Thursday, May 9, 2013

The Business Basics for Today’s Writer—Part Three—More on Document Formatting & Common Mistakes


I’ve been working with some new writers recently and have discovered some common mistakes within their manuscripts. Today I want to highlight those because, as I’ve said before, NONE of us was born knowing this stuff!

Two weeks ago I shared some of the macro types of document formatting, today we’re going micro.

Formatting
First and foremost spacing twice between sentences is NO LONGER the rule to follow. And it hasn’t been the rule for over ten years. When you type the ending punctuation of a sentence, space ONCE and begin the next sentence. If you’re like I was at first, that’s a hard habit to change. Here’s how to get around that.

Type your document like you normally would. Then click on the Find/Replace option. In FIND, space twice. Then in REPLACE. Space once. Then click replace all. You may have to do that a couple of times to get all the extra spaces removed.

Anytime you submit something for publication, even if it’s just a blog post, you should correct this. The person acting as editor has to remove those spaces, and that takes time. Not much, if you’re only doing one article or post. But if you’re accepting a lot of submissions it can take hours.

Please don’t use “air quotes” for emphasis. Remember how everyone did that in the 80s, and how stupid it looks now. The same is true with the words we write. In addition, don’t emphasize too many words. Readers are pretty savvy these days. They don’t need the emphasis in about ninety-percent of the usages. But if you must emphasize something, put it in italics.

Common Mistakes
Use apostrophes correctly. I’m constantly having to correct apostrophe usage in blog post submissions, as well as in other things I critique and edit. An apostrophe is used to show ownership (like my mother’s love) or with a contraction (I won’t give in). The word ITS is an exception. Its uses an apostrophe ONLY when it’s used as a contraction. When It’s possessive, there’s no apostrophe.

Unless you’re writing for a formal publication, look for places to use contractions. We all use contractions when we talk, but we rarely use them when we write. We need to go back over what we read and look for places where we’d naturally use them.

Incorrect use of hyphens, en dashes and em dashes. Here’s a quick grammar lesson.
  • Hyphens (also incorrectly referred to as dashes) are used in compound words, or words that are linked together as one thing. Example: five-year-old girl.
  • En dashes are slightly longer and are used to separate numbers. Example: from October 7 – 8. You format this by typing the number, space, dash, space, number, space.
  • Em dashes are the longest of the three and are used when you’re expanding or modifying a statement. Example: give the same information—in the same order—for each event. In Microsoft Word, you format this by typing the word, then dash, dash, next word and space. In Pages, you format this by pressing the shift, option, dash keys at the same time. 

Incorrect use of ellipsis (…). This punctuation mark is used to denote a break in thought or speech. It is NOT interchangeable with the em dash.

Use of periods at the end of a bulleted list. According the AP Style Guide (the general guide that governs writing for the Internet) a bulleted list should include the use of a period at the end of each bullet point. There are levels of acceptance for this guideline, and most people don’t add a period at the end of a one word bullet point. BUT the important thing here is consistency. If you end even one of the bullet points with a punctuation mark—like a question mark—you must end them ALL with a punctuation mark.

Common comma usage. A book could be written about how to correctly use commas, and most of it would be considered wrong by the next grammarian you consult. But there are still a few hard and fast rules. Here are two: 
  • When you have a compound sentence, connected with a conjunction, you use a comma if the second part of the sentence is a complete sentence.
  • A serial comma is NOT used with the AP Style Guide. Example: red, white and blue.
Conclusion
It's almost impossible to turn in a perfect submission. But there is one single trick that can cut out most mistakes. 

Read what you've written OUT LOUD. 

This doesn't mean pronouncing the words in your mind. Instead actually read them out loud. This uses different pathways in your brain and you will catch most of your mistakes.

I'd love to know what else you have questions about. Also, what good tips have others shared with you that have taken your writing to a new level? Leave your questions and tips in the comments section below.

Don't forget to join the conversation!
Blessings,
Edie

24 comments:

  1. Great list, Edie. Following these guidelines will help writers create professional submissions.

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    1. Vonda, we learned all these the hard way, didn't we!

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  2. Edie, all of these tips are great. Thank you! I've also been coached by my writer/husband to put my blog/chapter/whatever aside (especially if it's late and I'm tired) and read it in the morning. I can catch all kinds of errors with fresh eyes. Thanks for all of your teaching. It is a blessing to so many.

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  3. Thanks, Edie. This was very helpful.

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  4. Thanks for putting your effort into these lessons. I appreciate them. I know the two space thing is important, and I have been trying to change that habit this year. I learned to type on an old IBM selectric machine and the pattern became engrained. Thank goodness for search and replace!

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    1. Darien, the two-space habit was very hard for me to break! I learned to type on a typewriter as well. I'm so glad you're finding this series helpful, Blessings, E

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  5. Thanks! I got loads of good info from this post and am putting the AP Style Guide on my mother's day list.

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    1. Erika, you can also subscribe to the AP Style Guide online. That's always been my preference. I'm so glad you've found this post helpful! Blessings, E

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  6. This is great! Thanks. I'd not heard about using find/replace. This will be a great tool as I try and break the deeply ingrained two space habit.

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    1. Tarissa, find/replace has become my best friend! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Blessings, E

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  7. Great post, Edie. I've got a question. I recently wrote this line: Have you ever "liked" something on facebook knowing God does not like it?
    Are those air quotes okay or should I delete them?

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    1. Sally, I would not use air quotes. Using liked in this manner is a common verb now. Sometimes I will italicize it or use all caps, if I don't think my audience will understand what I'm saying. I hope this helps! Blessings, E

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  8. Edie, I loved this. I just switched to a Mac at Christmas, and I was frustrated because I couldn't make a one-line em-dash. You solved my dilemma, thanks! I also appreciated the other formatting info you shared too.

    I'm learning so much from you. Thanks for that!

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    1. Jeanne, I'm so glad this is helping! thanks so much for stopping by, Blessings, E

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  9. Hi Edie. Is AP preferred over Chicago Manual of Style? When I have a question I usually go to CMOS. Should I be using AP?

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    1. Pat, AP is used with Internet writing and periodicals, like magazines. CMOS is for books. This is a general rule of thumb, so there are exceptions. But the important thing is to be consistent. Thanks so much for stopping by, Blessings, E

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  10. Thanks for all these tips, Edie. I have a question. You've said (if I'm interpretating this right)that if you have a compound sentence and the second part could stand alone, you should use a comma between them. I thought a semi-colon was used. When do you use the semi-colon?

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    1. Ellen, you use a comma in that instance. As far as a semi-colon, I try to never use them. A lot of times, editors will have you reword the sentence to avoid using them. They're just not a very popular punctuation mark any more. Blessings, E

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  11. Edie, I read in a previous comment that you could get the AP manual online. Where would I go to get it and how much? Love you!

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    1. Jamie, here's the link: https://www.apstylebook.com/?gclid=COTVhdHeibcCFQTd4AodhlcApA. Blessings, E

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  12. Even though my first reaction is to crawl in a hole, I always appreciate these helpful posts, Edie.

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  13. I am fine with most of it, but hyphens, en dashes and em dashes throw me.

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  14. I need to print this list and keep it on my desk. Thanks, Edie.

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