An editor may discard your work without even reading it, if it is full of mistakes, so make sure the spelling, punctuation and grammar are correct.
Wrong: “The gypsy told me to look for a beautiful blonde”, he said with a squawk.
Right: “The gypsy told me to look for a beautiful blonde,” he said with a squawk.
Wrong: “Don’t be silly,” I said, “that was an old woman.”
Right: “Don’t be silly,” I said, “That was an old woman.”
Wrong: It was some distance from the bus station. And the only available transport from there was a jeep.
Right: It was some distance from the bus station and the only available transport from there was a jeep.
Wrong: After a few minutes a Security guy turned up to take charge.
Right: After a few minutes a security guy turned up to take charge.
Wrong: The child was bawling it’s head off
Right: The child was bawling its head off
IMPORTANT
Read the instructions on how the editor wants you to format your work. I spent many hours removing indents, changing the font size and type, removing automatic paragraph spacing, reformatting paragraphs and changing double spacing to single. I was less inclined to use stories that were not properly formatted, because of the amount of work involved in changing it.
- Study the rules for the use of the semi colon; writers frequently get it wrong.
- Speech uses double quotes, not single.
- The punctuation mark goes before the second quote mark.
Wrong: “The gypsy told me to look for a beautiful blonde”, he said with a squawk.
Right: “The gypsy told me to look for a beautiful blonde,” he said with a squawk.
- A capital letter goes at the start of speech, wherever it is in the sentence.
Wrong: “Don’t be silly,” I said, “that was an old woman.”
Right: “Don’t be silly,” I said, “That was an old woman.”
- Unless there is a good reason for doing otherwise, sentences must contain a verb.
- Generally speaking, don’t start a sentence with ‘and’ or ‘but’. It belongs with the previous sentence.
Wrong: It was some distance from the bus station. And the only available transport from there was a jeep.
Right: It was some distance from the bus station and the only available transport from there was a jeep.
- Don’t use unnecessary capital letters.
Wrong: After a few minutes a Security guy turned up to take charge.
Right: After a few minutes a security guy turned up to take charge.
- Study the correct use of the apostrophe.
Wrong: The child was bawling it’s head off
Right: The child was bawling its head off
- Ensure the grammar is correct and you divide the paragraphs in the right place. Don’t expect the editor to do this for you.
IMPORTANT
Read the instructions on how the editor wants you to format your work. I spent many hours removing indents, changing the font size and type, removing automatic paragraph spacing, reformatting paragraphs and changing double spacing to single. I was less inclined to use stories that were not properly formatted, because of the amount of work involved in changing it.