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Common Editing Issues #1

Renee Stevens

Entry posted by Renee Stevens in Writing Tips

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I've received quite a few editing tips from our membership. Today, we're going to look at some provided by JayT. Enjoy!

 

 

There are three common editing issues that I come across frequently. They are punctuation (ie. missing commas, misused commas, and dialogue punctuation), misused words (ie nauseous instead of nauseated, then/than misused, they're, their, there misused), and sentences that don't read correctly and interrupt the flow of the story (they can be fragmented sentences, run-on sentences, or sentences that are structured incorrectly). 

 

Commas can be the bane of both a writer's and an editor's existence. I've found that writers will either totally ignore using a comma because they're not certain where to place them or they'll overuse the comma and randomly place it where it does not belong. There are several resources on this site and out on the internet that will help writers when it comes to comma usage.  Additionally, there is a blog on this site about proper dialogue punctuation.

 

The next common editing issue that I've often encountered would be the misused words. An easy example of this would be they're/their/there. They're is a contraction for they are, meaning the only time a writer would use they're is when they combine the words they are. Their is used when referring to a group of other people. Finally, there is used when referencing a location. Some common misused words would be then and than, break and brake, neither/nor and either/or, and finally nauseous and nauseated. Then is used when you are referring to whatever will happen next. An example would be- When I get home from work, I change clothes then I decide what I want to eat for dinner." Than is used to compare things- "This is better than that." So, basically, then is used for chronological references and than is used for comparisons. Next, writers often misuse break and brake. While I'm working, I take breaks. The car's brakes are going out. Another common misuse is neither/nor and either/or. If you were given the choice between two things and you wanted to let the reader know that no matter what was chosen, nothing would work, you would use neither/nor. I've read sentences that say, "Either Chuck or Rick would not make a good teacher." That is incorrect. The proper way to word that sentence is, "Neither Chuck nor Rick would be a good teacher." The next misused word I'm going to mention is mainly a pet-peeve of mine- nauseous vs. nauseated.  Other things give off smells that are nauseous, making someone nauseated. If you write, "I started feeling nauseous," you are saying, "I started felling like I was giving off an offending smell." If you were to write, "I started feeling nauseated," you would mean, "I started to have a queasy feeling in my stomach." 

 

Finally, the most common editing issue I come across is poorly structured sentences that do not flow well. They can be anything from a fragmented sentence like, "I noticed everything in the room. The grand chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The tables lined with white linen table cloths. The green balls." In this example, "The green balls," is a fragmented sentence. What were the green balls doing? They can also be run-on sentences that should have some sort of punctuation but don't so the sentence just keeps going and overloads the readers with constant information instead of helping the reader understand what is going on in the story. I believe that last sentence is a great example of a run-on sentence. Lastly, poorly structured sentences are ones that a reader has to go back and reread to try and make sense of what the author is really trying to say. I cannot think of a good example right now. 

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Puppilull

Puppilull 18,787

Posted

Thank you for this! I struggle with commas a lot. Then I do some fragmented sentences, maybe because I try to achieve an artistic effect. I don't know if it's more common in Swedish and that's the reason I do it. 

 

It's a continuous work to better myself. So blog posts like this helps. 

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JayT

JayT 11,758

Posted

1 minute ago, Puppilull said:

Thank you for this! I struggle with commas a lot. Then I do some fragmented sentences, maybe because I try to achieve an artistic effect. I don't know if it's more common in Swedish and that's the reason I do it. 

 

It's a continuous work to better myself. So blog posts like this helps. 

You do a fine job. Anytime you have a question about something or need help, let me know. ;) 

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Mikiesboy

Mikiesboy 143,937

Posted

Not sure I agree about the nauseous thing, at least not anymore. I mean you're right, but I think simply that we are changing the original definition /usage. But it's all right if you're a die hard about somethings right?  Merriam-Webster says this:

 

nauseous vs. nauseated

 

Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only to mean "causing nausea" and that its later "affected with nausea" meaning is an error for nauseated are mistaken. Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous to mean "causing nausea or disgust" is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseouswhen referring to being affected with nausea.
 
Vocabulary.com says this:
 

In his Modern American Usage, Garner labels this usage as "ubiquitous" but held on to by "die-hard snoots." The Oxford English Dictionary calls this usage of nauseous common. Another distinction is that nauseated can be used to describe "sick in the stomach" and nauseous for "sickening to think about."

