You may write the most brilliant story with the most sympathetic characters, but if your manuscript is full of spelling errors and typos, you will struggle to find readers. ☐ Spelling is correct. English spelling is notoriously difficult. It is rarely phonetic, as Spanish is, and is not consistent, as …
Tag: Manuscript Mechanics
Beware the nonrules
Last time I noted that there are lots of misconceptions about what constitutes “grammar.” There are also lots of misconceptions about what constitutes “rules” of writing. Adverbs modify verbs is a rule. Don’t use adverbs is a nonrule. You may use adverbs, as long as you do so judiciously.
Get your grammar in line
Most writers are, by nature, very good about their grammar. But there are lots of misconceptions. ☐ Grammatical errors have been eliminated. Grammar, contrary to popular belief, does not include punctuation or spelling, as we often see on lists of “common grammatical errors,” which usually contain things like misplaced commas …
Watch your language usage
When editors speak of language usage, we’re not talking about potentially offensive terms. At least, not exclusively. We’re talking about taking care with the words you choose and avoiding those Vizzini moments. ☐ Usage is in accordance with convention.
A punctuation primer
Editing for manuscript mechanics involves examining your manuscript closely for minuscule details like these: ☐ Punctuation is properly applied. The most common punctuation errors I see have to do with commas, which is why I created the Comma Cheat Sheet. Few people have trouble with periods. They go at the …
When editing, save mechanics for last
It’s worth emphasizing that manuscript mechanics are placed last on the Elements of Fiction Editing Checklist because, though they’re the things our critique partners often spend the most time on, they’re the least important element of fiction. If you get everything else right, a copyeditor can fix the mechanics. But if …
The mechanics of chapterization
Last time we talked about chapter breaks from a story standpoint. Now let’s look at the mechanics of how to do it. I don’t recommend breaking your book out into chapters until you’re in at least your second draft and maybe even later. If you put chapter breaks in early, …
Chapter length is important to structure
It may seem trivial, but how long to make the chapters in a novel is a detail worth paying attention to. But this item also bears some explanation. ☐ Chapters are of approximately similar lengths. Generally speaking, you want your chapters to be consistent in their length, as jerking back …
How to format different kinds of quotations
When you’re incorporating quotations in a nonfiction work, there are two ways to do it. Short quotations can be placed inline, in which case you use quotation marks. Longer quotations should be placed in a block format, in which case you don’t need the marks. For example, a short quotation …
Fiction Q&A: Using italics for character thoughts
Hey Kristen — Sorry to pester you, but I didn’t know who else to ask. I was going over a critique someone gave me, and they mentioned that top editors teach to never use italics, even with internal thought. Some say never to use italics at all. Here’s my concern. …