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Will someone help edit my manuscript? I’m no good at grammar (or whatever).
Good edits are an essential step in producing a polished manuscript. They require specific knowledge and attention to detail. Editing takes time. And usually it needs to occur at multiple levels: first developmental editing, then line editing, then copy-editing/proofreading.
Expecting total strangers to edit your writing for free is asking too much. If you want to get a general idea of what edits might be worth, see the rates at the Editorial Freelancers Association. Even the cheapest editor would be charging hundreds of dollars to edit your short novel, if not more because a lot of correction is needed.
As a writer, you owe it to yourself to improve your grammar skills to the best of your ability. You can start by purchasing or borrowing from the library a grammar book aimed at college students. Study it. If you own the book, mark sections you know are your weaknesses. Write in the margins. Learn as much of it as you can, taking your time.
Technology can be enormously helpful, but it’s a tool that’s not fully reliable. When you use the grammar check function of your word processing software, it will mark everything it identifies as incorrect. Grammar checkers are often wrong, though. It’s your job to determine if each “error” marked is actually a mistake, looking it up as necessary, and to fix it if it is.
Some writers who recognize grammar or punctuation as one of their weaknesses go a step further. They write themselves notes on the errors they correct, with examples from their own writing, saving them in a single computer file using names that let them find each one again, i.e. One subject two verbs or Possessives. Over time they create a grammar textbook unique to their needs. If you choose to do this, as you write you can look up things you’re unsure about, find them easily, and produce manuscripts with far fewer errors.
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However, at Absolute Write we are fully aware that some people with vision impairment or learning disabilities such as dyslexia simply cannot see the words and punctuation as they exist on the page. There are other options. Try some tricks that professional educators have demonstrated to be effective, like putting colored overlays such as colored acetate over the printout to reduce the text’s “bouncing around.”
If you can’t afford a professional editor, you might get around the asking other folks to do things for free issue by doing a swap: someone else line-edits your story and in return you do something equally time-consuming. (Beta read and offer a developmental edit in return? Mow their lawn? Bake them cookies?).
You might get around the total strangers issue by making friends. Active participants at Absolute Write often “click” with a handful of other people to become true friends, and friends are more willing than total strangers to help you for free.
Good edits are an essential step in producing a polished manuscript. They require specific knowledge and attention to detail. Editing takes time. And usually it needs to occur at multiple levels: first developmental editing, then line editing, then copy-editing/proofreading.
Expecting total strangers to edit your writing for free is asking too much. If you want to get a general idea of what edits might be worth, see the rates at the Editorial Freelancers Association. Even the cheapest editor would be charging hundreds of dollars to edit your short novel, if not more because a lot of correction is needed.
As a writer, you owe it to yourself to improve your grammar skills to the best of your ability. You can start by purchasing or borrowing from the library a grammar book aimed at college students. Study it. If you own the book, mark sections you know are your weaknesses. Write in the margins. Learn as much of it as you can, taking your time.
Technology can be enormously helpful, but it’s a tool that’s not fully reliable. When you use the grammar check function of your word processing software, it will mark everything it identifies as incorrect. Grammar checkers are often wrong, though. It’s your job to determine if each “error” marked is actually a mistake, looking it up as necessary, and to fix it if it is.
Some writers who recognize grammar or punctuation as one of their weaknesses go a step further. They write themselves notes on the errors they correct, with examples from their own writing, saving them in a single computer file using names that let them find each one again, i.e. One subject two verbs or Possessives. Over time they create a grammar textbook unique to their needs. If you choose to do this, as you write you can look up things you’re unsure about, find them easily, and produce manuscripts with far fewer errors.
.
However, at Absolute Write we are fully aware that some people with vision impairment or learning disabilities such as dyslexia simply cannot see the words and punctuation as they exist on the page. There are other options. Try some tricks that professional educators have demonstrated to be effective, like putting colored overlays such as colored acetate over the printout to reduce the text’s “bouncing around.”
If you can’t afford a professional editor, you might get around the asking other folks to do things for free issue by doing a swap: someone else line-edits your story and in return you do something equally time-consuming. (Beta read and offer a developmental edit in return? Mow their lawn? Bake them cookies?).
You might get around the total strangers issue by making friends. Active participants at Absolute Write often “click” with a handful of other people to become true friends, and friends are more willing than total strangers to help you for free.
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