Romance at Heart Magazine Some common writing errors and tips on how to make your writing better.

In this day and age, with the influx of new technology, the online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Spell Checking programs readily available, there is no excuse for bad language, grammar, misuse of words, etc.. It could be a sign of the times lately that some writers have become so lazy, and some so sloppy and careless, they have no concept of what it means to submit a clean manuscript, as well as a good story. Arrogance has no place in writing, as we are all subject to making errors, and there is always room for improvement in all of us. The only credibility you can achieve is through the words you write, so make them the best words you can find, and make certain they are in the proper format...

"It takes longer to correct a book the second time than do it right the first time..."
R. Casteel, Author of Crimson Rose.
His books are available from Ellora's Cave and Samhain Publishing.

This page may sound like a rant from me, and it may well be. However, as a reviewer and a publisher, nothing puts me off more than a poorly written piece of work. Even a reviewer would like to enjoy what he or she reads, and a book riddled with misspellings, bad grammar, and just plain bad English among its faults can ruin the enjoyment of the reader. It can also make the book impossible to read at all let alone give it a review with a positive eye.

You may ask, "Who the heck do you think you are to be giving me advice?" Well, let me tell you. I am a reviewer who has taken many courses in creative writing, journalism, and English, as well as having written many term papers, articles, published poems, and yes, at least one book. I have never looked for the limelight, but I do know quite a bit about proper grammar and the use of written English. Among my experiences in life were stints as a secretary in my father's office on weekends, answering his correspondence, reports, and writing articles and summaries for the companies he represented. The experience covered a wide range of duties, and it has served me well so far.

There is no reason for you to follow my advice, but it is sound. I can tell you from long experience, that people will look upon you in a much more favourable light if you follow the basic rules of good grammar, check your spelling, and use all the tools at hand. If you are serious about writing, and want to be a good writer, then I can also suggest The Holt Handbook, it is an invaluable resource for rules, examples, and a great help in building a saleable manuscript. It is available from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and any number of other fine bookstores and even some office supply stores. A good dictionary and a copy of The Holt Handbook are worth their price in assistance. Both are packed with information you can refer to again and again. In the end, you will be glad you have followed the rules to success.

Diction refers to word choice with regard to appropriateness, accuracy, freshness, and idea. It can be classed as formal or informal, and for the purposes of these comments, we're speaking of creative writing, and it falls under the guise of Informal Diction. There are many words which appear to be similar, yet their usage may be restricted to a certain venue. A very good example is clothing. Clothing is general use, fine stores sell apparel, priests wear vestments, formal wear for men is also referred to as attire, cowboys may refer to their clothing as duds and so forth.
There is not a hard and fast rule about your decision, however, the choice you make may be correct in one setting, and incorrect in another. A word is appropriate if the meaning suits the setting, audience, occasion, and purpose for which it is intended.
Informal Diction also includes slang, but there is a CAUTION here. Over use of slang may render the work unsuitable as the slang, which is understandable to you as a writer, may have no meaning to the reader.

Words Misused Most Often...
This is starting to bug me just because it is inexcusable to publish books, ebooks or print, with such basic mistakes, and use editors so inept and careless, SO...For those of you Aspiring Writers, Published Writers, Wanna be Editors, AND Editors, listen up! This list will probably grow but here are the first submissions.

Definitions:

CAPITAL: n. (1) The city or town that is the seat of government (2) a capital letter (3) the total amount of money used by an individual or a corporation (4) Wealth in any form employed in or available for the production of more wealth.
CAPITOL: v. (1) The building that houses the seat of government and in which the legialstures convene (2) a statehouse (3) The official building of the U.S. Congress (4) the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome *From the Latin: Capitoliumthe Capitoline.*

COUNCIL: n. (1) An assembly of of persons convened for consultation or deliberation (2) a body of persons elected or appointed to act in an administrative, legislative, or advisory capacity in a legislative body or government (3) the deliberation that takes place in a council chamber.
COUNSEL: n. (1) A mutual exchange of advice or opinion as in consultation (2) Advice; Guidance (3) A deliberate purpose or plan (4) From the Old English (archaic) to keep secret, hidden intententions *to keep one's own counsel*
As a transitive verb... (1) To give advice or advise (2) to advise in favour of or recommend (3) to take or give counsel *From the Latin: consulere to deliberate.*

LATHE: n. A machine that holds pieces of wood, metal and plastic etc., so they are cut and shaped when an operator holds cutting tools against them.
***DO NOT*** do this to any part of my body...NO NO NO!!!
LAVE: v. From the Olde English, Poetic (1) To wash, to bathe (2) To flow against (3) To pour or throw out. From the Old English lafian which is derived from the Latin lavare
Nowhere, not even in the Oxford or Webster's Unabridged Dictionary did I find a definition for LATHE that would make me want it to be done to me...

