Greetings Darklings:

It can be exciting to write a novel or a short story. Today’s post is meant to help you do just that – write! However, we all know that revision or editing (to me, they are the same thing), is about as much fun as root canal. That is why I am here to help you write better. Grammar is not so hard or intimidating once you get used to it. 

I encourage you, dear readers, to get to know your grammar! That’s because editors love it when you know the difference between a preposition and a conjuction and writing in the active voice versus the passive voice. But if you are not familiar with it, then how are you supposeed to know? That’s where I come in. 

I used to be where you are, adrift with no compass in the big sea of grammar and editing. I sought help until I became familiar with it well enough on my own. I can’t cover all the tricks, but I can share what I know with you. No matter if you are penning a novel or a short story, the chances of your story being published increase greatly when you know your grammar well. Editors can always tell. I will show you how to format your manuscripts too!

Okay so let’s start with formatting. The best resource (aside from today’s post) on the correct way to format your manuscript is on this website- I will include the link, https://www.shunn.net/format/story/. 

Do not use any fancy colors, no artwork, no decorations. That screams amateur. You want the document to be stripped of all decoration. Yup just a white document with black text. That is it. Set once-inch margins all around on the page. Always set your font in Times New Roman and make sure it is size 12. That is the standard industry format. Editors like to see when a writer has paid attention to the format of their manuscripts and they can tell when a writer has taken care with their submissions. You can never go wrong when you do that. 

Put your contact info- name, email address, phone in the top left corner of your manuscript. Put in the approximate word count on the upper right corner of the page. Set it in the single- space format. Then hit return about 3-4 times and enter the title of your story and your name centered on the page. This is double-spaced. Hit return 2 more times and begin your story. Now here is where it gets tricky: Editors have their personal preferences on whether a paragraph should be indented or not. Do not use sans serif fonts. All submissions and manuscripts at this point are all always double-spaced. That makes it much easier for the editor to read. That is the goal here, to make it as easy as possible for the editor to read. The first line of every paragraph should be indented. Do not use extra line breaks between paragraphs. The text of your entire story should be left aligned ALWAYS. 

It is a good idea to place a header at the top of every page. Also, always paginate your submissions. That makes it easier for the editor, too. They are tired, overworked. The last thing they want to see is a document with no page numbers. Place the header in the upper right corner and it should consist of the title, your surname and the page number. Do not include the header on the first page and you can and should opt to not include the page number on the first page as well. Start on the second page. Your word processor’s header and footer feature should help with this. If you follow all these rules, your submission has a greater chance of being read or accepted, because your submission will stand out in a good way. 

Now for a closer look; Do not use two spaces after a period. It used to be common practice to do that but we do not use typewriters anymore. I wish I owned a type writer. Writing quality was much better when typewriters were more common! Use one space after every single period in your submission. Yes, that means you hunt down each one and see if it needs correcting. Now here is where it pays to know how to use italics and em dashes or en dashes. Do not use AI! Besides, if you do use AI, I can assure you that your submission will get rejected faster than you can blink. And you will be banned from ever submitting AGAIN. No AI. Check the editor’s preferences about using italics and dashes in your submission and especially, their rules about AI. 

 I ask questions if there is something I am not sure about. I ask my writer friends. They are always willing to help. Ok one more tip: Dialogue should always be enclosed in quotation marks. Always. “Dialogue goes in these quotation marks,” said Heddy. Do that and you can’t go wrong. I am also strongly against using semicolons in a submission. There are better ways to express your writing. Use the “smart quotes” feature in your word processor. 

On the last line of text in your story, center it and write ‘End’. You can choose whether or not capitalize ‘End’. It tells the editor and reader when the story has ended. 

So that should cover formatting. Now on to the next section. 

It is a good idea to write in the active voice as much as you can. Do not write in the passive voice. The difference between active and passive depends upon who performs the action of the verb. Here are some examples:

Passive Voice example: The cat was sitting on the mat  OR the dog was jumping to catch the frisbee  X = incorrect. The subject of the sentence receives or is acted upon by the action. 

