Any writer will undoubtedly make mistakes in their work. For those who don't want to shell out the big bucks for a professional editor, or don't have writing-savvy friends, I've decided to write a little primer for self-editing prose and non-fiction. This will apply specifically to non-poetry. For a poetry guide to self-editing, check out *suture's Tips for Editing Poetry, it's an absolutely fabulous guide. Do note, however, that the grammar section of the guide can apply itself to poetry.

Let's get this show on the road, shall we? We'll begin with Grammar and Proofreading. Be warned, you may experience some flashbacks to third grade.

GRAMMAR AND PROOFREADING
Prose and non-fiction is nothing if it is not at least grammatically correct. This section will be broken up into several sub-sections of common mistakes and things you should look out for. After this section, we'll move into tips on successfully proofreading your piece.

  SPLEL IOT RIHGT!
     First and foremost, go through your work with a fine-toothed comb and pick out every typographical error and mispelling, and correct them. This is not a simple duty, merely running it through an automated spell-checker. A spell-checker will not check for words that, while correctly spelled, aren't correctly used. You cannot even rely on grammar checkers too heavily, as while cane and can are two different things, they are both nouns, and grammar checkers will not differentiate.

     It is wisest to run it through a spell checker, and then grammar checker, just to take the workload off, but you're going to have to go through and pick out every mispelling that slipped through.


  TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN...
     A common mistake in prose and non-fiction is to mix up the pronouns Who and Whom. Whom is used as the objective form of Who. Sparing you a drawn out lesson in objects, I'm going to teach you a method that I learned to discern between the two pronouns.

     When choosing between pronouns, change the pronoun (who/whom) in question to he or him, and re-arrange the sentence. Let's look at the header of this section:
      
       To whom it may concern. It may concern him.
       Whom is it? It is him.
       
     Now let's look at where you would use Who:

       Who do you think is best at tennis? He is best at tennis.

     Do you notice how if you replace who with "him" it becomes Him is best at tennis? Doesn't make sense, now does it? Note that, in informal situations, who is generally an acceptable replacement for whom. For instance, in the sentence Who did Craig pick up from work?, the word Whom would be correct, but Who is acceptable in informal situations.


  THEY'RE GOING THERE ON THEIR BICYCLES
     This is a subject of great peevishness for a great number of grammar school teachers, so I'll be going over the rules for using the three words.

     They're - Is a contraction of the words They are. If all else fails, just don't use the contraction They're, swap in for They are.

     There - Is a word used to connote location. Is it over their? No, it's over there.

     Their - Is a possessive plural noun. Did they buy a bike? Then that bike is theirs.


  POSSESSION IS NINE TENTHS OF THE LAW, BUT IT'S ALL RELATIVE
     Be careful of how judiciously you use (or don't use) the apostrophe (') in your work. Let's go through the rules on apostrophe usage.

     Possession
       When using a pronoun (a word to replace a noun, like him, it, who), there is no apostrophe required for possession, but the word does change. For instance, who becomes whose, it becomes its, him becomes his.
       When using a noun that doesn't end in S, add an apostrophe and a letter S ('s) to the end of the word. Michael becomes Michael's, cat becomes cat's.
       When using a noun that does end in S, add an apostrophe to the end of the word. Flakes become flakes', cats become cats'.

     Contractions
       The apostrophe is used to connote contractions. A contraction is any word that is created by the truncation of one or more words. For the purposes of this, I'm doing to classify two types of contractions, standard and non-standard.

       Standard - Standard contractions are those that are taught to you as a kid, and are most common. Can't (can not), won't (will not), shouldn't (should not), wouldn't (would not), couldn't (could not), et cetera. This is no real news, so let's move onto non-standard.
       Non-Standard - I'm going to be using non-standard to describe nomenclature and slang. Words like gonna' (going to), wanna' (want to), finna' (fixing to), are already semi-common in diction. If you wann' make your own contractions, jus' truncate where ya' wan', an' add the apostrophes where the truncations happen t'be.


