This blog post is part of a new series I’m starting of posts about living the dual life of a writer and editor. Look for a new post every Sunday.
When you’re a copyeditor, you go through a lot of manuscripts, and see many of the same issues repeating themselves. Here’s a brief list of ten common editing errors I see frequently, and some tips for how to avoid them.
ONE: Double Punctuation
Example: “Are you serious?!”
As much as it would be awesome if there were a punctuation mark for an incredulous explanation, there isn’t … yet. In this case, you need to choose one or the other. If the dialogue is more of a question, go question mark, and vice versa.
TWO: Try and…
Example: I was going to try and find a way out.
The correct usage is “Try to”. The exception to this rule is during dialogue if the speaker would be more prone to speaking incorrectly, but in your prose, always make sure you Try To remember this rule. 😉
THREE: Was/Were (Used with If)
This little rule is very commonly forgotten or not understood.
Example (was): If Martin was at the party, I didn’t see him. (Note this is an IF statement that could be true).
Example (were): If Martin were a robot, his dance moves would have been killer. (A simple one. Martin is not and cannot be a robot, so this IF statement is false).
One way to remember this rule is to check whether the situation is possible at this time in the story. If it is, then Was is correct. If it isn’t, use Were.
FOUR: Em Dashes
Oh, beautiful Em Dashes! They look like this: — (longer than an en dash) Use (control)+(alt)+(-) to insert it (Use the hyphen on the number pad).
Em dashes can be used to split up a sentence where you want to highlight something, or to introduce something big. Take care not to overuse them, as this can make a book look choppy. If a comma fits, then use it.
Example: She zipped up her pants—her hot pink pants—and admired herself in the mirror.
Example: He wished with all of his might for the only thing that could make him happy—a friend.
FIVE: Semi-colons
The literary world is mixed on semi-colons. Some people love them; other people hate them. You can usually use a comma instead of a semi-colon, but there are also places where a semi-colon can really help sentence structure. They can be used to link two complete phrases that relate each other (fixing comma splices), in lists that have multiple layers, and also to introduce an element.
Example: She loved walking along the beach on Sundays; the ocean wind caressed her hair, sending waves of relaxation through her. (Note, both sentences can stand alone).
Example: Paris, France; Brussels, Belgium; and Milan, Italy were her favourite places to be.
Example: It was true; she’d never really loved him.
SIX: Dialogue Tagging
The most common issue I notice with dialogue is ending speech with a comma and then not having a proper tag at the end.
Example: “That was great,” she laughed.
Technically, you can’t *laugh* words. You can speak, say, exclaim, etc. But you can’t laugh or sigh dialogue.
SEVEN: OK … Not!
Here’s a quickie: Okay should be spelled out in full, not as ok, Ok, or OK (unless you’re talking about Oklahoma).
Eight: Lay vs. Lie
I’m not going to get into this one deeply, but it’s something every writer should grasp, or at least keep a cheat-sheet handy. (Grammar Girl has a nice one here)
Basics:
Lay, present tense = to place/set something. “Lay the paper on the table for me.”
Lie, present tense= to tell an untruth, to lie on a floor/bed. “I’m going to go lie down.”
Lay, past tense= to lie on a floor/bed. “She lay on the sofa, waiting for her hair to dry.”
NINE: Me vs. I
I remember in grade school I was taught to always say, “Sheila and I.” But in reality, it depends on whether you are the subject or the object of the sentence.
Example: The teacher gave Sheila and I a dirty look= Incorrect. It should be Sheila and me. An easy way to remember this is to remove “Sheila” from the sentence. You wouldn’t write, “The teacher gave I a dirty look”, right?
Example: She likes comics, just like me= Incorrect. The correct way would be: She likes comics, just like I do (like comics). Remove the beginning of the sentence and you would have “Me like comics”.
TEN: Bad Apostrophe!
This is a common error made everywhere. I cringe when I see this done on public signs. The most common error I see is using an apostrophe to signify a plural.
Example (incorrect plural): She loved all types of pony’s. (The apostrophe represents possession, not plurality. Should be ponies). Let’s work together to raise awareness about bad apostrophes!
These are just a few items to check when reviewing your manuscript. To learn as much as you can and to become a better writer and editor, I highly suggest a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style. Click on the cover to buy a copy. It’ll be a decision you never regret!
Lindsay Leggett 
Good list, but the ‘okay’ one depends on where the book is being submitted. I know of publishers who have a house style where it is corrected to OK.
Good info. Do you have a list, and know what style guide they use?
Off the top of my head, Angry Robot definitely uses OK, and I’m reasonably sure they use their own in house style guide.
There’s a Twitter exchange between a couple of AR authors concerning okay/OK and em/en dashes here https://twitter.com/ghostfinder/status/294795191531995137
Interesting. Seems that it’s mostly Sci-fi imprints using OK and en dashes.
At any rate, I edit according to CMS, so okay and em dashes always. 🙂 I would say that if you write YA/NA/Contemporary, okay is probably the safer bet. I wish pubs would list their style guide under their submissions (maybe some do). It would make it much easier for writers to have an idea of how their MS would be edited.