Master Self-Editing & Story Revision

Spelling

The trick with MASTERY of spelling is to develop an obsession about words.

Become a word-nerd.

For all words - the tools of your trade.

Keep a dictionary by your bed and instead of reading a book before you go to sleep, read the dictionary!

You’ll be amazed how much fun it can be just reading about words and the meanings and especially their origins and common usage.

And don’t just look up the rude words!

Get a thesaurus and look up words, then cross check their meanings to see the subtleties.

Personally, I find words fascinating, particularly because English has so many idiosyncrasies that often the rules don’t apply.

When you get a chance, take a look at the easily confused words, study them and work out what the differences are.

Try coming up with little phrases to help you remember certain rules.

I before e except after c.

Then name the exceptions!

Your affect has no effect on me.

Do crosswords, perhaps one a day.

Doesn’t have to be hard or cryptic, any is good practice.

Download apps that feed you a new word every day.

Look for “word of the day” apps in Google Play and have a new word delivered to your phone every day.

Things get confusing when different parts of the English speaking world spell the same words differently.

If you’re the kind of writer that wants to appeal to many different markets around the globe, then a working knowledge of the complexities of English spelling is a prerequisite.

Try this.

As you write, compile a list of words you’re not sure about.

Whether they’re words you often misspell, or words where you’re not sure of the meaning.

After a couple of weeks you could have maybe fifty words on your list.

Not many really.

Probably not as many as you’d have thought.

Did you know the average person gets by on less than 300 words.

Total.

Seems like next to nothing, don’t you think?

Even the average writer uses only around 850 to 1000 words.

Okay, a college professor or perhaps a professional novelist or non fiction writer may have up to 2000 words in his or her repertoire – but neither can use many of them because the average reader probably won’t know what they mean!

Put together a list of words you’re not one hundred percent sure about and that list may only be 20, 30 or at the most, 50 words long.

Keep this list at your side, or in a file on Evernote.

Refer to it often, add to it, delete what you know.

Don’t feel you’re dumb for getting things wrong.

I’ve been writing professionally for over forty years, and I still have several words I consistently have to look up.

I write with the auto-correct on in Scrivener and Word.

I still run spell checkers and look up words in online dictionaries.

I do it regularly, just to be sure.

If you’re EVER in doubt, look up a word!

Let the dictionary and the thesaurus be your friend.

Online the best and easiest is dictionary.com and thesaurus.com

Great sites both. You can even pay to subscribe to them if you want to get rid of the ads.

Develop a fascination for words.

Never rely on spell-checkers.

Sure, use them.

Maybe even let them correct your errors but don’t take it for granted they replaced or auto-finished the right word.

I mentioned heteronyms in the last lesson.

Spell checkers will often correct to the wrong spelling if it’s similar to something it thought you meant.

Get used to looking up words in dictionaries.

It’s not time consuming – it’s necessary. 

It’s also fun in a geeky kind of way.

I have three dictionaries on my desk.

One for UK English spelling, one for US spelling, and one for Australian spelling.

This may seem excessive – but it’s really the only way to make sure I’m using the correctly spelled word for each market.

There are definite differences between UK and US spelling, words like dialed and dialled, color and colour etc., but Australian English is a often a weird amalgam of both.

What spelling should you choose if you’re not sure?

The trick is consistency.

It’s actually better to spell a word incorrectly every time than randomly change the spelling of the same word.     

Generally I advise new writers to stick to US spelling.

Nor everyone will agree with me but there are two simple reasons.

English people and Australians don’t complain when the US spelling is used but…

Americans do complain when they see what they consider a spelling mistake (that is, when you spell something the English or Australian way!)

It’s already common practice for publishers to retain the US spelling when they release their books abroad.

I’m sure this trend will continue.

To reiterate, you must develop an abiding curiosity about words.

They really are most fascinating in their own right.

Think of it like this:

If you were a sculptor or a painter, you’d want to use good sharp chisels or the best paint brushes, because these would be the tools of your trade.

Words are your tools.

They need to be the right tools to convey your meaning.

A miss-spelled word is like a blunt pencil or a smudge of paint – it ruins the overall effect.

Think of your writing as a work of art.

It’s as much dependent on the individual words, spelled correctly, as it is on the writing itself.   

Here’s a tip.

Learn how to pronounce words phonetically to help you remember the spelling.

I often do this, actually because I think it’s funny.

I often mispronounce words (to myself) to deliberately draw attention to the absurdity of some spellings.

Like rest a ur ant or dee finite Elly.   

Think like a child.

Remember how hard it was to spell correctly when you were seven?

Nothing has really changed – you just think you know more, even when you may be mistaken.

Don’t take chances, look up anything you’re not 100% convinced about – and then check anyway, just in case!

Capitalization

When and where to capitalize words can cause confusion, especially because we often think we know what is obvious, and what’s not.

However, there are some rules that are not well known.

Yes, we all know that capitals are used at the beginning of sentences, and to denote names of things and people – nouns and pronouns.

But there are also other times we need to capitalize words in less obvious places, as in the middle of sentences.

First off, let’s do the easy ones.

You can capitalize the letter after a colon, as in,

Jack only cared about one thing: Himself.

The same rule can apply to a comma. As in,

Jack said to the others, Listen to me.

You can even capitalize when there’s no punctuation, as in,

Jack reiterated his defiance when he said No.

But, just to confuse the issue, the capital isn’t compulsory in any of the above cases.

You can use the capital in dialog AFTER a speech tag, as in,

“Excuse me,” said Jack. “Are you sure you want me?”

Unless the speech is interrupted, where you would write:

“I seriously want to know,” Jack said, “if you’re trying to get my attention.”

Even when not using speech marks it’s correct to capitalize, as in,

Jack approached and said, You looking at me?

Titles and Headings

Despite the fashion on some Internet sales pages, it’s NOT correct to capitalize ALL of the words in a heading.

Prepositions like in, of, the, on, and etc., should NOT be capitalized unless they’re the first or last word – or more than four letters long – like the word, About.

NOTE: This rule applies to all prepositional words apart from: As, If, Once, Than, That and Till, which are classed as ‘special words’ and SHOULD therefore be capitalized in a heading.

(See what I mean about the rules not always making sense?)

Names and Titles

Easy one first.

You should always capitalize a person’s name.

This rule can get confusing when the person’s name also describes their function.

The most obvious example of this – and a fairly common mistake writers make – is with family members.

Your mom is not capitalized unless her name is Mom.

Even then, when you’re describing your mom, you say your mom is called Mom, if that’s not too confusing!

The same rule holds true for titles, as in, the president of the US is Trump, but Trump is the American President.

The same rule applies to place names, as in, the place is called Western Virginia and is a place located in the western part of Virginia.

Likewise, the River Jordan is a river in Jordan.

Trade names should always be capitalized too – as in Coke, Microsoft, Virgin, and Hewlett Packard.

The exception to this rule is adidas – which is officially trademarked with a small ‘a’.