  ON AND OFF AND ON AGAIN
     I'm using this section to describe two problems, the run-on, and choppy flow. A good story should be a mix of short sentences and long sentences, never being bogged down with either at any length.

     The Run-On - Have you ever read a sentence that left you mentally fatigued by the time you got to the end of it? One you hope to never have to read out loud, for fear of passing out from oxygen deprivation? Many people are plagued with this problem.

     If you find yourself succumbing to the need to run-on (don't be embarrassed, even I did it as a beginner, everyone does), force yourself to bisect your sentences. Take out some of those conjunctions and put in a period, or replace some of those commas. Separate every clause (every separate thought) in a sentence into its own sentence; play around with it some.

     Choppy Flow - And then there's the opposite, with people who write short sentences and nothing but. You have to remember that a sentence is a complete stop on a train of thought. Too many stops will leave the reader irritated, and it kind of goes through the mind like molten shrapnel. You're going to want to force yourself to lengthen your sentences. Usually this can be done with conjunctions (and, or, but, besides, because), and with commas.

  
  SHE SAID, HE SAID
     A few people tend to have problems with regards to quotations. A quotation is any string of text (usually character dialogue) encased between quotation marks ("). You have to remember that a quotation is part of a complete thought. Sometimes it's understood who is speaking (like if it's been previously stated), but at all other times it must be stated who is speaking. The most prevalent problem with quotations may be seen as follows:

       John said "Hello." - You would note a lack of punctuation between the two clauses of the sentence.
       Lucy responded. "Hi there." - Now there's the wrong sort of punctuation. There should be a comma here.
       "This is great." said Frank. - There needs to be a comma as it leads out of the quotation ("This is great,").
       "This is great!" said Frank. - This is an exception. When the ending punctuation is either ! or ?, leave it in.


  C'MON WITH THE COMMON COMMAS
     Do you, have a habit, of like, using a lot of, you know, commas? This plagues many people. When all else fails, remove every comma in your sentences and just put in the most essential pauses.


  DOT DOT DOT... DOT DOT DOT DOT DOT DOT
     The ellipsis is a literary tool for making omissions in text. It is not, generally, to be used for pauses. Periods, semi-colons, and commas are more often than not used for pausing. The only time it should be used (sparingly) for pauses is during dialogue.

     Also, please note that ellipses (plural of ellipsis) are three periods. No more... no less...


  KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
     You're going to want to fact check your non-fiction pieces heavily. Go through and find every date, underline it and compare it with two reliable sources (yourself if you're a primary source). Next do the same with names and places. This is to prevent typographical errors that make Jesus Christ out to be born in Carson City.


  SEMI OR DEMI, IT'S ONLY HALF THERE
     Ah, the semicolon; I personally love it. It functions as a switch hitter for both commas and periods. Have you ever had two sentences that dealt with the same point, so to seperate them with a full stop would be a crime, but there was enough difference that they could warrant a more complete pause than a comma? Attach them with a semicolon. They're wonderful things; semicolons, I mean.


  WHAT WAS THERE, NOW IS NOT
     Character inconsistencies tend to be rife in most beginning fictions; whether it's the small things, like forgetting the lead has black hair, not brown, or it's the big things, like forgetting the character is always calm and collected just before he or she goes off on a rampage. Any sudden change in character that is either unexplained or without basis is inconsistent, barring serial fictions. This goes along with the Knowledge is Power segment, in that they both involve checking your facts. Just because it's fiction, doesn't mean it can be unrealistic (even surreal fiction has basic realism and fluidity).


  GET TO IT, MATE
     A very common problem in most people's works is that they just plain try too hard. You have to remember that most people are dumb; yeah, I'll say it: dumb. They're not going to have post-collegiate reading levels, they're not going to be interested in translating your work as though it were a foreign language. They're not going to want to swath through pages of descriptions of things that don't matter whatsoever. You're there as someone who's either trying to relate a story, or convey a point.


