Editing Tips

Hey guys.

Okay so a few people on here are looking for editors or some kind of help with their work. I decided to post up a few tips to help people avoid making the common mistakes that people make on here. You know a kind of guide to help you fix your story on your own.

Tip One: Mary Sue or Gary Stu Characters

These characters are perfect. Mary Sue could be your blonde haired, blue eyed prom queen that everyone loves. Gary Stu could be that handsome, charming and mysterious guy that just transferred. These characters often share traits with the author themselves as well as other traits that the author wished they possessed. Their names are often unique or a simple name with a unique spelling.  

Please avoid doing this at all costs. These characters are unrealistic and make the story unreadable and boring. No one wants to read about the perfect couple that gets everything they want. We want to read about things that could possibly happen to us. We want to read stories about normal people who experience extraordinary things or just have a long visit from lady luck. No one is perfect. We all have flaws and that’s what we want to see.

There is also the anti- Mary Sue and anti- Gary Stu. These characters are the most hated characters or the most unlucky characters. Their luck is just down in the sewer and they have nothing left to live for. No one wants to read a story about someone who has no hope. There has to be a little bit of hope in there somewhere. Life just isn’t that cruel. Don’t take it too far.

Tip Two: Spelling and Grammar mistakes

This is just plain old annoying.  We can tolerate the odd mistake here and there because you are human and we understand that, but if there is a mistake in every sentence, it’s a turn off. If we have to guess our way through your story, chances are that you’ll lose us after the first page.

Mistakes are messy and irritating. We want to read a pretty, well typed, good story. Put capital letters where they are needed. Finish your sentence with the proper punctuation mark. Use punctuation marks accordingly. Don’t forget to use your apostrophes, commas, full stops, exclamation marks, quotation marks, etc. They’re there for a reason. A bloody good reason too.

Don’t mix up words or phrases. There’s nothing worse than someone misusing a phrase. Please make sure your sentence makes sense and that your paragraph serves to illustrate one point. Each sentence should have a key point that corresponds with the main point of your paragraph.

Don’t exaggerate your punctuation marks (!!!, ???, ?!?!). It’s childish and unnecessary.  Don’t drag out your words either, (pleeeeeeaaassssseeee) just  explain that the character is dragging out a certain word. Typing out words to fit the way the person sounds is okay, (G’day mate).

Do not use abbreviations. I repeat, do not use abbreviations. OMG, WTH, BTW, BRB, and more are not actual words. They are a part of a language reserved for chat rooms or texting. They should not be used under any circumstances in your story unless your character is sending or receiving a text message or is in a chat room or something like that. Do not use it if it is not a form of verbal or written communication between characters.

Tip Three: Mixing in numbers with letters

This is my personal pet peeve. I’m not sure if it’s an actual rule but please, for me, don’t do this. If you’re writing a story then please, write it out. Use words at all times, whether it’s for the time, or someone’s age or a timeline of any kind, type it out. Two looks so much prettier than 2. Typing it out makes it blend in with your story and makes the overall presentation very appealing.

Tip Four: Have the facts

Know what you are talking about. I know stories can be fiction-based, but if you’re going to bring in an actual place or person then at least do so correctly. Don’t say that your characters visited the Eiffel Tower in Japan. This is just such a turn off and makes you look like an idiot. No one wants to read the work of an idiot and I’m pretty sure you don’t want to be dubbed an idiot by people you don’t know.

Tip Five: Avoid Clichés

Clichéd stories are the worst. Girl meets guy, guy falls for girl, they fall in love after two weeks of knowing each other and they go through a major obstacle, like a persistent jealous girl that lies to break them up, then live happily ever after. We’ve read it before. Don’t write a story if you’re just going to re-write someone else’s. If you’re writing a fan fiction of Harry Potter or something and you just want to tweak something then that’s a totally different situation. But if you’re claiming that it is an original story then this is for you.

If you like the idea of a nerd dating the school’s bad boy, then at least have her end up with his kinder best friend. If you want them together, have her stay the way she is and the same goes for him. No make overs or whatever, just have her keep being the nerd and have him continue being the little delinquent he is.  Then spice it up with a twist, like maybe she isn’t quite sure about her sexuality.

Tip Six: Paragraph your work

Paragraphs are your friend. Please, use them. They make it more interesting, believe it or not. A bunch of words all clustered together in large groups make you feel tired or lazy. It’s just exhausting looking at them. Have paragraphs of different lengths to keeps us somewhat interested.

Don’t forget that when people are having a conversation in your story, each person’s comment goes on a new paragraph.

Tip Seven: Use a word processor

Microsoft Word is your friend. It helps with your spelling mistakes and grammar issues. It makes it a lot easier to avoid making silly mistakes.

Tip Eight: The longer the title, the lower the standard

Avoid having titles that explain the plot. Titles like “The hot guy next door wants meeee?” are so annoying, stupid, pointless, should I go on?

Tip Nine: Events

Don’t have a chain of events happen at one go. It’s not realistic. You have to be able to see it happening. Don’t have a girl meet some guy at a party, then meet again at a mutual friend’s house then start dating, then move in together and get married all in the space of a month. That doesn’t happen, well with the exception of Khloe and Lamar.  Point is don't do this. 

Tip Ten: Remember what your English grade school teacher always said.

You know those stupid rules that your grade school English teacher always used to makes you repeat. Yeah, well, she/he was right. ‘I’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c’, ‘q’ is always followed by ‘u’, etc. Remember them and use them.  They are important!

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So, I think I’ve made my point. Hopefully these tips will help some of you make your stories ten times better. I’m not a professional or anything close, so don’t get your undies in a twist, I’m just sharing my knowledge with you. After all, sharing is caring.  Feel free to add on any tips if you so wish.

Good luck!.