As if you didn’t know, organizations normally referred to by their acronyms should be capitalized, as in, FBI, CIA and NCIS – and you don’t need to put the dots in between the letters.

(Though it’s not technically incorrect to do so.)

You need to capitalize specific events too like the Renaissance or Bloody Sunday or the Civil War. 

Also when you’re referring to sections in books or other titles, as in Episode One of 24 Hours, or Module 3 of this course for instance.

Time and Dates

Months and days of the week are capitalized, as are the seasons.

Probably the easiest way to get dates and times right is rely on Word, which correctly formats the date and time for you at the click of a button.

The main thing to remember is that only the US places the month before the day when abbreviating the date, which causes much confusion throughout the rest of the world!

Especially when you’re in an Australian bank trying to cash an American check!

They ask about the weird date on my Amazon checks every time!

Next, punctuation.

Punctuation

To make sure we’re all on the same page, we’ll need to go through each punctuation mark in turn.

This may seem a bit over the top – but even for seasoned writers, it’s useful to remind ourselves of correct usage – just in case we’ve picked up some bad habits along the way.

Believe me, even the best of us make mistakes.

Let’s begin.

The Period or Full Stop

Easy.

There are only three uses for the period – and one of them is becoming obsolete.

To end a sentence.

To separate section numbers, as in Verse 1.4, Figure 12.1 and the time: 4.30pm

To separate letters in an abbreviation which, as we mentioned in the last lesson, is increasing out of fashion: IBM, NB, NATO, UNICEF etc.

In case you weren’t sure, the question mark and the exclamation marks replace a full stop, you don’t need the period as well – something I’ve seen all too often in new writers’ work.

The Comma

The poor little comma is probably the one of the most misused items of punctuation.

Surely because it is the most common.

I’m going to say something now that is not echoed in other discussions about basic writing technique – but I’m willing to make a definitive statement, and that is:

“The comma should NOT be used to denote a pause.”

There. I’ve said it!

Now, I’ve probably made ourselves very unpopular with all sorts of teachers, grammarians and copy editors but I’m unrepentant!

Because once you reject the silly notion that commas are only used to denote pauses, only then can you begin to understand their true function and how to use them correctly.

Okay, so what is the comma for?

Simple, to separate clauses – where a clause could be loosely regarded as a ‘thought’ or ‘proposition’ within a sentence.

Where there are two or more propositions in a sentence and use of the word ‘and’ is unnecessary or awkward, you’ll find the comma nestling happily.

Commas are also commonly used to separate compound sentences.

That is, two stand-alone propositions in one sentence, as in:

Beverley unlocked the door, and she turned on the light.

But you’ll immediately notice the comma here is not strictly necessary.

In fact, US publishers rarely use commas in these kinds of sentences.

The US also favors leaving out the comma after introductory clauses, as in,

Gingerly he stepped over the puddle.

Whereas everyone in the UK is now shouting, no, no, no, it should be written:

Gingerly, he stepped over the puddle.

Technically it doesn’t matter if the meaning is clear.

Because that’s what commas are primarily for: to clarify sense and help the reader sort through the sentence quickly, and hopefully pick up the correct meaning.

Commas are also used to isolate clauses in parenthesis, as in:

He knew, of course, the outcome.

And to separate items on a list:

Henry gave her the paper bag, three batteries, and a pen.

The final comma (what’s often called The Oxford Comma) is not used normally outside of the US:

Henry gave her the paper bag, three batteries and a pen.

Commas in Dialog

Gah! This is my personal bugbear.

I find it alarming that so few writers seem to understand where the comma goes in speech.

Let’s state it for the record then: At the end of a speech, put the comma INSIDE the speech tags – ALWAYS.

Even in Australia, where the comma USED TO BE placed outside the speech marks but now, thankfully, is not.

“Those are my shoes,” said Harry.

This is the correct use, unless you put the speech marks after the speaker, as in,

Harry said, “Those are my shoes.”

The Semi Colon

Okay, let’s get another myth out into the open:

The semi colon is NOT to be used as half way between a comma and a period or a colon, okay?

The semi colon actually has a very limited function.

Indeed, it is so rarely used in the US that this is probably proof it should be done away with!

Not least because many new writers seem to love them and will liberally sprinkle semi colons throughout their work in the mistaken belief it makes their writing look literary.

For ease, remember that the semi colon is only ever used to separate items on a list, as in:  Teacher handed everyone a bottle of milk; two ham sandwiches; a layer of cheesecake; four eggs; and a frozen lemon drink.

As you can see from the above, a comma would do just as well.

If you insist that you must use them, remember that the true ‘literary’ function of the semi colon is to replace the words but, or, nor, for, because, so or yet. As in,

I refused to eat breakfast; I wasn’t hungry.

From the above example you can easily see why the semi colon is mistakenly regarded as half way between a comma and a period. It’s not – but it just looks that way!

The Colon

There’s only one real use for the colon and it’s basically a way of saying ‘Introducing…’

For instance, please take note of the following:

(That’s the example by the way.)

Or,

Dorothy: I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore. (You use this system in playwriting too.)

Or, to relate clauses,

I don’t want to go to bed: It’s boring.

Or Titles,

Star Wars: Battle of the Clones

Unlike the comma, the colon goes on the outside of speech marks – and brackets.

Dennis told us about ‘the big city’: he just loved it there.

Dennis bragged about his success (albeit minor): he’s a big loser in reality.

All fairly straightforward but remember, if in doubt, USE A COMMA.

Next, the three “marks” and how to use them .

The Three “Marks”

And how to use them.

The Question Mark

The main problem with question marks is that people tend to overuse them.

And not just for questions.

For instance:

He didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

This is a statement. The sentence does NOT need a question mark, because it’s not a question, it’s merely recording a query.

Should they go shopping? he thought.

And in case you wondered, it is okay – in theory – to put question marks in the middle of a sentence – though it does admittedly look odd:

They wondered about Derek. Was he dead? they asked themselves.

In some US books I’ve seen the question mark left out of sentences like these.

I guess because it just doesn’t look right, does it? – even though it’s technically correct (as is this.)

The Exclamation Mark

Another overused item.

And you don’t need me to tell you what they’re for.

Okay.

It’s hard not to use them, especially for emphasis.

However, if you use one in fiction more than once every 5000 words, you’re probably overdoing it. 

And make sure you NEVER use the exclamation mark as a device to make a reader laugh.

Or to highlight an absurdity.

It doesn’t work.

You just seem frivolous and manipulative, especially if you use them to emphasize very mild exclamations, or your own sense of irony.

Edit them ruthlessly from your fiction, where the exclamation mark generally says more about the writer’s insecurity over his material than helps emphasize anything meaningful within the text.

The only other thing you need to watch is where you put them around brackets.

It depends on what the exclamation is, because it changes the meaning. For instance:

I’m going to sell my old car (the dirty thing) today!

I’m going to sell my old car (the dirty thing!) today.