LIGHTEN(ING): v.i. or v.t. (1) To make light , as in it thundered and lightning lightened the sky. (2) To grow brighter, as in her face lightened. (3) As used in Middle English, to enlighten, to illuminate spiritually. Or v.t. (1) to reduce a load. (2) to make less of a burden, as in lighten taxes. (3) As used in Middle English, spirits lightened. Synonyms are alleviate, mitigate
LIGHTNING: n. (1) a discharge of flash of electricity from the sky. (2) a flash of light (3) As used in the Olde English, Poetic the great brand made lightnings in the splendour of the moon (Tennyson)

PRAY: v.i. or v.t. (1) To address prayers to a diety, idol, etc.. (2) To make an earnest request ro entreaty, to beg. (1) v.t. As used in Middle English, to say prayers to in request. (2) to ask earnestly, entreat a favor of someone. (3) To ask for by means of prayer or entreaty.
PREY: n. (1) Any animal seized by another for food. (2) a victim of a harmful person or influence v.i. (1) To seek or take prey for food (2) To make someone a victim as by cheating or murder or foul means (3) To exert a wearing or harmful influence on, such as to prey upon...

RAVAGE: v. (1) to lay waste to. (2) to wantonly destroy. (3) to damage greatly (4) denote great destruction War causes great ravage. Or as v.t use - to work destruction - See RAVISH.
RAVISH: v.t. Latin derivative rapire From the Olde English, Poetic (1) To fill with delight, as in my friend was ravished with the beauty and innocence of the scene (2) From the Old French (common) Latin derivative rapere to carry off, sieze, or take by force (3) to plunder or despoil (4) to rape.

TAUT: adj. (1) Pulled tight, tense as in a taut rope. (2) in a neat condition, as in a taut ship. (3) As used in Middle English, a strict person.
TAUNT: v.t. Latin derivative tantus From the Olde English, Poetic (1) To jeer, mock, reproach, or ridicule. (2) A cutting or insulting remark or sarcasm. (3) To provoke with or drive by taunts. From the Obsolete French tant por tant *tit for tat* which is derived from the Latin tauntas pro tantus *so much for that* and autant from the Middle French meaning as much and altant *so much as*

VENERABLE: adj. (1) Meriting or commanding respect, veneration, worthy of reverence, usually implying age and knowledge. (2) to be exciting reverential feelings because of age or historic associations. (3) Revered, titled as archdeacon in the Anglican Churches, and in the Roman Catholic Churches in the first acts of cannonization, before beatification (4) denote great destruction War causes great ravage. From the latin venerari - to revere - to respect - to honor.
VULNERABLE: adj. Latin derivative vulnerare (1) Capable of being hurt or damaged. (2) Liable to attack; assailable (3) To be open to injury or weakness. (3) To be weakened by injury or hurt (4) To be in a less than pristine condition, not strong.

Nowhere in the Oxford or Webster's Unabridged Dictionaries did I find a definition that would allow these words to be interchangeable...

Just Plain "Bad English"...
For those of you who wish to improve your writing, I have put some examples of what NOT to do when writing. When you care enough to take the time to put the story down on paper, and if you have the desire to be published, please learn the proper grammar to insure your writing is as good as it can be. Even a submitted "rough draft" should be as polished as the writer can make it before being submitted.

A Few Examples

He knew this would be a hard promise to keep. It had been a long time since he has had the pleasure of a woman in his arms, the same with his men.
The second sentence is wrong. Can you see why? With the use of has had, it goes from third person active voice to passive present and that makes for choppy reading, and is incorrect use of not only voice but tense. Never mix tenses.

“Damn man ain't got no sense do he?. Didn’t come knocking on no door o mind an'sayn no 'pologies now huh?” she cursed and slammed the door.
The writer here uses too much slang, making the pace drop, and the reader stumble over the conversation.

“Damn hunters and their stupid spot lights. Didn’t they know that is illegal?” He cursed and mumbled as he puts his jacket on and threw open the farmhouse door.
In this case, the writer goes from conversation to narration within the quotes, then skips tense from past to present in the same sentence.

I did not find any instances in my research where such grammar was truly acceptable or find an allowance that would permit improper grammar to be used in good writing form...

Let Tom Swift Inform Your Writing

From Editor Carolyn Howard-Johnson...
Ever heard of Tom Swifties?

Maybe you're too young to be familiar with the classic Tom Swift adventures for boys. Or maybe you're a girl who never read a Tom Swift book nor cares to.

