The Pre-edit Edit:The Final Steps

Before Submitting a

Manuscript

Writers are crafters of written language, carefully selecting the proper word and phrase to best describe the ideas they put to paper. As professionals, it can be uncomfortable or even embarrassing to get a manuscript back with lots of corrections to basic grammar and punctuation errors.   With just a few days of work before the submission deadline, authors can review their manuscripts with a copyeditor’s eye and eliminate time consuming corrections now rather than further down the publishing road.

The first step is to ignore your manuscript for a while. Re-reading your manuscript and checking for errors immediately after you've written it is a guaranteed way to miss mistakes. When you re-read immediately, often your memory supplies the information rather than your eyes actually processing the words on paper. Ideally, a week or so away from your manuscript will give you a fresh view, but even a day or two away from the work can help you catch mistakes.

The next step is to use the technology provided by your computer. No matter how many times you’ve done so before, it is vital to run a final spelling and grammar check. While these programs can’t account for all errors and will likely hang up on lots of little things that are correct, they definitely will catch the most obvious grammatical errors. Even if the spell check catches just one spelling error, it makes this step worthwhile.

Also, take inventory of your own writing weaknesses—be they certain punctuation errors, a particular typo you always do, or other unique hiccup in your writing process. Use your computer to isolate these areas using the Find and Replace functions. Check the spelling of character’s names that appear infrequently, or evaluate your heavy reliance on semicolons in your writing. Many copyeditors create a style sheet—a reference guide they create while editing—that lists complex or obscure words or names with correct spellings, confirms the use of a word that may have two different yet correct spellings, or even remind you of that punctuation rule you can never remember. By analyzing your errors and writing them down, you'll know which specific mistakes to look for as you continue through your manuscript.

Next, take a very slow, deliberate journey through your manuscript. Use whatever technique you need to slow you down enough so you're carefully reading the words—such as reading out loud, reviewing sentence by sentence, or even reading backwards. To read backwards, start at the bottom and read the words and phrases individually to ensure correct use of commas and other punctuation. These techniques are excellent for checking subject/verb agreement as well. Choose a method that takes the words out of context, so you're more likely to see any errors in spelling or any punctuation that doesn't make sense. Just find a technique that works for you, as long as it keeps you from skimming over the words you’ve read hundreds of times. 

Finally, recruit a trustworthy person with some skill in grammar to read your copy. For people who are used to reading, errors appear very obvious. It doesn’t need to be a professional proofreader or editor, but someone who has knowledge in basic grammar and style. Make sure they focus on the technical aspects of the manuscripts—the punctuation and spelling parts—and not the content or plot, as that’s for you and your editor to work out at another time. What you need now is a proofreader who can give you good feedback and provide that fresh set of eyes to comb through the manuscript.

With these steps, writers should have an error-free manuscript ready for submission. Although a little time consuming up front, the steps will save time during the production process so the copyeditor can focus on the more key elements during their review and not waste precious time checking for basic grammar and punctuation problems. The best part is that your error-free, professional manuscript will positively reflect the expert word crafter who wrote it.

by Jennifer Maughan, ABP Editor