As you can see, the emphasis changes slightly in either version.

Quotation Marks

Again, speech marks have seemingly obvious uses but are much misunderstood, especially when writers are tempted to use quotation marks to denote titles of songs, movies etc., when italics are probably more appropriate.

In the US, double speech marks are used for normal dialogue – with speech within quotes using single quotes, as in,

“He told Sandra to ‘meet me by the barn’ and then he left.”

The opposite rule is true in UK and Australia.

‘He told Sandra to “meet me by the barn” and then he left.’

Remember that for each change of speaker, you need to use another paragraph,

“Don’t give me that,” Alastair said.

To which I replied, “Be quiet.”

The habit of some new writers having speech attributed to two or more people in the same paragraph is incorrect (and confusing.)

And, if a person’s speech breaks off into another paragraph, you don’t need to close the speech marks, as in,

“Our nation is an inspiring place to live.

“One by one we grow and prosper,” he continued.

Although you can use quotation marks to denote irony, popular phrases and nicknames, it’s best to think twice before you do it.

We’ve all seen people use air quotes to denote ambiguity.

Often, they’re unnecessary in writing because readers either get what you’re saying or you can use italics to denote ambiguity instead.

And still there are more punctuation hurdles to go!

Next, dastardly dashes.

Dashes

All hail the dash, often regarded as the writer’s favorite piece of punctuation.

It’s been loved by poets like Byron and novelists like Virginia Wolfe, and others, as far back as time goes, often used incorrectly, and probably abhorred by editors for just as long. 

There are two recognized forms of the dash – and they require careful consideration before you sprinkle them throughout your text.

The en rule

This is the most common form of the dash.

It has a space on either side and is usually used to denote a break in thought, or to direct the reader’s attention to a summary or observation that complements the sentence it’s within.

Creative writers love them – if only because they often reflect the thought process – and allow us to create long flowing sentences – without which the writing would seem cumbersome – if not downright confusing – if you can see what we mean by this sentence – ha ha.

I love to use them too, but would advise that when looking back over your work, you try to replace the dash with another piece of punctuation before you decide on leaving it in.

Often, another punctuation mark will do.

The upside is that you’ll find this has the effect of making your dashes seem even more effective when you do use them!

NOTE: The en rule without the space on either side is a different thing altogether.

It is meant to replace ‘to’ or ‘and’, as in 1935–1945 war, pages 336–394, the Lib–Lab pact etc.

The en rule is also not to be confused with the hyphen, which is shorter and has different uses – see below.

The em rule

Different again, the em rule is longer and is most often used to denote faltering speech.

Watch how you use them and remember that WORD doesn’t create them naturally, you have to press the dash button twice and hit a hard return to make them.

And be advised: You do not need any other punctuation anywhere near them.

This is correct:

“It was, it was—” he stammered.

“But wait—you can’t be serious!”

Resist the temptation to overuse this technique in dialogue.

It’s tiresome to read.

Other Uses

In the old days the en rule was used to remove swear words like D—n you, etc., and to remove names and dates that were considered best kept secret, as in Mrs G— or 18—, though I haven’t seen this technique used for almost 100 years now.

(I’m not that old, really!)

The Hyphen

Mainly used to link words together where they are not quite recognizable as one word as in knee-deep, sheep-farming and water-cooler etc.,

Used a lot (before computers) to split up words on typeset pages at line breaks, but rarely used like this now.

Hyphens can also be used to separate numbered sections, as in Verses 3-15 etc.   

The Forward Slash

No, not the psychopath’s favorite party trick, but the humble /.

Its technical name is actually the ‘Solidus’.

Bet you didn’t know that! 

Most often used to denote options – male/female, CD/DVD – they can also be used to set off lines of songs:

“Makes me wonder sometimes/How I keep from going under.”

And of course with statistics: 9/10, 3/4ths

Nowadays, the most famous example is the double solidus used for computer routing, as in https://, which invokes the backward slash that denotes the path of the file in DOS.

Still to come, ellipses…

Ellipsis

Those three little dots…

Again, much misunderstood by writers, despite them being a favorite tool.

The three dots are used to indicate uncertainty, missing speech or anticipation of something unsaid.

That’s it.

They are NOT used to indicate the author can’t think of what to say or is having trouble describing something.

(As many new writers incorrectly use them!)

I’ve often seen ellipses used to indicate a pause or to delay the arrival of a notion or action.

This is a totally incorrect use of ellipses – and as a habit should be banished from your repertoire, forever!

If you need to indicate a pause in fiction, for instance, it should be in the writing – and never in the punctuation.

Publishers disagree as to how they are written – whether there should be a space before or after them or not.

Pedantic editors often put no space on either side like…this.

Which I’m not sure looks right or neat on the page.

It’s usually down to house style.

If in doubt, be consistent.

If you have spaces on either side of your ellipses in your MS, do it every time.

Also, don’t use any other punctuation near them – no commas, no dashes and definitely NO MORE DOTS than three.

And finally for this lesson, we saved the best for last:

The Apostrophe

Surely the single most misused item of punctuation in the English speaking world.

It has a life of its own and can pop up in the most inappropriate of places and dangle in space, desperately looking for its proper home.

Other times, it’s totally absent – off in the wilderness no doubt, lost and forlorn.

The trouble is the apostrophe seems to have too many uses – which is probably why it can be so confusing.

Actually, there are only THREE uses for the apostrophe – so learn them well here.

To form SOME plurals – usually letters and numbers:

She got all A’s and 10’s

To form contractions:

It’s (short for it is), Wasn’t, I’m, You’re, Who’s (short for who is) etc.,

Remember that ‘its’ without an apostrophe does NOT mean ‘it is’.

And ‘its’, as in ‘its properties’, does NOT NEED an apostrophe.

Learn just this one rule – and you’ll be WAY AHEAD of most writers!

Because, of course, the OTHER main use of the apostrophe is:

3. To indicate possession:

Writer’s block, Men’s shoes, Sarah’s handbag, the pen is Mike’s.

When it comes to plurals that end in ‘s’ you would normally add the apostrophe after them, as in, witches’ brew, ten cents’ worth, etc.,

But when it comes to singular words that end in ‘s’, the fashion now is not to add the final ‘s’ after the apostrophe.

For example you wouldn’t write, I like Charles Dickens’s books, only I like Charles Dickens’ books.

It makes more sense and looks nicer.

The best way to remember where apostrophes go and where they don’t is to consciously examine the words around them for sense.

Often if you speak a contraction aloud – and work out which letter or part of a word is being replaced by an apostrophe, you can tell whether it’s right.

When it comes to possessive apostrophes I’m afraid, you really do need to work out who and/or what the something belongs to, before you can know whether the apostrophe is right, and whether it’s in its right place.

Conclusion

Well, that was a long series of lessons over a seemingly simple subject.

I recommend that if you’re in any doubt about punctuation, you should make a habit of studying these lessons over and again, to get the subtlety of it all clear in your mind.

