Punctuation help - editing software

geek_writer

Virgin
Joined
Jan 31, 2007
Posts
25
I've had a submission rejected three times now because of missing punctuation. I tried using Word, but didn't point out missing marks before and after " marks.

What do people use besides going thru every single line?
 
Sorry to have to say it, and it's not flippant; it's pretty much the truth. I used getting a good grounding in grammar myself before I started writing for publication. And I still "go through every single line" more than once before submitting.
 
Point taken

I know you're right, and doing the line by line exercise sometimes catches more than just punctuation problems. Catches me being lazy with things like thru:)

I almost have to change my mindset from writer to editor to hunt down my punctuation. I just get frustrated when I have submitted multiple times and missed something.

Probably not as frustrated as the moderators thinking "take a few minutes and edit!!!"
 
I know you're right, and doing the line by line exercise sometimes catches more than just punctuation problems. Catches me being lazy with things like thru:)

I almost have to change my mindset from writer to editor to hunt down my punctuation. I just get frustrated when I have submitted multiple times and missed something.

Probably not as frustrated as the moderators thinking "take a few minutes and edit!!!"

Editing becomes easier once you learn the correct way of doing things, such as punctuation . . . and spelling. :)
 
Editing becomes easier once you learn the correct way of doing things, such as punctuation . . . and spelling. :)

Yes Mom.... :)

I know you're right, the problem I'm facing is that I am starting to read a lot of REALLY well written stuff and I wonder how mine will ever be able to compare. And coming to the realization that it's not just an "Oh, an idea" write it out and post it. I want to write things that people will want to read more of and not just for the oohs and ahhs.
 
Yes Mom.... :)

I know you're right, the problem I'm facing is that I am starting to read a lot of REALLY well written stuff and I wonder how mine will ever be able to compare. And coming to the realization that it's not just an "Oh, an idea" write it out and post it. I want to write things that people will want to read more of and not just for the oohs and ahhs.

I might be old enough, but trust me, I'm not your mom.
 
I think you will find the authors of the better stories tend to use editors who go slowly over each story twice. These editors not only look at punctuation but sentence structure, spelling and consistency.
 
I've had a submission rejected three times now because of missing punctuation. I tried using Word, but didn't point out missing marks before and after " marks.

What do people use besides going thru every single line?

I go through every single line, ad nauseam, puke, rinse and repeat. I edit to the best of my personal, (and paltry) ability before sending to an editor. My stories on Literotica are quite short, so those are just edited myself and perhaps whatever changes Lynn may or may not have made.

My advice; don't rely on MS word to edit for you, its a tool but that's all it is. Obtain the services of a professional editor or at least a knowledgeable non-pro and learn as much as you can from each edit so that you don't repeat the same mistakes. Hopefully, you'll be able catch errors early on in your draft and have better success with your submission.

I hope that helps at least a little.

Best!:)
 
I write on Google Docs, which only fixes spelling errors, and I also copy/paste onto Word because Word catches wrong tense or anything like that. But even then, Word doesn't catch missing words or other typos.

Nothing beats a readers eye. But there are writing software you can get online that'll help catch these errors for you, but you have to pay. I have no idea how accurate they are though, but if your story is really long, and you have the money to spend, why not?
 
People have talked up a storm about Grammarly, but there really is no software that's a substitute for line by line editing, especially if you're like me and write with "creative" grammar. Instead of trying to edit the whole thing, edit in small sections. When you've finished a couple paragraphs, edit the chunk. When you've finished a few chunks, edit the uber chunk. Then once you've finished everything, edit everything. This is a lot less taxing than trying to do the whole story in one go, and you'll be solving problems as you're working on them, instead of trying to come back to them way after the fact. (We've all had those sentences that we came back to and were like, "Whaaaaaaaa? What on Earth is that supposed to mean?")

I'm also of the opinion that editors should be there to help with with quality of the content (characters, plot, cohesion) and not for grammar or punctuation (outside of a couple here and there). Writing correctly and clearly is part of your job as the author, and, really, it's not all that hard to do.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm also of the opinion that editors should be there to help with with quality of the content (characters, plot, cohesion) and not for grammar or punctuation (outside of a couple here and there). Writing correctly and clearly is part of your job as the author, and, really, it's not all that hard to do.

There are different forms of editing. Line editing is just that--grammar, spelling, and punctuation. This is what the majority of professional editors are doing, plus some fact checking. Getting into structure and content is called content editing. An editor gets bigger bucks for doing this. I've done both, but I avoid content editing. There is so much on offer from writers that if they can't handle content and structure on their own, there are so many others who can that I don't see bothering with them.
 
When I'm editing I take notice of consistency problems such as the girl is not wearing panties in one paragraph but all of a sudden the guy is removing her panties. I also spot where the author has changed the character's name. An author on occasion will have an awkward sentence. In this case I will leave them a note so they can correct the situation.
 
There are some punctuation checkers on the web. I don't know how good they are, but it might be worth looking into.
 
I think you will find the authors of the better stories tend to use editors who go slowly over each story twice. These editors not only look at punctuation but sentence structure, spelling and consistency.

I agree. As an editor, myself, I slowly go over each story at least three times, sometimes four. Why? Because I want to do the best job I can so the story will be easier to read and understand thus better reviews/comments and higher scores for the author.
 
When I'm editing I take notice of consistency problems such as the girl is not wearing panties in one paragraph but all of a sudden the guy is removing her panties. I also spot where the author has changed the character's name. An author on occasion will have an awkward sentence. In this case I will leave them a note so they can correct the situation.

We're on the same page.
 
There are some punctuation checkers on the web. I don't know how good they are, but it might be worth looking into.

They are useful, more for nonfiction than fiction, but they really are only useful if the writer gains enough understanding of basic grammar and punctuation to know what applies in specific instances. Most amateur writers expect some electronic program to do it all for them. That isn't going to happen.
 
People have talked up a storm about Grammarly, but there really is no software that's a substitute for line by line editing

I use the free version of Grammarly (I'm not a native English speaker) and it helps a lot but, as has been said before, line by line editing is not substitutable.

After finishing a story, I go over it twice before I dare send it to my editor and still there is a ton of errors to correct.

Examples

"I don't think so" he said.
Corrected to: "I don't think so," he said.

He said "I don't think so."
Corrected to: He said, "I don't think so."

"I don't think so" he said before adding "maybe tomorrow."
Corrected to: "I don't think so," he said before adding "maybe tomorrow."

I think there should be a comma after 'adding' as well and when the sentences get more complex and longer than these examples Grammarly is becoming increasingly unreliable.
 
I've had a submission rejected three times now because of missing punctuation. I tried using Word, but didn't point out missing marks before and after " marks.

What do people use besides going thru every single line?

I use the free version of grammarly.com, but it is NOT an end-all. It doesn't catch all the punctuation or word usage mistakes and quite often will recommend something that's completely wrong. I do my own editing, a couple times through at least, then grammarly, then a Lit editor who still catches mistakes, then I read one more time before submitting and catch more mistakes or better ways to say something. I used the paid version of grammarly for a series of stories and those were rejected more than any other - not saying it was grammarly's fault, but it did happen that way.
 
Back
Top