Active Voice example: The cat sat on the mat. OR the dog caught the frisbee. Correct The cat is performing the action of the verb in the active voice. It is more immediate in the active voice, too. 

Here is an example: Example: The cat is on (preposition) the (determiner) mat (noun).

How you start your sentences in your novel or short fiction. By this, I mean when you start a sentence too many times using the character’s name or write he/she/it. They call them stacked sentences. It is tedious, but well worth your time to go through your submission and proofread/ check for those pesky stacks or the name of the character or using he/she too many times in your story. If they see that, they will think you did not take the time to edit it enough. No, editors do not want to spend too much time editing your prose. They are hoping you are familiar enough with editing to do a lot of the work yourself. Yes they do edit and it is good to not take the editing too seriously. 

Writing clearer sentences. Do not feel that you have to add too many fancy words to your prose to make it shine. The opposite is quite true. The leaner your sentences are and if you use common words, the better your prose will be. Also you do not have to use the word ‘said’ too many times either. Read books by writers you admire. Get help with a fellow teacher/ librarian or a mentor if you must. No AI! AI is not always the most reliable help. Read writers reference books. Practice. That is how I learned. 

An example what I mean would be: The man left the hotel to catch a cab, dressed stylishly in pressed trousers, a tweed buttoned overcoat,  black socks, polished dress shoes and designer sunglasses. He raised his arm in a gesture to catch a cab, and checked his designer watch. He waited as the cab pulled to the curb, being careful that the cab didn’t soak him in a splash of rainwater. He was in a hurry for a very important meeting. X

Or it could read like this: A stylishly dressed man left the hotel to catch a cab on his way to a meeting.

We do not really need to know everything he was wearing. Everything in the story must demonstrate character or move the action of the story forward. Unless there is something truly significant about the character’s choice of clothing, if it is relevant to the story action, then do not include it. 

Concentrate on revealing character, sure. But also focus on moving the story forward. It takes practice. I am learning too. I had to learn all this. I still make mistakes. 

Conjunctions A conjunction is a word that joins words, phrases or clauses together. They confuse me, too. I still struggle with knowing how to use them properly. Here is an example: I wanted to go for a walk, BUT it started to rain. The capitalized word is the conjunction. It joins the two phrases. There are two types of conjunctions: coordinating and subordinating. 

It is okay to use conjuctions in sentences. Just use them carefully. Everything in your story has to reveal character and move the action of the story forward. 

Emotion Emotion is important, otherwise the story would be boring. Writing with emotion trips me up, too. We all want, we long to be fully immersed in a story. I love the story Lord of the Rings. Those books are drenched with emotion. We care about the hobbits, elves and dwarves as they forge their way through the mystical world of Middle Earth. I know this all seems like a lot of work, but I believe it is well worth it. 

Also this brings up another important point; showing versus telling. 

Which one makes you want to keep reading?

1 The woman twisted her tissue in her bony hands, blinking back tears. She shifted in her seat in the church, gazing out the window. The leaden sky did little to comfort her. 

2 OR the woman dried her tears with a tissue and stared out the window.

The first example shows her discomfort and hopefully makes us wonder what she is so nervous about. The second example tells us nothing. The first example tells us a lot more about her and should make the reader want to keep reading. There is more ‘vigor’ in the first example. If I am doing my job right lol. It may help you to know I had to edit this post as I was writing it. See? We all learn. 

Take your time when doing edits. Approach it with a clear head if you can. Pour yourself a coffee or tea and edit your story patiently. Try to catch as many mistakes as you can. That way, you present yourself as a professional and editors will take you more seriously. 

You can use Grammarly to help but it is not always reliable. If you practice and try to improve your writing on your own, then you will have won half the battle. Read widely in your chosen genre. Read everything you can. That is how I managed and learned. 

Do not overuse words. Yes you have to edit every sentence, and you only get better with practice. You can go ahead and seek out a mentor or teacher untill you are comfortable enough improving on your own. I did. Also don’t write ‘dead’ sentences. Fill your stories with life and energy. My first draft of the Cult of the Spider People was hopeless. I had the story, but not the flow or spark. I sought help and my story was much improved. I will share some examples:

Example #1:

“They exchanged fearful glances, freezing in place. Piper barely dared breathe, sure the creature would hear the hammering of her heart.