     If most people get two paragraphs into your story and throw it down because it's making their brains hurt trying to digest it all, you fail as a writer; yes, fail. It's not a word you want to hear as a writer, but it exists.

     So what can you do about it? The common symptoms are words over ten letters long, and over-descriptiveness. If you find yourself using more than twenty adjectives in one hundred words, or find yourself spending inordinate lengths of time describing things that aren't extremely (extremely) pivotal to the story, spend some time cutting back. You may find yourself losing a great chunk of the story, but just think of it as trimming the fat. If you trim too much fat, and your story becomes dry and bland, but if you don't trim fat at all, the readers are going to have a big hunk of melted fat in their mouth. No one wants that.


  SPICE IT UP
     Don't be afraid to use a thesaurus and a dictionary once in a while, it is by no means "cheating." Using the same vocabulary all the time is boring. Try and use a new word every few times you write. It'll really come across in what you're writing.


  OVER AND OVER AGAIN
     Be wary of repeating the same phrase over and over. I myself have done this many times before; we're all guilty of it. Most people will find a word or a phrase they like, and use it to the point it's noticeable. If you can locate your problem, this is good. Go through and circle any word or phrase you use more than ten times (outside of articles and very common words), or even less for very uncommon words and phrases. While this may be good when you're trying to exercise a point, it's very detrimental when you don't realize you're doing it.


  PROFESSIONAL AND AMATEUR NOUNS
     Pronouns, which are words that replace a noun (he, she, it, them, who), are all too often used to start sentences. Imagine a story like this, if you will:
        
       He went to the store. He bought a cake. He went home and he baked the cake. He decided he was going to save that cake so he could eat it later.

     Rather annoying, isn't it? While you can start your sentences with pronouns, it's best to do it sparingly. Rearrange how you order your sentences, put prepositional phrases in front, play with it some.

     This extends beyond just starting your sentences with pronouns. Starting your sentences with the same of anything repeatedly will become tired in any piece of work; not just sentences, but paragraphs as well.



PROOFREADING TIPS AND TRICKS
Sometimes it's just very easy to miss some common errors. Let's go through some ways to maximize your success in proofreading.

   1. Take some time off between writing and proofreading; weeks, if you need to. Write it, put it down, and then come back to it later. Do other things, write other stories, and then finally come back fresh and new. Your reader isn't you, your reader will not understand what you're trying to get at, your little inner jokes here and there; if you come back fresh, you're going to be able to relate to your target audience a lot better.

   2. Don't be afraid to edit; all of the greatest writers of the world edited and revised; from poets, to playwrights, to novelists. There is no genre that loses its integrity from going under the fine comb.

   3. Make several runs through the paper. Do one for revising punctuation, flow, and character inconsistencies. Trying to correct everything in one pass is going to make your life hell, simply put.

   4. When you read it first, don't critically analyze it. Read it as you would something you're not proofreading, and just make mental notes of the natural stumbling blocks in the piece. Read both silently and out loud, check for general monotony and flow problems.

   5. Read slowly, sentence by sentence. Don't view your story as a complete story; just view it as a series of sentences that need to be edited. Scrutinize each and every one, and read them several times just so you don't get into the flow of the story.

   6. Read backwards a word, and then a sentence, at a time. This allows you to detach yourself from the story and notice typographical errors a lot easier.

   7. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Edit for problems, not imperfections.

   8. After correcting a sentence, re-read it. To make sure you didn't make more errors or miss anything.

   9. Lastly, make a list of errors you've made, with the number of times you made them. You can use this next time, so you can hone in on your most common errors first.



If you've read this all, you may be well on your way to self-editing. Just remember, if all else fails, you can always get a friend to help you. Thank you and good luck, fellow writers.