee on November 29th, 2008 11:51 am

    He-he. I hope, yung mga matatalas ang mata diyan, nakita yung mga intentional na booh-booh sa first mesage ko. Well, that goes to show that we’re all humans, nobody’s perfect.

  4. Ed on November 29th, 2008 2:18 pm

    Okay lang yan, Gerry. Buti nga may plano ka maglabas ng compiled edition. =)

  5. Rod Samonte on November 30th, 2008 3:06 am

    JM,
    Hahahahaha. I knew you did that intentionally.
    Rod

  6. auggie on November 30th, 2008 12:55 pm

    Rod,

    Alin , yung Breeds ? mabilis talaga ang mga mata mo ….

  7. Rod Samonte on December 1st, 2008 2:08 am

    Auggie,
    Yes of course, Familiarity BREEDS contempt. JM mayroon bang INGAMOUS, or is that another one of your intentional boo-boo, for INFAMOUS?
    Rod

  8. Jose Mari Lee on December 1st, 2008 9:29 am

    Ginoong samonte:

    Matalas nga ang iyong mga mata. Puwede ka nang proofreader. He-he. Yes, isa iyon. Pero hindi mo yata nakita yung: :However, you make you feel better…” instead of “to make you feel better…”

    Aha. Na-miss mo ito.

    Pero, I’m just emphazising to Gerry not to kick himself for some minor errors in his book. It’s easy to solve this problem, though. Next time, give enough time to finish your material so you can proofread the whole piece thoroughly. Pero, kung talagang gusto mong may makasuyod ng lahat, another pair of eyes, other than the writer’s would be of great help. Use a trusted friend or a girlfriend, or a wife. Either one of these individuals would be more than glad to do it for you, di ba?

    But, it’s no big deal. Maski may error, tao lang naman tayo at normal lang ang ganyan.

  9. auggie on December 1st, 2008 8:33 pm

    Yeah right on JM ! ang ginagawa ko naman noon usually, kung blue print na, pinapa-xerox ko muna ng mga about 5 copies or more at ibibigay ko sa mga officemates ko with instructions na PAKI-PASADAHAN Muna. Sabi ko mag-hanap kayo ng lahat na makita ninyong errors at markahan ninyo ng red ink/ballpen.
    Mi nakakalusot pa rin, pero very minimal na at hindi na Egregious errors. Pero hindi mo talaga maiiwasan. The trick is to minimize it. BTW, ang READERS DIGEST kuno eh wala talagang typo errors, True ?

  10. Jose Mari Lee on December 2nd, 2008 2:08 am

    Auggie:

    True, because they have a pool of proofreaders. Most big magazines are doing it this way, like TIME, LIFE and other big magazines.

    Pero mas grabe ang ginawang booh-booh ni Caparas noon sa kanyang serialized Kislap komiks serial, BAKEKANG yata iyon. Biruin mo, yung PRANKSTER na tawag nang tawag sa telepono, ang sinulat ni Caparas, FRANKSTER! Paulit-ulit pa ito sa isang yugto ng nobela. Ang nakababaliw ay ito: bakit hindi inayos ito ng editor? Lahat naman ng pahina, dumadaan sa mesa nila!

    Though when Tony Tenorio asked Vincent Kua and I to work as editors, sinabi niya sa amin na medyo marami daw mga editors noon na hindi talaga sanay sa English, kaya kung minsan ay nagiging problema. So, iyon ang dahilan kung bakit – maski pareho kaming bata pa noon ni Vincent sa komiks, dahil ibinase niya sa aming obra, he was convinced that we would be able to handle the job. Yung kapanahunan nina Mars Ravelo, Del Mundo, PSG – ay hasang-hasa ang English ng mga komiks writers. Pero nang mag-deteriorate na ang English instruction sa public schools, siguro mga 1970s na ito, yung mga naging manunulat ay hindi na makapag-sulat ng honest-to-goodness na English sentences, kaya nagkaroon ng handicap ang mga ilang manunulat, especially yung mga hindi naman talaga nagkaroon ng university education. Well, hindi naman talaga ito ang rule of the game, pero, HALATA talaga ang handicap sa panulat. Maski ang logic kung minsan ay tunay na fallacious. Lumalabas talaga ang mga pagkukulang na ito sa obra ng isang manunulat. Para bang sa illustrator din. Kapag hindi maganda ang pundasyon ng knowledge nito sa basic human anatomy, kitang-kita ang problema kapag tiningnan mo na ang drawing.