7 Grammar Rules Your Editor Wants You to Know

You don’t want to send an overworked and underpaid editor a manuscript with glaring grammar and punctuation errors. Especially if the editor decides whether your piece runs or not. Send in a poorly edited piece, and you will end up in the slush pile. No editor has time for drastic rewrites.

If you’re paying an editor to review your manuscript, you don’t want him or her spending hours finding easy-to-correct grammar and punctuation mistakes. You want a thoughtful review of the substance of your manuscript so your editor can help you make it better.

Here are 7 important grammar rules your editor wants you to know to make their life better and to make sure your piece ends up in publication.

1. Run-on sentences

A run-on sentence is two complete sentences joined by a simple comma. This is different from a really long sentence. We have an excellent article that discusses the differences to help you understand.

You need conjunctions to fix a run-on sentence. Here’s an example:

• Incorrect: Practice is over at 5pm, you need to pick John up in time.
• Correct: Practice is over at 5pm, so you need to pick John up in time.

You can also replace the comma with a semi-colon or a period to make two complete sentences correctly.

2. Bad pronoun usage

Some pronoun errors are easy to make. Consider the following example:

• Everybody must bring their own lunch.

The pronoun that agrees with "everybody" is actually "his or her." There are some who argue "their" is proper to avoid using sexist language. And some argue correct grammar is correct grammar. We have a fun article about this issue here.

3. Irresponsible apostrophes

Apostrophes show possession or denote contractions. Don’t use apostrophes any other way.

Example 1:

• Incorrect: My brothers bicycle is sleeker than her’s.
• Correct: My brother’s bicycle is sleeker than hers.

Example 2:

• Incorrect: The flower bloomed it’s last petals in October.
• Correct: The flower bloomed its last petals in October.

Example 3:

• Incorrect: Its time to head up the trail to base camp.
• Correct: It’s time to head up the trail to base camp.

4. Subject/verb disagreements

This is a sneaky one that creeps into posts when writing conversationally. Consider the following:

Example 1:

• Incorrect: There’s some amazing books being published this week.
• Correct: There are some amazing books being published this week.

Example 2:

• Incorrect: Here’s guidelines on how to treat grammar issues.
• Correct: Here are guidelines on how to treat grammar issues.

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5. Dangling modifiers

These can be funny when you find them during your self-edit. Take these doozies I found in an article recently:

• Incorrect: At age 16, my teachers became mentors rather than instructors.
• Correct: When I was age 16, my teachers became mentors rather than instructors.

Those 16-year-old teachers are hard to take during your senior year, right?

6. Lazy lists

Don't get lazy when listing several thoughts in a sentence. Make sure your items are covered the same way. Here's a great example:

• Incorrect: I made Snickers blondies, artichoke dip, and bought a vegetable tray for the party.
• Correct: I made Snickers blondies and artichoke dip and bought a vegetable tray for the party.

7. Save the semi-colon

Really, don't use the semi-colon. It's easier and cleaner.

But if you must, know there are only two proper uses for this snarly punctuation. In the first, you use a semi-colon to separate two complete sentences, such as:

• Correct: He knocked on the office door; no one answered.

The second proper use is when using a list with commas:

• Correct: We drove through Toledo, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Windsor, Canada, on our trip to the lake cabin.

Finally, never, never, never use a semi-colon in place of a colon. Here's a perfect example:

• Incorrect: There's only one way to slaughter a sentence with a semi-colon; using it as a colon.

Final thoughts

So be kind to an editor. Find and fix the above mistakes before submitting any work. While other grammar and punctuation mistakes make an editor’s job harder, these are the big no-noes.

You’re better off running your content or your novel through ProWritingAid before sending it out to an editor. The online editing tool or the add-ons will catch each of the above errors for you. And you'll make your editor happier and learn proper grammar and punctuation along the way.

What grammar goofs trip you up every time? Let us know in the comments below.

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Take your writing to the next level:

20 Editing Tips from Professional Writers

Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas.

This guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers.