Six Quick Writing Errors to Watch For

Before I was asked to step in as publisher for the romance imprint of a small press, I spent a considerable amount of time reviewing submissions for publication. Today, of course, I do even more of that, but now there is more at stake.

As a reader, I provided honest opinions on potential works for our house, and helped the publisher to determine which works suited our needs. Of those works, we pared the lot down further by determining which works did not require practical re-writes to fix the obvious errors in grammar, spelling, and structure.

As a publisher, this job becomes more important to me, because I have the final say regarding a submission's fate. Naturally, when an author sends me a novel, I expect to receive the cleanest, best edited draft possible. For me to accept a manuscript that needs a lot of work, despite the quality of the plot and characterization, can be costly in the long run. Ultimately it is my dream, and arguably the dream of any publisher and editor, to receive manuscripts that require little work.

Does this mean I expect everybody to turn in To Kill A Mockingbird or Gone With the Wind caliber work on the first try? Of course not. Some of our best-selling authors needed quite a bit of work before they were sent out into the world. It is my hope, as I continue to read final drafts, that authors will be able to master a few elements of grammar and structure that may easily be missed.

Mind you, I have made these same mistakes myself, and with conditioning and the help of some great editors I am proud to say I am a better writer now than I was ten years ago.

What follows below is a brief listing of my personal top offenders, rules that may be easily abided to lessen a publisher's frustration.

1) "That" and "Who" - This is more of a personal pet peeve than an actual grammatical error. Depending on which reports on style you read, it is acceptable to use "that" in place of "who" in certain circumstances. For example:

"Charlie was the one that referred me to the clinic," said Shelley.

No doubt you have seen many instances of "that" used in this way. While not incorrect, it can be distracting for the anal retentive editor or publisher. In a perfect world, I would prefer to see the sentence read:

"Charlie was the one who referred me to the clinic," said Shelley.

Or:

"That's the guy who referred me to the clinic," said Shelley.

As you reread your manuscript for errata, take the time to look for such instances. Strengthen your grammar and you may have a chance at strengthening your ability to write in an editor's mind.

2) "Suppose" - I see this one often. I don't know if the constant misuse of this word is attributed to society, but I would tend to think so. We live in a fast-food age: everybody talks fast, moves fast, and unfortunately thinks too fast. Haste indeed makes waste, particularly if you are breezing through a story and not taking the time to self-edit. Suppose is one word that is often overlooked. I can't tell you how many times I have seen this error:

"She was suppose to meet me here," said Paul.

Maybe it's because people write by ear, they write what they hear. People talk quickly, and voices slur. Supposed becomes suppose by default.

"She was supposed to meet me here," said Paul. This is how you are supposed to write the sentence.

3) "It's" and "Its" - It's true. I wouldn't be writing about this common error if is wasn't, well, so common. Soundly trouncing you're/your in the Top 10 All-Time Contraction Errors is this set of small words. Sadly, it can make for huge errata if it's not handled early in your manuscript. To review:

It's - a contraction, meaning "it is" - "It's nice to see you," said Marsha. "I think it's going to be a wonderful day."

Its - a possessive pronoun - "The dog is sick. I have its medication," said George. "Poor thing lifted its head and could barely bark."

A tricky set, but one worth a closer look in edits.

4) The Mirror Rule - This common error in fiction writing can be difficult to track, but rest assured it will be easier to spot as you improve your line editing skills. The Mirror Rule primarily concerns character description, in particular eye color. Consider this passage:

Paul clenched his fists, angry to think Sheila deceived him. "How could you do this to me?" Paul cried, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

Now, you can probably deduce that the passage is being told from Paul's point of view, therefore the reader sees everything Paul sees. Therefore, it stands to reason that Paul cannot see his own eyes, and the sentence should not describe them. Logically, we would think that Paul knows what color his eyes are, but in this context the passage is considered in correct.

From Paul's point of view, we can learn other attributes like shoe size or weight, but for the reader to learn eye color it will have to be from somebody else:

Sheila held her breath and tried not to cry. She had never seen Paul so angry before, and it showed in his flashing blue eyes.

This is a more proper way to get the visual across.

5) Just say "said"

I have probably seen every possible verb used to enhance dialogue. In one story alone, the heroine scowled, growled, purred, cooed, guffawed, snorted, cackled, chuckled, cried, wailed, moaned, groaned, smirked, smiled, laughed, wheezed, breathed, whispered, and howled. Then she came up for air and started from the top.

I do understand that authors will throw such verbiage in the mix to break the monotony of "he said, she said." In some instances, using such a word can add emotion to a scene that a reader might otherwise not see. The words, too, can help develop quirks in a character that stretch throughout a story and enhance realism. That said, there is also such a thing as going overboard.

Novelist Elmore Leonard once wrote in a list of advice to writers to use only "said" when qualifying dialogue. I would tend to agree, though I am not adverse to the occasional guffaw. When the howling and scowling becomes too much and too distracting, though, it's time to tone it down a bit.

6) Repeats

In order to make for smoother narrative, one thing I look out for when editing a manuscript is constant repetition of words within a short space. Consider this passage:

Sheila checked the hallway and found it was devoid of people. Where had everybody gone? She crept slowly to the last door and peered inside, seeing the classroom was also devoid of life.

Here, "devoid" is used twice in one short paragraph. Such a word is not wholly common in narrative to begin with, and to use it in this way can be a bit distracting to readers. Consider this alternative:

Sheila checked the hallway and found it was devoid of people. Where had everybody gone? She crept slowly to the last door and peered inside, seeing the classroom was also empty.

As you go over your manuscript, be sure to check for these instances. Sometimes writers tend to favor one word over another and use it to death. It is a practice that could be detrimental to your writing. Hopefully, though, an editor worth his salt can ease you into using a better variety of words.

While this should not be considered a definitive article on improving your manuscript for submission, these six tips will hopefully get you on the right track toward improved narrative and dialogue in your novel. The more improvements you make before submission, the better your chances of picking up an editor or publisher to work with you. Above all, keep writing!