Question about EDITING your work?

Question

I don't think me alone self editing my work is enough. I'm not that great at grammar. Comma's,hyphen's ect. Never really did a great job in school of teaching us about that stuff. Or at least in my school. I just starting writing and have really hard time of knowing if I have any real big gramatical erros. I don't think I do! But I'd can't really tell. If I wanna pitch my work to a publisher or something, is that something they'd help you with? Do they help edit work? If this a stupid question, please don't bash me! Just like to know.

Answer 1

You have some serious spelling and grammatical errors just in this question alone.



With editing, you need to learn how to proofread and edit your own work first and then seek a professional. An editor's job is not to clean up every last bit of your mistakes. It is up to you to clean up your work as much as you can (and if you're a writer, you need to know how to do this) and make it as error free as possible.



The editors merely clean up the small errors you missed because let's face it: no writer can catch all their mistakes. I certainly can't and I've been writing and editing for several years.



I can tell you straight right now that if your work isn't beaming with excellent spelling, grammar, sentence structure, syntax, etc, it WILL end up in the trash. Being a writer is tough work. If you don't have the time, energy, passion, or desire to do your own work beyond just the writing, then leave it as strictly a hobby. It's harsh, but it's reality in the writing world.

Answer 2

I have to be blunt. Your grammar is so bad there is no publisher on earth that will tolerate it. As a publisher, I can tell you that I fully expect typos, spelling errors, and the occassional dropped comma. This is being human. But when the grammar is so atrocious that it is difficult to even understand what you are saying, you have no writing talent and there is nothing I can do to help you.



Grammar is the basic foundation of writing. While few people are perfect at it, good writers have a strong understanding of grammar and know how to use the tools of grammar to tell a story.



My never humble opinion is that if you sincerely wish to develop good skills, you need to spend a lot of time reading first. Reading helps you understand how to use grammar. I'll be honest, I can't tell a past participle from a parnip. But I know how to write because I read so much good literature. Not free crap your friends post on their websites. I'm talking about professionally written journals and books.



So get thee to a library and start reading more. Over time, you'll develop an instinct for what is and is not proper. Once you've mastered the basics, then an editor can help with the details. But until you can craft a coherent sentence on your own, no publisher can help you.

Answer 3

I agree with Kimberly. I have been writing for years, and learning what publishers will--and will NOT--do for a writer.

They will throw your submission into the trash if they see a mistake on the first page, because they know a serious writer will go over that first page a million times to make sure it's perfect. A sloppy, unprofessional writer won't.

I've used four or five books on style and grammar. The one that really helped me was written specifically for creative writing, i.e. ; for novels.

Get this sort of book and use it.

I've never hired anyone to do it for me, and asking friends to check my work has been a waste of time.

You've got to know how to do it yourself.

It's not easy, but if you really love to write, learning these things may actually be interesting.

Answer 4

It's risky to send unedited work to a publisher. If the grammar is really poor, they may completely ignore your work. Ultimately, a publisher is only going to edit someone's work for the style they use in their publication. Again, this is also something that writer are advised to take into consideration when submitting to a publisher.

Your best bet on getting noticed is perfection. So I would suggest allowing a few people to take a look at your writing before you send it forward. It will increase your chances of getting published.

Answer 5

Best reference book for grammar is THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE. It's short and easy to read.



Best clue on where to put punctuation is this: Read your story out loud. You can HEAR where a sentence should end, where a comma should be, and what's awkward.



Do use spell check, but don't rely on it. You still need to reread your work to make sure the spell checker didn't put would where it should be wood and vice versa.



Other helpful books from Writers Digest books:

DIALOGUE

CHARACTERS & VIEWPOINT

REVISION

ACTION, CONFLICT & SUSPENSE

Answer 6

Yes I've noticed that... and it's getting on my nerves! They're (Y! staff) punishing everyone because of a few people who do the 'place holding' thing to take the top spot. Amanda's clearly lying that you get to preview your answer: when you press 'submit', answer gets published - nobody gets to preview their answers! And also, how about if one didn't wanted to fix a typo but wanted to respond to the askers additional details? What then? Editing the answer will bring it down... that's just NOT FAIR! They should bring it back to the way it was before this new 'update'. Thanks!

Answer 7

I don't know myself either. I think that if you really serious and don't feel like going to college you could still go to the college book store and pick up the books that they are going to read and skim through them. I'm going to watch your question to see if they do help you. I'd summit some or parts of my stories to different online writing sites to see if you've got the chops that you want to get to because there is some grammar problems in your question alone.



I think one thing that would really help out is to read your stories aloud even if it's just to yourself. That's one way to really tell if you have grammar errors. Plus I think that it helps to devlop your own style.

Answer 8

Some publishers will help, that is why they have editors. You are not stupid for asking this. Some word processors will help. Also, if you have a good friend who is an English teacher or professor I suggest using them. If all else fails, hire an editor yourself. Good Luck mate!

Answer 9

Most writers starting out will have to edit their own work. Once you are established/published, you get help in that area.



I will tell you that most usage and spelling errors can be caught by merely using the spellcheck feature on your wordperfect. I am, of course, assuming you are writing your work on your computer.............

Answer 10

if you want your work published, try reading up on grammar and spelling they are both very vital in the world of words. i am sure though that if a publisher liked your work and wanted to publish it, they would probabaly have someone go through it before it is printed



are you writting a book, what is it about?



i am writting a book at the moment