The monstrous limbs continued to beat the cocoons. Its prisoner howled in terror. The movement rippled through the webbing and the cocoons rocked back and forth. There was another cry. A woman’s cry, someone familiar. Jenny?

The cocoons shifted, disturbing the surrounding webbing. Their movements triggered a fetid odor. Piper gagged as the stench worsened. But Eeven as both scanned the scene, one of the monsters appeared before them. This one was the size of a horse. The hairs on its eight bristly legs glinted like steel. Its fangs dripped blood. But Iits upper body… oh god what was she seeing… how was it possible… it was the body of a human.”

The Edited Version:

She hoped the creatures would miss them. A pitch-black spider creature appeared above, suspended from a glossy strand of silk. They exchanged fearful glances, frozen in place. Piper held her breath, sure the creature would hear the hammering of her heart. The monstrous limbs beat the cocoons. Its prisoner howled in terror. The movement rippled through the webbing, and the cocoons rocked back and forth. Another cry rang out into the air. A woman’s cry, someone familiar. Jenny?

The cocoons shifted and disturbed the surrounding webbing. Their movements triggered a fetid odor. Piper gagged as the stench worsened. Even as both scanned the scene, one of the monsters appeared before them. This one was the size of a horse. The hairs on its eight bristly legs glinted like steel. Its fangs dripped blood. Its upper body… Oh God, what was she seeing… How was it possible? … It was the body of a human.”

I will share a few books that have helped me immensely during my writing/ editing journey. 

Yeah, I like my edited version better too! The edited version is much stronger and clearer! I have a book titled Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon. I know the book is dated, but it is a gem. I do not believe in paying a ‘professional’ editor thousands of dollars to get a book edited. Not at first, not on your first or second or fifth novel. You have to learn to know what your novel or short story needs. You have to learn how to edit and cut your beloved words, which is what an editor will do to your hard earned words anyway. The book tells you how to do a developmental edit on your own writing. I have used it to edit my own novel and I am thankful. It really does help you strengthen your manuscript. Do not repeat scenes. Make every scene count. Make each word count. Don’t repeat sentences. Don’t make your scenes and/or sentences redundant. She shows you how to give your manuscript a real edit and polish. I could not live without it. 

The second book I want to mention is The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall. This gem of a book shows you how to outline your novel. This is another book I can’t live without. I have outlined a complete horror novel using his tried and true method. The author is a bonafide genius. I also hand wrote the plot on section sheets. I even decorated them as you can see in the above photo. I did that to keep me inspired and to keep me inspired. Writing can be hard, lonely work. He helps you to write the novel, too and edit it. Once you have plotted and written the novel of your dreams, and taken some time from it, then you revise it. I would suggest using Lyon’s book at that point. 

Once you have edited and revised and polished the submission to the utmost best of your ability, and sought feedback from trusted beta readers, and then edited it some more and even more after that (until your eyes bleed, basically), it could be time to approach agents and publishers, if that is what you want to do. I just bought a copy of Alyssa Matesic’s book The Modern Guide to Querying Literary Agents. Aspiring authors should read this book first before querying. I know more now by reading her book than I did before. 

Using the three books mentioned above saves you a ton of dollars and time spent on trying to find a professional editor. Scams abound today. They are as common as fleas on a dog. I have seen these scammers myself. They just want your money. I have learned how to edit myself and I am quite confident in my skills now. The scary thing is, they do not act like scammers at all at first. It would do you well to learn how to recognize a scammer asap. It saves you your money and your time and your manuscript. Money always flows to the author. It is never the other way around. 

I hope you found the above tips and advice helpful. It has benefitted me during my writing career and I hope it does the same for you. The above has all worked for me. Keep writing. Never give up. If you do finish a novel, you are way more ahead than the millions behind you. Take workshops to connect with other writers and to work on improving your writing. It worked for me and with time, it will work for you. 🐈‍⬛👽 🎃💀💀👻

Blessings, Spiderwitch