I should preface this all by saying that I do not want to give anyone a complex. It is important not to overthink your first draft and constantly second guess yourself as I, myself, am disposed to doing. The voice of my inner editor can, and often does, disrupt the flow of my writing process. Nevertheless, there are some habits that new writers may want to break in order to improve their writing and make the editing process easier. Remember, editors have a lot of material to review, and, in this day and age, it seems to be all about getting content published as quickly as possible.
I am still getting used to the idea of editing and proofreading the work of others. In fact, I have plenty of doubts and insecurities when it comes to my own writing. Yet, there are a few issues that I come across frequently and which are fairly easy to correct. I have listed a few of them here.
1.) Putting two spaces after a sentence. This is something most of us learned in grammar school, but it no longer applies. I've heard that the practice of using two spaces to separate sentences harkens back to a time when typewriters were commonly used. Nowadays, space is at a premium and the wider gap can be disruptive to the flow of one's writing.
2.) Commas or dashes separating two (or more) independent clauses. Independent clauses work fine on their own, and short, simple sentences can be very effective. They can also be combined using conjunctions. Still, if using a conjunction seems inappropriate, and you really think that two otherwise complete sentences belong together as one thought, use a semi-colon to separate them.
3.) Not spelling out numbers up to ten. This varies depending on the style guide used (some recommend writing out numbers up to 100) and does not pertain to headlines. It can seem like nitpicking; however, it is generally disruptive to the reader when he/she has to switch between numbers and letters. On the other hand, writing out long numbers can feel clunky and take up a lot of space. Because, as a rule, numbers at the beginning of sentences should be written out in word form, it is best to avoid beginning a sentence with large figures whenever possible.
4.) Using the same word multiple times in a sentence or paragraph. This can be, at times, unavoidable. You may have noticed that I did it above with the word "sentence." Clarity is paramount in writing, and sometimes there just isn't a better word. Also, using some obscure word you found in the thesaurus can come off as pretentious. But consider the following unpalatable sentence:
Wanting some food, I went for food at the Food Truck Rodeo, which offers some of the best food around.
In this case, replacing an instance of the word "food" with, say, "alimentation" is probably not the best way to go. Sometimes you just need to find a different way of phrasing your thought. There will be other times, however, when the dictionary and thesaurus will be your best friends.
5.) Verb agreement. If you are telling a story in the past tense, you need to stick with it. Here is an absurdly egregious example:
Yesterday, we went to the market, had eaten apples, and enjoy them very much.
Being a stickler can often be unpleasant, and sometimes it seems as though rules can hold us back creatively. At the same time, the most creative among us may use the confinement of these rules to construct more thoughtful, meaningful sentences and more easily flowing prose.
Are there any editors out there? What are your biggest peeves and most often-encountered issues?
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