Proofread Backwards

Upload your manuscript as plain text.
Download it with the sentences reversed.

1. Save your file as plain text.

   File -> Save As ... -> Look for a drop-down list of file types. Choose "Plain text" or "Text" or something that ends in .txt.

2. Upload your .txt file in the box above

   Make sure it ends in .txt. If you're not sure, try to open it in a text editor (like Notepad).

3. Wait a few moments, while your manuscript gets reversed.

   Plain text is small; you should be able to upload a whole novel.

4. You'll be prompted to open or save a new text file. Done.

Your file is not stored on any server; it just gets reversed and spit right back at you as a download. As with any file upload, your IP and the filename will be logged, so rename it to story.txt or something generic for maximum privacy.

If you open your new .txt in Notepad, and the lines seem to go off the page, turn wordwrap on. It's on the menu under Format.

NOTE: You probably don't want to make your edits in this reversed file, since this tool can't (yet) flip the reversed file back to normal. You'd lose your paragraph breaks. So this may not be a great idea if you know you'll have lots of little edits; it's more for catching a mistake here and there.

Thanks to the folks at the March 2011 Catholic Writers Conference for sharing this idea with me.

Thanks also to the makers of the amazing Perl module Lingua::EN::Sentence, which does all the work.

Please contact me (Bill Powell) with any comments or suggestions. Thanks!

proofreadbackwards.wineskinmedia.com