#1: Write it! - #2: Proofread it! - #3: Match it! - #4: Format it! - #5: Introduce it! - #6: Send it! - #7: Monitor it!

StoryBoard
Step #2: Proofread it!

Spelling

Typewriters. If you’re using a manual typewriter—and I certainly hope you’re not—bite the bullet and get a computer. (Check out my "Methods of Writing: Computers vs. Typewriters vs. Pens" page.)

Computers. Computers mean word processors, and word processors generally mean spell checks. It’s too easy to type “teh” for “the” or “runnign” for “running” strictly as typographical errors; word processors will generally catch these and even auto-correct on the fly.

This isn’t to say you can use spell checkers, but you still need to proofread your story to make sure it didn’t miss anything (they aren’t infallible).

Computers. What spell checkers don’t generally do is check your grammar. A lot of word processors have grammar checkers built in to them, but these are extremely unreliable. They’re generally good at figuring out you have a run-on or fragmented sentence going, but they aren’t too good at realizing you typed their when you meant there; the spelling was correct but the usage was wrong.

Read it aloud. Look for things that don’t read right. An excellent trick is to read your manuscript aloud; it’s amazing how much you catch doing that. Run-on sentences don’t tend to seem that way when you’re reading your own work silently to yourself, because your brain doesn’t have to breathe. Try it out loud and if you find yourself running out of air, that’s a good cue a sentence might need to be revised. Likewise, things that just plain “sound funny” will make themselves evident – sentence fragments, dangling or misplaced modifiers, and so on, will all sound as bad as they are. Reading it aloud is especially helpful to avoid contrived dialogue.

It isn’t that hard, really, but we all make mistakes. It’s easy to hit the comma key on the keyboard instead of the period. But, aside from common glitches, there are rules to proper punctuation a lot of folks just don’t know. Get a copy of Strunk & White's The Elements of Style as recommended here.

Diction

Proper words. The right word for the right job!  Watch to be sure you didn’t use one adjective when another would have been better.  For example, if you’re describing a spaceship the size of Rhode Island as huge, you may find a more powerful word would be appropriate – gargantuan, behemoth, leviathan, or massive.  Likewise, if the ship were big, but no bigger than a tractor trailer, calling it gargantuan would be a little overboard – unless the characters were the size of dimes, of course.

Excessive adjectives. It’s a common mistake to use too many of those fine things. I can’t remember where I read it years ago, but someone once wrote “two adjectives are better than three; one adjective is better than two,” or something along those lines. It’s far better to use fewer, more descriptive, more powerful adjectives, than to use several in series. For example, instead of saying, “He was a big, hulking, muscular man with dark, somber eyes,” you can simply say “He was a hulking man with somber eyes.”  “Hulking” already implies “big” and “muscular”; “somber” eyes conveys an inherent darkness. Get to the point; use as few adjectives as possible.

Format

Keep the format of your text clearly in mind.  It's vital that you observe standard manuscript format. Download the manuscript template, and download the manuscript-format example PDF to see a properly formatted manuscript in action.

Technical accuracy

Logic and continuity. Watch out for logic and continuity. If she's a blonde on page 2, don't have her as a brunette on page six. Also, make sure names match up. You'd think you'd never get names wrong, but it's amazing how easily it is. Maybe you called him "John" but later spelled it "Jon." Maybe you started calling her Jane Smith, but later decided to change her name to Janet Smithson; it's very easy to miss a few. Here are a few areas to watch for.

Point of view. Watch for changing points of view.

Accurate details. Technical details should be accurate (such as the type of engine in the car the character is driving, or the markings on a specified type of snake he is encountering, or the cost of a Big Mac in Beijing). There are some writers who recommend you fake obscure background details, but you should proceed with an unbreakable rule:  don't EVER fake background details, because someone will notice. All it takes is one person — and if that person is an editor who just happens to be a Civil War buff and knows you screwed up several tidbits concerning Gettysburg, he'll likely be disgusted enough to toss your story aside. Don't fake them. Someone will figure it out. It isn't worth the risk.

Geography. Keep an eye on geographical accuracy – and not just knowing where national borders are in today’s world.  If you mentioned that the kingdom’s northern border is formed by the Slayklee Mountain range, don’t refer to them later as the Staykree Mountains or suddenly move the border to the Fiscus River a hundred miles further south.

History. Get your dates right. In conjunction with geography, remember borders weren't the same a hundred years ago as they are today. Don't fudge anything historical because, as mentioned above, someone will notice.

Get critiques

First proofreaders. Once you’re comfortable that you’ve found everything there is to find wrong with your story, get ready to be surprised. What you miss, your proofreaders will find. Give the story to anyone you know who will read it – family members, friends, teachers, members of writer’s groups, and so on. Be sure to make it clear to them that you are looking for objective, honest criticism, and that you need such reviews in order to make the story better, increase its chances of sale, and grow as a writer.

Of course, many of them will still gloss it over if they don’t like the story. But they’re still likely to see things you missed – wrong punctuation, spelling errors or typos, and so on. However, as any good editor will tell you, it isn’t your friends and family who buy your stories – editors do. Ultimately, it’s the truly objective people who matter – those who don’t know you and are only looking for what they consider the best-written material for their publications. Eventually, it has to go to them – but in the meantime, get as many proofreaders as you can.

Take suggestions seriously. When it comes to critique of the story (outside the punctuation and spelling and whatnot), take all their suggestions very seriously. It doesn’t mean that everyone’s ideas should cause you to run back to the word processor and change everything, but if the majority of your readers feel the same way about something, chances are the majority of editors will see it that way. For example, if half the readers “saw it coming” or two-thirds “hated the ending” or three out of five “didn’t get it,” chances are you need to go back and look at the piece long and hard.

#1: Write it! - #2: Proofread it! - #3: Match it! - #4: Format it! - #5: Introduce it! - #6: Send it! - #7: Monitor it!
 

Home