Getting punctuation right is actually much more important to your future success than you probably think!

Mainly because, if you keep getting things wrong, people will think you’re a moron!

Harsh, but fair.

Grammar Introduction

If you were a guitarist in a band you’d want to know all the chords, wouldn’t you?

You’d want to be play in tune and keep time with the rest of the band.

That’s what knowing the basics is about – unless you know what you’re doing and playing correctly, how is anyone ever going to know whether you’re any good?

It’s the same principle with writing.

If you hit bum notes and you don’t know any better, your incompetence stands out like a purple canary at the beach.

Now we look at grammar – and I know for a fact this is one area where most new writers will say, “I know all there is to know, okay?” and will continue to make fundamental errors without questioning what they’re doing.

Okay, so there’s a lot you can get away with – and it’s okay to be ungrammatical sometimes IF you know what you’re doing.

Grammar Basics

I can tell you that pretty much everything you need to know about grammar is contained within the sentence, The cat sat on the mat.

Subject, verb, object – and in the preferred order.

Grammatically correct too would be, On the mat the cat sat, or Sat on the mat was the cat.

But you can immediately see that reordering the words is forcing the reader to do extra work to make sense of a simple proposition.

You might think, So what?

Isn’t messing with words okay if it sounds good?

Perhaps.

But are your sentences easy to understand?

When sentences get long and complicated, when the subjects and their  verbs become separated, the more difficult it is to keep the sense correct.

They’re also harder to read.

Your aim, unless you’re being deliberately obtuse, is to create see-through text that doesn’t get in the way of your meaning.

Many new writers seem to want to obscure meaning behind suspect grammar, hyperbole, cliché, and flowery descriptions – because they believe it sounds literary – but in fact usually just sounds pompous.

Basically, if your meaning isn’t transparently clear, if it’s hidden beneath a layer of verbosity and ‘bent rules’, your writing is not working as weal as it should.

People think in a linear fashion.

They prefer to read sentences that impart information in a linear way.   

The message?

Keep it simple.

Don’t complicate sentences for effect.

Common Grammar Problems

Probably the most common mistake for writers (usually in their first drafts) is to put in many adjectives and adverbs – descriptors – and then allow them to get too far away from their subjects.

This can lead to confusion over what or who is being described.

Probably the best way to get around this issue is to question whether you need your adjectives and adverbs at all.

Consider this:

He whispered low and softly in her ear and her midnight-blue eyes sparkled luminously.   

Is this really any better than:

He whispered into her ear and her eyes sparkled?

The sense is clear in the second version.

It gives the reader something to imagine and it’s not weighted down by words that are largely unnecessary.

Sentence Fragments

Personally, we like sentence fragments.

Sometimes they work very well, especially when writing internal dialogue.

But we also know that editors worry about them.

They worry that sentence fragments are often grammatically incorrect because they may not contain a verb or a subject – a heinous sin to a perfectionist.

It’s often a matter of taste – and the sense of the sentences around a fragment. Consider this:

He worried all the time. Couldn’t help himself. It was mother, of course. Always on at him. Digging. Making assumptions. Expecting the worst. 

Clearly it’s the short sharp phrases here that are dramatically effective – and separating the clauses with commas or semi-colons, though more correct, might lessen the power of the sentiments.

My advice would be to not overuse fragments – they’re an example of breaking the rules when you know them well.

Parallelism

Big word – tough issue.

Unfortunately, also a common area for mistakes.

What is it?

It’s when you use a conjunction or a modifier inconsistently.

Not helping? Try this:

His only options were to think, act quickly or run away.

You think this is okay, right?

It’s not.

His only options were to think, to act quickly, or to run away.

This may seem like a simple enough rule but when you’re writing complex sentences, it’s easy to lose the grammatical thread unless you’re conscious of following it.

And you need to make sure that words like either and only are modifying the right phrase, subject or verb.

Again, mistakes are easily made.

Aim for simplicity and clarity - and remove all but the most essential words.

Then, you won’t go far wrong.

Verb Tense

How many times have you written a phrase like this:

I would have liked to have tried some cake?

Looks okay, doesn’t it?

But it’s not.

Correct is:

I would have liked to try some cake.

This is correct UNLESS the phrase is followed by another past event as in,

I would have liked to have tried some cake before I left the party.

Moving the tense around can be tricky in fiction especially.

You need to keep a careful eye on consistency AND be aware that your writing may slip into passivity, which tends to distance your reader from the text.

We’ll be looking at the crucial topic of active writing versus passive writing in a later lesson.

Was / Were

Most people understand this one – that was/were should ‘agree’ with the verb it’s attached to – and that plurals can be singular too, depending on which verb you’re using. As in:

Grass seeds were scattered across the field.

The farmer’s solution was grass seed.

QUICK TIP: The trick to eradicating lots of grammatical problems is often to find the subject and track its modifiers throughout the entirety of the sentence.

And not to use more than one or more subjects in a sentence to confuse the issue!

Split Infinitives

Star Trek has a lot to answer for. 

‘To boldly go where no man has gone before’ has placed the split infinitive into our cultural heritage.

It used to be that placing an adverb before the verb was unthinkable – but nowadays it’s allowed if it ‘sounds’ nicer, which it often does.

Just make sure your adverb doesn’t get too far away from the verb, as in,

He opened the back door against the strong wind, carefully, which is stretching good taste in grammar somewhat.

Better would be: He carefully opened the back door… even though a few years ago this would have been considered incorrect.

And watch your use of the word ‘really’ which some writers put in the strangest of places.

I’d recommend not using it at all outside of dialogue.

Pronoun Agreement

“A writer should use their good judgment.”

Okay, this is commonly seen but grammatically incorrect, because it should read, “A writer should use his or her good judgment.”

‘Their’ is strictly for use in plurals – but ‘his or her’, ‘he and/or she’ etc., can get wearing to read – and just makes you sounds as though you’re being politically pedantic.

What’s the alternative then? Alas, there isn’t one.

It’s actually common to see “their” paired with a singular person.

If you’re in any doubt, you’ll need to rewrite the sentence until it is correct, as in,

Chris couldn’t write his thesis and Beth struggled with hers too.

Adverbs

Remove all adverbs as a general rule.

We know this rule but often ignore it because the masters do.

But there’s another aspect to consider.

Usually adverbs end in ‘ly’ – except when they are describing sensations associated with sight, taste, sound, feel and smell. Adverbs then become adjectives. As in,

He looked hard. That smells bad. She heard wrong. They felt awful.

Prepositions

Personally, I’ve never understood why you’re not supposed to end a sentence with to, or for or in or on, even with.

If you rewrite the sentence, He acted because he wanted to – into an alternative, It was an act to which he felt compelled – you immediately see how the writer can end up sounding pompous and unnatural.

Consider, “That’s a great song to end the set on.”

Is anyone sane really going to say,

“That’s a great song on which to end the set.”?

