You Don't Need to be exquisite But Your Writing Does

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Having written since I was a kid, I've met many authors, writers and journalists along the way. While we don't all fit the stereotype of the robed, sleepless, alcoholic writer hunched over a typewriter in the attic, we do have much in common. In expanding to being the winners of spelling bees and hoarders of dictionaries and other books, we love words. We love to read them, hear them, speak them and write them. We love them to a fault.

We must have the right words in the right place at the right time. And, possibly more importantly, they must be written flawlessly. We won't accept typos, spelling errors or grammatical snafus, because mistakes interrupt the flow and the meaning of our words. As a result, we expect perfection and we don't tolerate errors from ourselves or others. This religious doctrine makes it difficult to be a writer at times, but we can't help ourselves. We are obsessed with perfection.

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Living this way can make it difficult to meet deadlines, however, as we await the ideal word, headline or first paragraph. Sometimes we must settle for less. Sometimes we even have to settle for pretty good. It's a harsh reality, but at some point, we have to unblemished our latest assignment or task and turn it in so we can get paid. We have to let go of the perfection we covet, because it isn't going to bless us with its presence today.

You Don't Need to be exquisite But Your Writing Does

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Best

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MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Feature

• ISBN13: 9780873529860
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MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers Overview

The MLA Handbook is published by the Modern Language Association, the authority on MLA documentation style. Widely adopted in high schools, colleges, and publishing houses, the MLA Handbook treats every aspect of research writing, from selecting a topic to submitting the completed paper. The expanded, revised, and redesigned sixth edition of the Handbook is a complete, up-to-date guide to documentation style and online research.

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Our editors, however, see it differently. They will expect perfection, not because they are masochists but because it makes their jobs easier. If our work is flawless, they have less to do. They can focus on other writer's work or planning their next issue or project. To endear ourselves to them (and to get more work), we must dutifully comply. The issue is trying to equilibrium our desire to be perfect with the reality that we will never be. We can come close though by thought about proofreading, editing and fact-checking our work prior to submission. Here's how.

Proofreading-checking for spelling, punctuation, grammatical and formatting errors-can be a tedious, cumbersome task, particularly when attempting to proof your own work, but it can be done. I normally proofread on my computer screen first, development edits as I go. When done, I print off a hard copy and go straight through line by line, reading out loud as I go. I find that I observation errors in print that I don't see on screen, and reading out loud helps me to find words that I've missed or used incorrectly (e.g., there instead of their). For well important assignments, I'll ask person else to proof it as well. In fact, I have an editing buddy with whom I trade proofreading help. I have also tried reviewing the copy backwards and reviewing for a separate item while each pass straight through the text. For example, the first time I read straight through it, I might focus on spelling, the next time on grammar, etc. Make sure you have your dictionary and grammar guide handy too while this stage.

Editing. In expanding to proofreading, I also copyedit my work, meaning I check for misplaced modifiers, tell style, check for flow, etc. This process is more intense than proofreading and can take awhile. It is also difficult to do immediately after finishing an assignment, so I will set it aside until morning when I can look at it with "fresh eyes." Often major errors will jump off the page, begging to be corrected. while this phase, you'll need to have your handy stylebook out (Ap, Apa, Chicago by hand of Style, etc.) to be sure that you've followed the accepted guidelines for things like capitalization, numbers (figures versus text) and references.

Fact-checking. Many publications, particularly magazines, will fact-check your work. In other words, they'll verify the spelling of allowable names, check dates, key facts, website addresses, phone numbers and more. While publications often hire person to do this task, by doing it yourself first, you can save the publication time and money, again development it easier to work with you. When I fact-check my writing, I first double-check the spelling of all names and places. I look at reference materials (brochures, bios, enterprise cards, etc.) that I've been given, and I search online. If I am unsure, I'll phone the traditional source to confirm a spelling. I do the same thing with dates. For key facts, I do an Internet search, marking my source to either contribute to the fact-checker up front or for my own reference should I be questioned later. This was particularly helpful when I wrote an description about a coal mine explosion in the early 1900s. My editor wanted to confirm that a single mining town was second in size only to Seattle. Before she was willing to allow me to make that statement, she wanted verification.

In spite of these techniques, we are human and it is still possible that an error will occasionally slip straight through the cracks. However, if you are diligent in your effort to submit well-written, well-documented work without definite errors, your editors and publishers will be more likely to turn to you rather than the other guy - you know who I mean - the writer who thinks he's great but who can't spell his way out of a paper bag. Make sure you are the one they turn to for stellar, (nearly) flawless work.

Happy Writing!

Copyright (c) 2007 Dana Blozis

You Don't Need to be exquisite But Your Writing Does