Sticklers will keep the distinction. If you feel nauseated after thinking about this nauseousdistinction, then you're on the right track.

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JayT

JayT 11,758

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18 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

Not sure I agree about the nauseous thing, at least not anymore. I mean you're right, but I think simply that we are changing the original definition /usage. But it's all right if you're a die hard about somethings right?  Merriam-Webster says this:

 

nauseous vs. nauseated

 

Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only to mean "causing nausea" and that its later "affected with nausea" meaning is an error for nauseated are mistaken. Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous to mean "causing nausea or disgust" is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseouswhen referring to being affected with nausea.
 
Vocabulary.com says this:
 

In his Modern American Usage, Garner labels this usage as "ubiquitous" but held on to by "die-hard snoots." The Oxford English Dictionary calls this usage of nauseous common. Another distinction is that nauseated can be used to describe "sick in the stomach" and nauseous for "sickening to think about."

Sticklers will keep the distinction. If you feel nauseated after thinking about this nauseousdistinction, then you're on the right track.

Yes bub it is ALRIGHT if we don't agree on something. hehehe

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William King

William King 3,102

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22 hours ago, Puppilull said:

Then I do some fragmented sentences, maybe because I try to achieve an artistic effect.

This could be incorrect, but in the example given, "The green balls," is a fragmented sentence. However, if you were trying to achieve an effect, you might write - The green balls! - the exclamation emphasising the "green balls" which you would explain, reveal, in the following sentence. The reader is startled by these "green balls" as is the person observing them in the story. I can only see this working with an exclamation.

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JayT

JayT 11,758

Posted

3 minutes ago, William King said:

This could be incorrect, but in the example given, "The green balls," is a fragmented sentence. However, if you were trying to achieve an effect, you might write - The green balls! - the exclamation emphasising the "green balls" which you would explain, reveal, in the following sentence. The reader is startled by these "green balls" as is the person observing them in the story. I can only see this working with an exclamation.

True, but too many of those exclamations get annoying and distract from the story. Plus in combination with the other grammar issues, the story becomes hard to read. It doesn't take a significant amount of time to either go over what has been written and look for issues or getting help from someone. ;) 

 

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Puppilull

Puppilull 18,787

Posted

In ny case, I've had editors ask me what the h*** I mean. So I wasn't successful in my attempt at tempo and nerve.

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Will Hawkins

Will Hawkins 5,946

Posted

The there/they're/their controversy: words of this nature in English are known as 'homophones' I do not know whether homophones exist in other languages (somehow that word make me feel that they are more popular on GA than on other sites, hehe) but they are difficult for an author to avoid, but should be easy for an editor to spot. Punctuation rules are more difficult. It seems to me that for every 'rule' there are so many exceptions that it makes editing onerous. The only rule in punctuation that I try to follow without exception is that there are only three ways to end a sentence: a full-stop (period), a question mark or an exclamation point. A dash or ellipsis is never used.

Active and Passive voice: We habitually write in the active voice and that is a very normal method, but remember that passive voice is used for a 'condition contrary to fact' so both tools should be in your workbox.

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Timothy M.

Timothy M. 50,252

Posted

I'm useless with commas in English, which is frustrating as I'm almost perfect with Danish punctuation. :(  But at least I have editors who are good at it. :yes: 

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Graeme

Graeme 16,880

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I know I have a lot of problem with commas, and that's a major area where my editors have always been correcting me. I believe part of the problem is because the rules have changed. Back in the dark ages (ie. pre-Internet) when I was in school, we were told to use commas whenever there was a natural pause if the sentence was being spoken. That's no longer the rule, but there are still plenty of us who persist in the old way because that's what we were taught.

 

For example, my editor would probably tell me that there's supposed to be a comma after "old way" in that previous sentence, as the "because" is joining two clauses, but if I were to speak it, I wouldn't put a pause there, so my instinctive reaction when typing is to not put in a comma. (And that's another example of a run-on sentence...)

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Graeme

Graeme 16,880

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As an example, as JayT indicated he didn't have one, I thought I'd construct, in a way that makes it as clear as possible, a sentence that, when someone tries to read it, meets the requirement of an example he didn't have, which is a sentence that is, when viewed objectively, or more accurately subjectively, since this is a issue that, while there are rules in place for clarity, still required a degree of subjectivity, difficult to understand.