ASIDE: Don’t believe those people who swear that ‘Robyn and I’, for instance, is correct whereas, ‘Robyn and me’ is not.

To test the validity of this premise, you need only to take a sentence like:

“The email was sent from Robyn and I.”

Could you remove ‘Robyn and’ from the sentence?

“The email was sent from I.”

I think not.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with:

“The email was sent from Robyn and me.”

There you have it.

Proof!

Dangling Modifiers

Soaring high up in the air, I kicked the ball.

You’d be surprised how often I see this mistake.

There’s a tendency for new authors to think that putting a modifier at the beginning of a sentence is a great way of breaking up the rhythm and monotony of sentences, even though we rarely do this is normal speech, or even when we’re thinking.

It’s a literary trick – a clumsy one too – because it places the emphasis on the wrong end of the sentence – and assumes a reader is going to hang on to work out the sense of sentence after the fact.

It’s arrogant to do that and can easily lead to errors in grammar, as the above quote clearly shows.

My advice would be to try not to do use dangling modifiers – and preferably rewrite sentences, most likely breaking them in two, rather than risk getting these things wrong.

Conclusion

That’s it for this part.

You’re probably glad this lesson is over!

But as I said before, all you need to do is regularly re-visit these issues and get to know the foibles associated with the English language.

There will always be little niggling rules that are exceptions – but to me that’s part of what makes the English language so captivating, and such fun to master (if that’s even possible.)

Next Module we begin to look at Self Editing as a craft, not just a chore but a necessity for the modern writer.

Split Infinitives

Star Trek has a lot to answer for. 

‘To boldly go where no man has gone before’ has placed the split infinitive into our cultural heritage.

It used to be that placing an adverb before the verb was unthinkable – but nowadays it’s allowed if it ‘sounds’ nicer, which it often does.

Just make sure your adverb doesn’t get too far away from the verb, as in,

He opened the back door against the strong wind, carefully, which is stretching good taste in grammar somewhat.

Better would be: He carefully opened the back door… even though a few years ago this would have been considered incorrect.

And watch your use of the word ‘really’ which some writers put in the strangest of places.

I’d recommend not using it at all outside of dialogue.

Pronoun Agreement

“A writer should use their good judgment.”

Okay, this is commonly seen but grammatically incorrect, because it should read, “A writer should use his or her good judgment.”

‘Their’ is strictly for use in plurals – but ‘his or her’, ‘he and/or she’ etc., can get wearing to read – and just makes you sounds as though you’re being politically pedantic.

What’s the alternative then? Alas, there isn’t one.

It’s actually common to see “their” paired with a singular person.

If you’re in any doubt, you’ll need to rewrite the sentence until it is correct, as in,

Chris couldn’t write his thesis and Beth struggled with hers too.

Prepositions

Personally, I’ve never understood why you’re not supposed to end a sentence with to, or for or in or on, even with.

If you rewrite the sentence, He acted because he wanted to – into an alternative, It was an act to which he felt compelled – you immediately see how the writer can end up sounding pompous and unnatural.

Consider, “That’s a great song to end the set on.”

Is anyone sane really going to say,

“That’s a great song on which to end the set.”?

ASIDE: Don’t believe those people who swear that ‘Robyn and I’, for instance, is correct whereas, ‘Robyn and me’ is not.

To test the validity of this premise, you need only to take a sentence like:

“The email was sent from Robyn and I.”

Could you remove ‘Robyn and’ from the sentence?

“The email was sent from I.”

I think not.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with:

“The email was sent from Robyn and me.”

There you have it.

Proof!

Dangling Modifiers

Soaring high up in the air, I kicked the ball.

You’d be surprised how often I see this mistake.

There’s a tendency for new authors to think that putting a modifier at the beginning of a sentence is a great way of breaking up the rhythm and monotony of sentences, even though we rarely do this is normal speech, or even when we’re thinking.

It’s a literary trick – a clumsy one too – because it places the emphasis on the wrong end of the sentence – and assumes a reader is going to hang on to work out the sense of sentence after the fact.

It’s arrogant to do that and can easily lead to errors in grammar, as the above quote clearly shows.

My advice would be to try not to do use dangling modifiers – and preferably rewrite sentences, most likely breaking them in two, rather than risk getting these things wrong.

Conclusion

That’s it for this part.

You’re probably glad this lesson is over!

But as I said before, all you need to do is regularly re-visit these issues and get to know the foibles associated with the English language.

There will always be little niggling rules that are exceptions – but to me that’s part of what makes the English language so captivating, and such fun to master (if that’s even possible.)

Next Module we begin to look at Self Editing as a craft, not just a chore but a necessity for the modern writer.

Your First Draft

Whatever you do, don’t beat yourself up over the first draft.

As Hemingway once said with his trademark tact and directness:

“All first drafts are shit.”

Take this to heart. Believe it. Live by it.

Absorbing the notion that all first drafts are not ready to be read will take the pressure off you.

It means you will never have to worry about your first draft again – because nobody but you is ever going to read it.

Agreed?

Make a commitment.

However good you might think your first go at a story or article is, decide now that you will NEVER show your first draft of anything to anyone, not even your nearest and dearest – in fact particularly your loved ones, who have an annoying knack of judging your chances of publication on your first efforts, and most often find you wanting.

For practical reasons too, not least averting the specter of the dreaded writer’s block, it’s important that you don’t let anyone, including yourself, pre-judge your writing.

Don’t Edit During Your First Draft

The first draft is about getting your ideas down on paper.

It’s not about creating fabulous – or even half decent – prose.

The first draft is just that – your first go at relating the story. 

You don’t need to worry about logic or style or even coherence.

The first draft is your way of getting the images, people and places in your head out and on to the page.

Struggling with the writing process and thinking too much instead of writing will actually hinder you at this stage.

Don’t worry about what you’re writing.

Everything is open to review later. Don’t let yourself become one of those writers who never finished their first draft because it’s not perfect to you.

If you fall into this trap, you’ll likely never finish anything. In terms of confidence and your future success, completion of the first draft may be the biggest hurdle you will ever face. 

But it needs to be done, finished – not only for the huge psychological boost this can provide but because, perhaps obviously, you’ll never have something that warrants editing at all, until you master writing complete first drafts.

To reiterate one more time – DO NOT start editing until you’ve reached the VERY END of your manuscript.

Editing before you have a completed first draft - with its ending – is a waste of your precious time.

On Setting Your Work Aside

Tabloid journalism is perhaps the only area of writing where speed is a factor.

Most other parts of the writing industry work at a snail’s pace.

There’s no sin in taking your time over your writing – after all it may take agents, publishers or producers weeks, months or even years to get back to you.

Let’s face it, some of them will never get back to you – especially if your writing is not  working for them.

There’s no hurry.

No publisher is going to be impressed by a manuscript that is hurriedly thrown together or undeveloped – a favorite cop out.

Indeed this is the most common complaint from publishers – that writers haven’t taken sufficient time to really work on their stories, articles or submissions to make them the best they can be.

