Tag Archives: editing faux pas

Today’s Writing Tip

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home-office copy

Here’s another booby trap for authors:  When rewording a sentence, make sure you take out any words that are no longer needed. Many of the editing faux pas examples I find involve extraneous words that weren’t deleted when a change was made.

Always reread a sentence after you revise it. This is one of the easiest mistakes to make when you’re editing. If you don’t catch it and clean it up, your reader will trip over it like an overly friendly cat rubbing against your legs.

Creating flawless copy isn’t easy or simple. There are all sorts of alligators hiding in the water, just waiting to jump out and startle your reader and make you look like an amateur. This is why you need a good editor.

Today’s Writing Tip

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typewriter-2 copy

Always spellcheck your work before sending it to beta readers or especially before uploading it to publish. Be sure to do so after completing each edit as well.  It’s really easy to get distracted and either not eliminate words or perhaps delete too many as you reword, streamline, and refine your sentences.

I don’t know about you, but my fingers have a mind of their own on the keyboard and don’t always do what my brain thinks. I will even catch myself from time to time typing a word phonetically for some reason.

In most cases, a grammar checker should find missing or misused words. But nothing beats a good proofreader or editor to make sure nothing was missed. And, believe me, it always is, no matter how many times you’ve been through it.