{"id":2629,"date":"2019-07-08T09:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T13:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WP\/?p=2629"},"modified":"2019-07-08T09:00:40","modified_gmt":"2019-07-08T13:00:40","slug":"ten-editing-tips-tricks-and-techniques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/advertising\/ten-editing-tips-tricks-and-techniques\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Editing Tips, Tricks, and Techniques"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"See<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Web<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Social<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Get<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

W<\/span>riters, the written word is the ultimate in non-verbal communications. And because you won\u2019t be there to explain what it means, your writing must stand on its own to be understood. As I\u2019ve said for many years, communications exists when the thought in your (the writer\u2019s) head is caused to exist in the mind of the reader.<\/p>\n

To that end, we end our work. And perhaps edit it again and maybe a third, fourth, or more times depending on its importance.<\/p>\n

Her are some things to look for when you edit your work. And, before I forget, if you have the time, let a day or two pass before you edit. If you\u2019re like me, you will find errors so glaring that you\u2019ll wonder how you ever missed them. Well, you missed them because you were writing not editing.<\/p>\n

\n

Editing makes the difference between success and failure. Do it right to get it right.<\/h2>\n

Don’t neglect it.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

Now come the editing. Don\u2019t forget, when you write don\u2019t edit and when you edit don\u2019t write.<\/p>\n

Show Don\u2019t Tell.<\/b><\/p>\n

As Mark Twain said, \u201cDon\u2019t tell the reader the old lady screamed, bring her on and let
\nher scream.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avoid using unnecessary words. Note: I mean don\u2019t include unnecessary words because they\u2019re fluff and ad nothing to the reader\u2019s understanding.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Yes: \u201cI\u2019ve done this for years and have saw this.\u201d<\/li>\n
  • No: \u201cIn all of my more than thirty years, I\u2019ve seen just about everything, but not this.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Move action words toward the front of your sentences, so the reader knows what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Yes: John ran across the street.<\/li>\n
    • No: Across the street john ran.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Sentences<\/b><\/p>\n

      For the web, write sentences of 12 to 15 words. When writing for academia sentences will be much longer. That\u2019s fine. Novels and nonfiction may well use longer sentences. Be careful, though, a novel I once read had a paragraph long sentence that ran more than 140 words. That\u2019s far too long. Watch for sentences that run 40 or 50 words. Break them up.<\/p>\n

      Look for repeated words:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • No: He said that he would be here at noon.<\/li>\n
      • Yes: He\u2019ll be here at noon.<\/li>\n
      • Yes: Said, he\u2019d be here at noon.<\/li>\n
      • NOTE: Use repeated words for emphasis. \u201cHe said he\u2019d be here.\u201d Indicates the speaker is becoming, or is, agitated.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Punctuation<\/b><\/p>\n

        Start every sentence with a capital letter. End every sentence with either a period (.), question mark (?), or an exclamation mark (!).<\/p>\n

        Use exclamation marks rarely. Do not rely on them, to get your point or emotion across to the reader put in your prose.<\/p>\n

        Commas<\/b><\/p>\n

        Commas can make you crazy. And I won\u2019t be able to give you a nice short way to learn their use. Yes, you\u2019re going to have to take the time to research them. No place better to start than The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E.B White.<\/p>\n

        Foreign Words or Phrases<\/b><\/p>\n

        Include their translation in English immediately following them.<\/p>\n

          \n
        • No, E pluribus unum<\/li>\n
        • Yes: E pluribus unum (Out of many, one.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          There, Their, They\u2019re<\/b><\/p>\n

            \n
          • It\u2019s theirs. It belongs to them.<\/li>\n
          • The book is over there.<\/li>\n
          • they\u2019re : They are : They\u2019re coming on the trip.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            A, An<\/b><\/p>\n

              \n
            • Use an before a vowel sounding word.<\/li>\n
            • Yes: The boy ate an apple.<\/li>\n
            • No: We rode in an car.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              To, Two, Too<\/b><\/p>\n

                \n
              • Yes: I\u2019m going to the store.<\/li>\n
              • Yes: There were two cars in the parking lot.<\/li>\n
              • Is Bob, coming, too?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

                And Lastly, Here’s One From My Current Book<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n

                When you find the same error more than once, use the find and replace function in your word processor to fix the error throughout the entire manuscript. This works great and saves you time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Writers, the written word is the ultimate in non-verbal communications. And because you won\u2019t be there to explain what it means, your writing must stand on its own to be understood. As…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12,25,58,63,80,88,102,104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advertising","category-blogging","category-communication","category-marketing","category-nonfiction","category-short-story","category-success","category-writers-tools","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wayneaenglish.com\/WordPress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}