There’s differing advice on how much is the right amount of time.

Some say months, some say weeks or at least a few days.

What you don’t want to do is to dive immediately from the first draft into the second.

You’re too close to it.

You can’t see that most of the story you want to tell is still inside your head.

Give yourself plenty of time to gain the objectivity you will need.

Pre-Edit For Your Future Editor

When you’re finally ready to start the editing and revision process, think on this:

Even if you end up using a professional, think of the time and energy the editor will save if you’ve already done the majority of the work.

Professional editors loathe fixing simple, mindless mistakes that should not be in a manuscript.

Be kind to your future editor, do as much as you can first!

It’ll save you money for a start.

As I say, editing and revising is writing, so improving your editing abilities will improve all your writing and communication skills.

Which is surely what you want.

Writing is your passion, so you want to improve your craft, right?

Not only will you learn a lot from the process of editing itself, but if your manuscript is in the best possible shape before you hand it over to your editor, the feedback you’ll receive will help you discover further ways to improve your writing – from the next book onward!

Next we look at your self-editing checklist.

When you’re ready…

Read your first draft quickly once – all the way through, without stopping.

This will help you get an overview of the story or piece in your mind. Be mindful of the pace and how the story comes across.

When you’ve finished this read-through give thought to how the story unfolds.

Have you given sufficient weight to all of the story elements?

Is there balance?

Did you waffle on about irrelevancies?

If you don’t think you did, then you could be still too close to the story to begin editing.

Make notes at this stage about the overall sweep of the story.

Is there too much set up?

Is the ending rushed? Or too slow?

Does the action flag in the middle?

Is the main character likable?

Are the obstacles clearly defined?   

Are the antagonists doing their job?

Remember that your hero can only be challenged as much as his obstacles.

Make it too easy for the hero and the reader will get bored.

Are the stakes high enough?

Ask yourself: if the story didn’t happen to the hero, what would happen?

If your answer is: ‘nothing much’ or he’d ‘go back to normal’ then you probably don’t have a story worth telling.

A character’s path through a story should change that character forever in such a way that you can’t imagine the story without the events having happened to him.

Get a feel for the arc of the story – is it logical, does it flow, is it compelling?

Then…

Read Your MS Again

This time read and make notes about:

Balance – is there the right combination of exposition to drama, dialogue to description, character development to action? 

Plotting – is there enough story and do the elements unfold in the right order?

Dialogue – is there enough? Too much? (There can rarely be too much dialogue!)

Sense – would the story make sense to the average reader?

Have you made the plots elements and the character development believable?

Do the characters behave consistently throughout the story? 

Meaning – does your overall theme come across? Or has it been lost in translation?

Pace – is there enough movement in the story to keep a reader’s interest?

Excitement – is the action compelling?

Logic – do all of the story elements hang together well?

Don’t edit to perfection yet.

That still comes later.

At this point make notes on the page, even if they’re prompts like, develop this, more description here, re-work this section or delete.

And yes, there’s nothing wrong with deleting whole sections that do nothing for the STORY.

Deleting can make your project feel cleaner, more cohesive.

Try it.

Questions

In fiction it’s important that the emphasis is on character and plot: story.

In particular you need to pay attention to how sympathetic the characters are.

You should ask yourself questions.

Are they believable?

Do they involve the reader?

Does the reader care about the hero from page one?

If not, why not?

Does the reader ‘get’ the antagonists?

Is the reader going to be involved in the story – or will she get bored? 

Before I begin the second draft I may walk around the garden, continually asking questions:

Have a stated the story idea at the beginning of it?

Is each section reinforcing the story theme, if only in metaphor?

If it’s a mystery – is it mysterious?

If it’s a thriller – is it thrilling?

Is it paced well enough to maintain the reader’s interest?

In the middle, are there obstacles?

If not, why not?

Do I need to foreshadow events?

Are there enough twists?

Are there cliffhangers at the end of each chapter?

Is the passage of time dealt with correctly?

I tend to map the time, even if I don’t mention it in the text, just to make sure there’s enough real time for the story to happen – and so that there’s no logic flaws where something can’t happen because such and such won’t know about it yet.

I then imagine the story as a diagram.

Is there an upward flow to the plot?

Is the story becoming ever more compelling?

Is the action pulling the characters along – or vice versa?

Is the climax in the right place?

Have I given sufficient time to breaks in the action?

Is there enough breathing space between high action scenes, internal and external dialogue – and the more reflective passages?

This is also a time when I look at the loose ends that might arise at the end of the story.

My aim is to end on a high point, so I tend to want to tie up the loose ends before the main climax.

I work these into the story too at this point, making notes on the manuscript.

And just before I begin the second draft, I ask myself:

As a whole, is the story satisfying?

Is it clear?

Is it the kind of ride where the reader is swept up into another world and pulled along by the story until she is gasping at the end?

This doesn’t mean the story has to be a rollercoaster of thrills.

Only that the writing is hard to put down – that each sequence forces the reader to keep going, to find out what happens next. 

Only then I will plow into the second draft, secure in the knowledge that the story now unfolds correctly and has the extra information and all the plot points it needs – and of course not forgetting to remind myself to delete story threads that either complicate the story or take it nowhere.

I do all this work before the second draft because to me the second draft is the one that is far closer to the finished product than the first.

I might even be able to show the second draft to people.

But I doubt it.

Even the third draft, I would suggest, is not ready for publication!

The Pursuit of Transparency

Transparency is the ultimate aim of your editing – that is, to remove any barriers between the subject of your writing and the reader, to make your writing, in a sense, ‘invisible’.

I’d even go so far as to state this more radically:

You primary aim is to make the reader feel as though they’re not actually reading at all.

You have a hot line to their brain.

Your thoughts are theirs.

They are living, breathing, thinking and experiencing your subject matter through your writing without actually being aware there are any words.

Transparent writing is a skill you can master – but only when you are prepared to take the requisite time and to pay particular attention to the elements I outline below.

As you read on, you might begin to think that much of what we suggest sounds like hard work – slicing and dicing your writing continually, literally line by line, to ensure it’s always at its best.

But really, this is the fun part: making your writing exceptionally effective, whether it be fiction or non-fiction.

The Next Draft

Before you start on the next draft, make sure you’ve had time away from the manuscript.

This will maximize your objectivity.

Now, we need to look at your writing word by word, line by line.

This is usually a slow process – as it should be.

For example, if you usually write 1000 words an hour, you should probably spend the same time editing around 200 words to make them as perfect as you can.

This is only a guide – you may work faster or slower. I just want to make the point that editing is not a race – it is intentionally slow and painstaking.

Editing this intensely, if you’re not used to doing it, may seem like a backward step to you.

You’re probably used to creating your writing as you go along – and believing it’s near perfect at that point.

This is usually false.

When you start writing consistently it’s tempting to believe that what you’re writing is pretty much what you want to say, and the way you want to say it, ergo, it doesn’t need changing very much.