Tom Swifties are one-line jokes lampooning the style of Victor Appleton, the author of the original Tom Swift books. People started making jokes about his overuse of adverbs and the unnecessary taglines he wrote into his dialogue. Like the Polish jokes, they were so much fun that a whole series of them became available for the pun-loving. The author of these classics, of course, laughed all the way to the bank. But that's a lesson for one of my marketing seminars, not this article on writing.

Tom Swifties are something from America's literary past. This is now. I haven't dared to go to the new books in the series but I assume that this outdated writing has been eliminated from them.

You'll want to minimize tags and adverbs in your writing, too!

An example from one of the Swift books will suffice to let you know what to watch for. (Thank you to Roy Peter Clark for the example.)

"'Look!'suddenly exclaimed Ned. 'There's the agent now!...I'm going to speak to him!' impulsively declared Ned.'"

Even authors who swear that adverbs are always very, very good things to use and are reluctant to give up their clever taglines can see how, well . . . .awful this is. In fact, I have to reassure people the quotation is real! Some of the writing that comes to the desks of agents and editors looks almost as bad. Here's how you can make sure yours doesn't:

1. Use taglines only when one is necessary for the reader to know who is speaking.
2. Almost always choose "he said" or "she said" over anything too cute, exuberant or wordy like "declared" and "exclaimed."
3. Cut the "ly" words ruthlessly, not only in dialogue tags but everywhere. You will find specific techniques for strengthening your writing in the process of eliminating adverbs in The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. This book will also give you some computer tricks for making these edits easy.

You don't have to know the reasons or the techniques for making the "ly" and tagline edits easy, of course. You can follow Nike's advice and "Just do it!" But learning all you can about turning adverbs to your advantage is never a bad thing.

For more help with editing and all things related (like grammar, spelling, formatting) go to www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com or refer to your copy of The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. It is available at Amazon.com. You can go directly there by clicking on the cover.

--- Carolyn Howard-Johnson, award-winning author of The Frugal Book Promoter: How to Do What Your Publisher Won't and The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success. Both books are winners of USA Book News "Best Professional Book" award the first in the HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers holds Book Publicists of Southern California's coveted Irwin Award. The Frugal Editor is also the winner of Reader Views Literary Awards and New Generation Indie Book Award for Marketing. Carolyn is also the author of "The Great First Impression Book Proposal: Everything You Need To Know To Sell Your Book in 20 Minutes or Less," one of Amazon's famous 49 cent Shorts. Learn more at Carolyn's website, www.HowToDoItFrugally.com.

A Guide to Contractions:

Just Plain "Wrong"...
For those of you who wish to improve your writing, I have put some examples of those contractions I have found to be misued the most. The thing to remember is a contraction is the combined or shortened form of two words using an apostrophe.

Incorrect usage amounts to a dearth of knowledge about the conjugation of the verb the writer is using, the difference between a possessive and a contraction, and how contractions are formed:

Present: I am, you are, he/she is the contractions: I'm, you're, he's/she's
Past: I had, you had, he/she had and in this case the plural form they had
the contractions: I'd, you'd, he'd/she'd and the plural form, they'd
Also misused are could have, should have and would have...could've, would've, should've as they are passive forms.

There is also a lot of misuse of their and they are (they're), your and you are (you're) as the contraction is not the possessive form. The meaning is not taken from the previous verb usage in the preceding sentence, or paragraph, as possessives are a whole different part of speech. Many possessives are homonyms for contractions, but they cannot be interchanged as the meanings are very different. Possessives denote ownership such as mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, ours etc.

The apostrophe can also denote a missing letter or letters, shortening the word pair such as:
let us...let's we have...we've who is...who's we will...we'll. I have found these to be some of the most often misused in context.

The following examples come from The Holt Handbook, page 478 in my edition:
Contraction Form / Possessive Form:
Who's on first?                     Whose book is this?
They're playing our song.      Their team is winning.
It's raining.                           Its paws were muddy.
You're a real pal.                 Your resume is very impressive.

Use a dictionary, Spell Checker, Thesaurus, Holt Handbook, what ever tools you need to be certain what you write is the best you can make it BEFORE you send it off. You may argue that is the purpose of editing to catch the mistakes, however, you have to get your manuscript PAST the slush pile before any editor will see it. Bad spelling, poor word usage, sloppy punctuation, and dodgy grammar will NOT get your manuscript moved anywhere but the circular file, shredder, or recycle bin.
What you write, and how you write it, reflects on you, so make a good first impression. The old adage about the first impression being the lasting one is trite, but it has been proven true in study after study.