10 Things That Will Make Your Writing Better (and Your Editor Happier)

It's line-editing time for the book I've been working on as part of the editorial team. As we've been going along, there are some things that seem pretty universal, not just for this project, but for others I've edited in the past. It seems like there are just some issues that lots of writers have, and maybe they keep doing it because they honestly don't realize it's a problem. Some of these items apply more to collaborative writing, but may have their uses in traditional styles. It's true that it's an editor's job to fix problems in the work they're editing, whether they're structural or stylistic, but it's also true that your work is more likely to be selected, and you are more likely to earn the respect of your editor if you turn in your best work.

If you're a writer, pay attention to these items before you submit your next piece. It might make the difference between acceptance and rejection if it's a tight contest or if the editor doesn't have a lot of time for basic corrections.

1. Know how to use punctuation. If you're going to call yourself a writer, this is about as basic as it gets. Know what a semicolon is and how to use it before you even think about pressing that key. If a line of dialogue is exclaimed, called, shouted, cried, bellowed, or otherwise pitched loudly, use an exclamation point for heaven's sake! Otherwise, your characters will all sound like Ben Stein. Ellipses, or "dot dot dot" marks are so overused and improperly-used that they'll probably go on strike any day now.  There are so many resources to teach you this very thing that there's really no excuse for turning in anything but a first draft with punctuation mistakes. If you're not sure, look it up.
2. Use correct verb tenses. This is another thing that we're taught in elementary school, but you'd be surprised how many adults get it wrong and turn in what they consider to be polished pieces of writing, full of improperly-conjugated verbs. Again, there are resources available, so don't cry that you don't know when to use the present-perfect tense or subjunctive mood. If you're a writer, it is your job to know how to use words. Look it up. Also, write in the same tense throughout your piece, unless you're dealing with a flashback or other situation that requires a deliberate change in tense. I see instances all the time, where a story written in the past tense suddenly switches to present-progressive. This is maddening. 
3. Know your characters. Two-dimensional, cookie cutter characters are not only boring, but they cause confusion when it comes to dialogue. If every character talks the same, it can become hard to follow. Also, know what your character looks like and keep it consistent. This is especially important in collaborative writing. It's bad news if one writer has the main character being an American who is six feet tall, with a bristling, red beard and hazel eyes, and another writer makes the same character a black-haired, blue-eyed dwarf with a French accent.
4. Write believable dialogue. Real people don't talk like Data from Star Trek. They use contractions. They use slang and colloquialisms. They have dialects and accents. Believable characters do not engage in High Fantasy Speak or Soap Opera Speak. I want you to think for a minute right now and ask yourself how many times you heard your own name in the last conversation you had. Not more than once or twice, right? Possibly, you didn't hear it at all. Remember that next time you write dialogue. These tips may stop you from writing things like, "No, Jessica! I did not put the empty carton back in the fridge! Nary a soul saw me, and you cannot prove that it was I!" and "Liar! You always do it, Brian, and the time has come for you to pay for your actions! I will not stand for this insolence a moment longer!" You snicker, but any fiction editor who reads this will be cringing in recognition of a painfully familiar style.
5. Understand and refer constantly to source material. This applies to writing on assignment, as part of a group, or any other situation where you are writing something that takes place within an established universe. For example, there exists in this universe a device called a Frappengiddygapper, which renders its wearer immortal. It is spelled with a capital F, is worn as a necklace, and pulses a dull red in time with the wearer's heartbeat. These facts are non-negotiable. If these have been stated in story contest rules or the source material for an anthology to which you are contributing, you have to get them right 100% of the time. You must capitalize that F. You must spell it F-r-a-p-p-e-n-g-i-d-d-y-g-a-p-p-e-r every single time. You may not have it glow green or purple or white. You may not enlarge it and have it worn as a belt buckle. You may not allow your character to keep it in a knapsack. You may not change its powers so that instead of making the wearer immortal, it allows them to see the future. 
6. Know your setting. You know how in Disney's Pocohontas, there are all of those lovely waterfalls and high cliffs? Well, I'm from coastal Virginia, and I've been to the very place where that story is set, and I'm here to tell you that the coast of Virginia is submergent, meaning that it slopes down into the ocean instead of sticking out of it in cliffs. There are no waterfalls until you go much further west. This kind of thing is highly annoying to audiences who are familiar with the place. If you think it would be amazing to set your story during the French Revolution, you'd better learn everything you can about that time and place. Know how people dressed. Know what the street traffic looked like. Know how buildings were furnished. Know about the food, the music, the political hierarchy. It is your job to know this stuff.
7. Use complete sentences. Unless you're writing lines of dialogue where characters are speaking naturally, and being interrupted or not completing a thought, there really is no excuse for writing in fragments. I see this kind of thing a lot: The air was crisp and clear. A mountain paradise. He gazed at her with longing. Breathtaking beauty. Do you know what that's called? It's called bad writing, folks. Part of it goes back to the afore-mentioned learning how to use punctuation, but mostly, it strikes me as lazy. If you submit that to me, you're giving me the job of changing it to: The air was crisp and clear; it was a mountain paradise. He gazed at her with longing, struck by her breathtaking beauty. 
8. Get your facts straight. If you're going to use a person who really lived, or an event that really happened, get it right. It may be tempting to throw Shakespeare into a story, but you need to know when he was born, when he died, that his wife was named Anne Hathaway, and that he probably didn't write his sonnets to your main character, unless you're attempting to identify the "W.H." to whom some were dedicated, or the "dark lady" of others. If you are saying that your character called Winifred Hastings was that "W.H.", you'd better be prepared to show proof, because lots of experts think it was Henry Wriothesley, the third Earl of Southampton. The point is that you tread on thin ice when you use something real in your story. You really need to get it right.
9. Be consistent. If you head the first chapter with "Chapter 1: The Yabba Hooba Experiment," then the next chapter should be headed with something like "Chapter 2: Blippity Bloppity Bloop." Don't give the first chapter a name and a number, then call the next one "Chapter II" or "Chapter the Second." If you invent the Frappengiddygapper for your characters, spell it that way throughout. If your character's name is Sarah, don't switch it to Sara now and then. 
10. No "and then"! She saw him and then turned to face him and then saw the dagger in his hand and then he lunged and then she ducked and then he swung again and then they fell to the floor in a passionate embrace and then the police burst in and then a spark was ignited and then the curtains caught fire and then the flying saucer landed and then a dinosaur trampled on it and then an asteroid flattened the dinosaur and then it began to rain and then the Loch Ness Monster bellowed its terrible cry and then the villagers ran for the hills and then the ninjas killed them all. You see where I'm going with this, don't you? If you find yourself writing "and then," take a moment to consider whether or not there's a better way to phrase what you're trying to say.