Uh-huh. Maybe so.

But it’s unlikely it’s any way near finished.

After the first draft, you went back and did the second right?

You put in all the rewriting and extra information you missed the first time around – and of course you made those deletions.

So you now need to go back to your manuscript a third time and treat it as if it’s a whole new piece of writing.

You have to make it work – again.

Just because you had thoughts and ideas that were brimming with meaning and significance during your first and second drafts, it in no way means that any of that meaning and significance is actually in the text.

You need to slow right down and read the MS carefully, word by word, and edit as appropriate.

Sentence by sentence you need to crawl – slowly – through the text and ask yourself important questions.

At each period (full stop) ask yourself:

Does this sentence say exactly what I want it to say?

If not, change it. Then

Is this sentence written in the best way possible to communicate its meaning?

If not, again, change it.

Does this sentence link logically with the previous – and the next?

If not then again, you must change it.

Good writing is not a random act.

Apparently free flowing text is often an illusion.

Most likely good, easy to read and understand text is the result of pain-staking analysis of each word, sentence and paragraph.

If you don’t believe this – then, what can we say, you probably don’t yet have enough experience of writing.

Be unpredictable

Editing For Impact

The impact your writing has on your reader is in your hands.

I’ve already stressed to you that if your writing contains many simple errors – like the ones we’ve discussed in the previous modules, you are seriously undermining your chances of being taken seriously – by anyone, let alone a publisher.

But if your writing is less than perfect, then simply fixing typos and grammatical errors is really only re-arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.

Even after a quick edit for glaring errors and spelling mistakes, you will still need to increase the readability and accessibility of your writing by improving phrasing, word use and rhythm.

The Beginner’s Torment

Many new writers regard this process of editing when the work seems done as equivalent of literary murder – they hate the idea that their work might need seriously editing at this point.

They will often complain bitterly that their own meaning is perhaps being ruined or destroyed.

They often wonder why it was worth them writing it at all if all their sentences are going to be cut, sliced and rearranged!

This is understandable.

But what the beginner also needs to understand is that there are ‘accepted conventions’ about how readers take in information.

For example, if your writing style is too verbose or too lyrical or simply badly constructed, the reader will know instinctively there’s something not quite right – and will wonder why you write in such a way as to be ‘hard to read’.

Many new writers use compound sentences badly, or transpose propositions for effect – or because that’s how they hear the sentences in their heads.

The fact is we read from left to write – and pick up information along the way.

If you write convoluted sentences in the mistaken belief you’re being literary, then these are the type of errors that need to be fixed.

This is not to say you have to ‘lose your style’.

Often a good edit (even if you get someone else to do it) should strengthen your style.

By editing, all you’re doing is making your meaning clearer, your phrasing more economical and your writing ultimately more powerful.

Far from ruining your writing, you’re making it soar. 

Whenever you edit and polish your manuscript, you should be focused on just one thing – improving its impact on the reader.

And there are three main criteria involved in this process:

Impact, Clarity and Sense.

We’ll look at each in turn, next.

Clarity

Many new writers think that using lots of adjectives and adverbs gives richness to their writing – that the more images the reader is bombarded with, the better.

Wrong.

More than totally necessary words confuse the reader and make sentences harder to take in.

For instance,

Brewing like a hive of restless bees in the nether regions of his darkening mind, Old Jake listlessly formulated a heinous plan of action.

This has far more impact as:

Old Jake hatched a plan.

Your mum might think that the first sentence shows you have mastery of the English language – but unless you’re fourteen years old, the writing in the first sentence is pretentious, unnecessarily wordy, complicated and does nothing to impress a reader, far less a publisher.

It drags.

It’s dull.

Okay, let’s face it, it’s crap.

I hope you agree.

But I’d be surprised if you couldn’t find evidence of this kind of writing in your own work.

Look, we all do it sometimes – especially when we go back over the writing in the second draft and think maybe we should add just one more descriptor, perhaps two or three, until the whole sentence becomes unmanageable – and worse, ineffective.

The second sentence is far more effective because the meaning is clear and concise, is easy to understand, and doesn’t require the reader to slow down or stumble over the words.

This is what you want.

As I intimated, it’s called transparency.

There should be as few obstacles as possible getting in between your meaning and the reader’s brain.   

Overly flowery writing is ineffective primarily because the reader is all too aware they are reading an author, a word-smith, a creator.

You might think is terrific.

Many new writers do.

Again, wrong!

If the reader is aware of the writer more than his is aware of the writing, then the writing is not working.

This was not necessarily true in the past when authors were experimenting.

Two hundred years ago, a hundred years ago, even fifty years ago, it may have been acceptable for the ‘author’s voice’ to come ringing like Big Ben through the text.

But unless you’re a paid columnist or a celebrity, it is not acceptable writing in these modern days.

I often hear writers complain that, “Well, I read this writer and he did all the things you say not to do. How come he can do it and I can’t?”

Simple answer.

Don’t judge your own writing by other author’s bad habits.

Be a perfectionist if you want to get published.

You have to be better than them.

Sense

Remember that your idea of sense may not be the same as someone else’s.

In order to sell books, you need to be understood by 99% of rational readers.

Most people have an inbuilt radar about what makes sense and what doesn’t.

There’s only a certain amount of bending of the facts or literary license that you can get away with – especially in the modern world where rationality is king.

Unless you show a logical progression from one idea to another in non-fiction – or a sequence of believable and credible events in fiction – you will quickly lose the reader, probably forever.

Be sure that not only are your individual ideas expressed well but that your overall point, theme or argument makes sense.

This doesn’t mean you can’t write about vampires or space aliens or have non-believable elements in your fiction.

Far from it.

But what do you have to do is to create convincing arguments that make sense, to make your stories credible to the reader. 

Logic

I believe that a story, an article or a non-fiction book is a series of propositions.

Just like the philosophers of old like Plato and Socrates, you have shape ideas and concepts that are logical, and in the right order, before a reader will accept them.

For instance, Aristotle once had to explain to his students that he thought the world was not flat, as was believed at the time.

He didn’t just say ‘The world is round’ because his students wouldn’t have believed him, so first he said,

“If the world was flat, we’d be able to see every piece of land laid out in front of us, unless there was a mountain in the way.”

This was a point his students accepted. Then he told them:

“When a ship sails out to sea, it disappears over the horizon.”

Another point his audience had to accept as fact.

“Therefore,” Aristotle continued, “I have come to believe the land is curving downward at the horizon, most likely because the land we live upon is spherical.”

You see how this process takes a proposition, then more evidence, leading to an inescapable conclusion.

Well, this same process works for you when you’re constructing paragraphs and chapters – you need to make a series of propositions that a reader accepts in order to lead them to a logical conclusion.

This is especially true of internal and external dialogue, where the most appropriate connections need to be seen by the reader in order for them to believe in the text.   

This is why little things like ‘turn of phrase’ are important.

Each time you use a sentence, be sure that the meaning is clear to you. And then ask yourself,

Is there another way of saying this?

