Today I want to discuss a couple of editorial problems that I see in manuscripts and book proposals. I want you to avoid these things in your writing. I want you to become an astute self-editor. It will save you money for professional editing.
I’m not suggesting that you should cut the editor out completely—oh no. But the tighter your writing and the more editorially sound you can make it, the less time it will take your editor to go over it and the less cost to you!
Here are a couple of sentences I came across in manuscripts recently. I have changed them just enough so as to protect the identity and style of the writer:
“As a society, we have always depended on others, since the beginning of time.”
First, I advised this author to use either “always” or “since the beginning of time.” To use both is redundant. And I omitted the comma between “others” and “since.”
Here’s another example of redundancy:
“This is a new product that just came out.”
Some authors, in their book proposal synopsis refer to their project as, “my book” or “the book.” I typically suggest that they write “this book” or “the book I propose,” or the book title.
How about this one—the author writes, “Some writers forget to include an SASE with their manuscript. That is okay if they do not want a reply.”
I would opt for “this” in place of “that.” “This is okay…”
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