Words, Words, Words and How to Right Them

One of the largest expenses writers face is getting their manuscript polished. They know their credibility can be seriously undermined by common spelling and usage errors.

In her presentation at the November Writers Guild meeting,  local writer and editor Elizabeth Simons gave a presentation on steps writers can take to bring down the number of errors and lower their expenses. Participants learned to recognize some of the most common mistakes writers make and how to correct them.

Elizabeth illustrated her presentation with photographs, including a sign maker's banner proudly displaying “professional sign’s” (Note: There is no need for an apostrophe) and a classic example of a subject and verb that don’t agree on a hand-lettered note at a gas station declaring that “all pumps is pre-pay,” which prompted one customer to correct the grammar and give the sign maker an F.

Elizabeth explained that often writers are aware of their most frequent mistakes, and showed how to use the Find and Replace functions in Microsoft Word for global editing of terms and misspellings.

Participants were then challenged with a short story containing 36 of the most common grammar and punctuation mistakes, with prizes awarded to those who found the most errors. Elizabeth pointed out that the spelling and grammar function in Word found just one error out of the 36, prompting her to say that this function is a good initial tool that will catch some of the most common typos, but certainly should not be relied upon to do a good job of editing.

Elizabeth told the group that while doing her research she visited more than a dozen sites offering proofreading and copy editing services and was amazed to find that almost half the sites contained grammar and punctuation errors in their online text. The takeaway from this is that no one is immune to mistakes, even those who correct mistakes for a living.

Writers should go over their manuscript with a fine-toothed comb to check for consistency in fonts, margins and spacing, and use Microsoft Word's Find and Replace to catch their most common usage errors. It would then be helpful to enlist the aid of a trusted friend or acquaintance who hasn’t seen the manuscript, asking that person to read the document carefully and offer substantive feedback.

If writers want to be taken seriously, they should use every tool at hand to make their writing perfect. Another pair of eyes is crucial, whether it’s their nerdy friend who can spot a misplaced modifier from the back of a running horse or a professional editor. 

Taking these extra steps means that if the writer does choose a professional editor, that editor won’t need to spend as much time on a manuscript, thereby reducing the overall expense.