If so, what is it?

Would the meaning be clearer then?

But what if it’s not to me?

Would this meaning be clear to everyone that read it?

What sort of person wouldn’t get it?

Is there a way of phrasing this sentence so that all or the majority of people would understand it?

And don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is somehow writing down to the lowest common denominator, though you might think it sounds like it!

You are simply doing your best to make sure there are no possible misunderstandings about your meaning, no little foibles about the language or personal colloquialisms that slip in – and definitely nothing that your publisher might scratch their head over.

It’s simply not worth leaving in anything that might cause confusion – even just a tad.

Bad Habits to Avoid

Dangling Modifiers

Most common when you begin a sentence with a vague proposition which doesn’t match the subject later in the sentence.

EXAMPLE:

Hoping to make them feel better, my friends were scathing about my suggestion.

Problem: This is a dangling modifier because we do not know who or what was hoping to make them feel better. It is unlikely that the friends were hoping to garner favor, since they wouldn't have made the suggestion themselves.

This sentence could be corrected by adding a proper subject, or identifying the person who was hoping to win over the parents. For example,

Hoping to garner favor, I made a suggestion that left my friends cold. Now, the modifier is no longer dangling, since the subject - or the person - is identified.

Modifiers 101

A modifier modifies or provides more information.

In grammar, adverbs and adjectives are both modifiers.

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

EXAMPLE:

The supremely happy girl smiled coyly.

Happy is an adjective modifying the noun girl. Supremely is an adverb modifying the adjective happy

The girl smiled very coyly.

Very is an adverb modifying coyly. Coyly is an adverb modifying the verb smiled.

Modifiers must be as close as possible to the thing they are modifying. Otherwise, confusion can result.

Run On Sentences

Run on sentences occur when you’re writing fast and you don’t realize you’ve crushed too many propositions into one sentence, often where commas, dashes used instead of a period or full stop.

A run-on sentence can be fixed by connecting its parts correctly. There are several ways to connect independent clauses.

Use a period. The easiest way to fix a run-on is to split the sentence into smaller sentences using a period. Careful this doesn’t result in too many short, choppy sentences.

Inserting a semicolon between independent clauses can create a grammatically correct sentence. Using a semicolon is a stylistic choice that establishes a close relationship between the two sentences.

Use a comma and a coordinating conjunction. A comma, paired with a coordinating conjunction (such as and, but, or or), may correct a run-on sentence. This method emphasizes the relationship between the two clauses.

Use a subordinating conjunction. Turn one of the independent clauses into a dependent clause. A subordinating conjunction (such as because, unless, and although) connects two clauses to create a complex sentence. This option works to cement the relationship between the two parts of the sentence and may improve the flow of the clauses.

However you decide to revise for run-on sentences, remember that maintaining sentence variety helps to keep the writing clear and interesting for your readers.

Sentence Fragments

A sentence fragment is a string of words that does not form a complete sentence; there is a  necessary component of a complete sentence missing. This missing component may be a subject (usually a noun) or a predicate (verb or verb phrase) and/or when the sentence does not express a complete idea.

Here is an example of a fragment with a missing subject.

Got no better at hitting the target.

The sentence above is a fragment since there is no subject (Who is shooting?). Fragments can be corrected by identifying the missing element and including it.

Revision:

The cop got no better at hitting the target.

If you must use sentence fragments, be sparing.

Reversals

This happens when writers try to make sentences more interesting by changing the order of the sentence components.

The typical, simplest English sentence structure takes the subject (S), verb (V), object (O) grammatical pattern, which is frequently abbreviated to SVO.

EXAMPLE:

The dog (S) chewed (V) the bone (O).

In contrast to the typical English sentence grammatical structure, some authors change the normal word order.

The bone was chewed by the dog. (OVS)

Chewing, the dog looked up. (VSO)

You need to be careful when you change the order of the grammatical elements. What might strike you as clever Will strike the reader as awkward.

Descriptors

You can change the words you use to describe actions to make the writing more interesting.

Examples:

Whispered instead of said quietly, or

Yelled instead of said loudly.

Unnecessary & Redundancies

He turned his head,

She waved her hand.

Repetition

Using the same sentence structure over and over can get boring. Try to mix up sentence length and vary the rhythm of your text.

Use of “it”.

Using the indefinite pronoun can make sentences hard to read because you’re being unspecific.

It was hard.

What was hard?

Rhythm

Make your writing flow smoothly. Be aware of the rhythm and make sure everything you say is clear and logical.

Be Specific

Don’t be vague in your description of things. Use definite articles and objects. Describe things instead of being general. Don’t just say “a gun”, say which gun. Don’t just walk past flowers and trees, mention the flower names, the types of trees, be vivid.

Overused Words

You may need to run a software program to find your favorite words. Sometimes we overuse words that don’t notice - but the reader does!

Especially gerunds, those Ing words.

Sticky Words

Certain words act like glue and stop readers from reading quickly. Words like but, the, is, not, as, by, and, only, that, now are prime examples. Their overuse can grate on a reader. 

Repeats.

You’ll be amazed how often you repeat words - and use them close together. Use a software program to spot them.

Echoes

These are similar to repeats: they’re phrases we use over and over, probably unconsciously. Again, use a software program like Pro Writing Aid to identify them.

Long Sentences

Pretty much anything over 30 words should be avoided. Sentences between 10 and 15 words are ideal.

Inconsistency

As I say, spelling something wrong every time is preferable to different spelling. The same rule goes for hyphenation, acronyms, punctuation and capitalization.

Alliteration

Sometimes words that use the same consonants can sound great together. Done too often however and it can start to sound like comedy.

Engage all the senses

Touch, smell, and taste as well as sight and sound. Also intuition and the psychic sense.

Avoid cliches

Remove cliches in your text, except in dialogue sometimes, where people often use cliches to get their point across.

The rest of the time, pair unexpected words or ideas together to make your work seem original and fresh.

Avoid Slang

You wouldn’t expect to read an English translation of a French book that left in all the French nouns for everyday objects, would you?

It’s the same principle.

If you must use unfamiliar words, explain what they are the first time you mention them.

Then everybody’s happy.

You can use slang in dialogue – as long as it’s not too dense.

But remember to edit out accents from dialogue.

Words with lots of weird punctuation around them just look like typos.

Conclusion

So, I hope you’ve enjoyed this little romp around the business of editing.

The trick is to approach it like it’s a necessary part of the writing process.

One that deserves respect, time and reverence.

Now, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact me.

I’m always available for feedback, guidance and just a pep talk if you need it.

Don’t forget to look at the bonus section connected to this course.

There’s lots of free PDFs to complement the videos, and they’re full of useful information like:

How to format for Kindle

How to select a good editing software and

There’s also a list of editors you might want to try.

I’ve included price lists and lots of other helpful info.

Until next time,

Keep Writing!

And editing - and revising!

I’m Rob Parnell

See you again soon!