 

How did I do? I think I hit comma use, run-on sentences, and poorly constructed, all at the same time!

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JayT

JayT 11,758

Posted

3 minutes ago, Graeme said:

As an example, as JayT indicated he didn't have one, I thought I'd construct, in a way that makes it as clear as possible, a sentence that, when someone tries to read it, meets the requirement of an example he didn't have, which is a sentence that is, when viewed objectively, or more accurately subjectively, since this is a issue that, while there are rules in place for clarity, still required a degree of subjectivity, difficult to understand.

 

How did I do? I think I hit comma use, run-on sentences, and poorly constructed, all at the same time!

OMG!!! That's fracking great!

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Kitt

Kitt 46,188

Posted

14 minutes ago, Graeme said:

As an example, as JayT indicated he didn't have one, I thought I'd construct, in a way that makes it as clear as possible, a sentence that, when someone tries to read it, meets the requirement of an example he didn't have, which is a sentence that is, when viewed objectively, or more accurately subjectively, since this is a issue that, while there are rules in place for clarity, still required a degree of subjectivity, difficult to understand.

 

How did I do? I think I hit comma use, run-on sentences, and poorly constructed, all at the same time!

Arrrrrrg!  Are you trying to give the editor's a collective stroke????

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Graeme

Graeme 16,880

Posted (edited)

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52 minutes ago, Kitt said:

Arrrrrrg!  Are you trying to give the editor's a collective stroke????

Writing is supposed to be fun. I'm not sure about editting... 0:)

Edited by Graeme
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Cia

Cia 59,521

Posted

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9 hours ago, mister will said:

The only rule in punctuation that I try to follow without exception is that there are only three ways to end a sentence: a full-stop (period), a question mark or an exclamation point. A dash or ellipsis is never used.

What grammar or editing source are you using that says you can't end a sentence with an ellipses or dash? Do you never write a story where someone gets cut off or interrupted when they're talking? Or trails off because they think of something or become distracted while talking? I can point out two instances today where a student interrupted me and when I was trying to speak and stuttered to a stop and had to pause because I had to marshal my thoughts to explain myself better to a student. Now, granted, the em dash and ellipses are both bracketed by double quotation marks because it's dialogue, so those punctuation marks are not the literal end of the sentence, but they are still the ending punctuation that is valid and "correct" per both Blue Book of Grammar and Chicago Manual of Style.  They, like exclamation points, should only be used sparingly to avoid overuse and interruption to the flow for readers, of course.

 

1 hour ago, Graeme said:

Writing is supposed to be fun. I'm not sure about editting... 0:)

No, editing is never fun. It's a long, hard process that involves using a critical eye and unbiased mindset to content edit and word-by-word slog to line edit. I still enjoy it, though, because I am a geek enough to like to learn new editing rules. I also like producing quality work, and I don't mind doing the work to produce it. That doesn't mean I haven't cursed out my editors (privately) a time or two. Or three hundred. :P

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Lisa

Lisa 6,487

Posted

6 hours ago, Kitt said:

Arrrrrrg!  Are you trying to give the editor's a collective stroke????

'Editors'. Sorry, Kitt, I couldn't resist! :lol:

 

This was a great post, Jay. :)  I definitely agree with you on the homophones. In fact, it drives me absolutely CRAZY when people misuse these words. The community where I live has a NextDoor site where residents can ask questions, sell things, etc. Ninety percent of the people who post on there can't spell for s***t. They're always getting there and their confused and you're and your. The school my kid goes to has a site for parents, and you would be amazed at how badly these parents write! I hope to hell they never helped their kids with English! :lmao:

 

I must confess, though, I've been using nauseous and nauseating completely wrong my entire life!!!!! :rofl: Seriously! I would say: "I feel nauseous." when I think I'm going to throw up. "That smell is nauseating!" or "That smell is making me nauseous." would be things I would say. Wow, and no one's ever corrected me!

 

I absolutely LOVE blogs like this, so keep 'em coming! Hint, hint, poke, poke @Cia for your Grammar Rodeo. Boy, I really miss that blog!! :yes:

 

 

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grahamsealby

grahamsealby 1,741

Posted

On 15/11/2017 at 8:04 PM, JayT said:

You do a fine job. Anytime you have a question about something or need help, let me know. ;) 

Some good points JayT, especially about commas. Most times MS Word spellCheck picks up the obvious cooma problems

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