Step 1: Proofread and Polish Your Writing.

Review your manuscript for content. Does it flow? Are there awkward sentences that need to be reworked? Is the vocabulary appropriate for your audience? Do you have good transition between sections, chapters, or stories?

Joan R. Neubauer gives us her ‘Tricks of the Trade’ for better writing. She advises, "As you read through your history, polish your writing by considering these things: 1) Look for verbs that end in "ing." If possible, change them to the simple past tense – that is, verbs that end with "d" or "ed." 2) Look for verbs that are part of the verb "to be" such as am, is, are, was, were, and been. These verbs make your writing passive. Try to use active, past tense verbs to make your writing more definite, exciting, and strong. 3) Look for adjectives and adverbs. Do not overuse them, and don’t use them in long strings. 4) Avoid the use of unnecessary words. 5) Be descriptive. Show the reader what you are talking about. 6) Avoid long, drawn-out sentences that string many thoughts together. 7) Try to vary your vocabulary. Have a good dictionary and thesaurus handy; use the tools of your software program to search for alternative words."

Use the spell checker and grammar check tools available in your word processing program. When checking punctuation, use the "search feature" (ctrl-F) to look for a space before periods or commas (commonly happens if you cut and paste text); look for the closed parenthesis mark ")" and check to make sure punctuation marks are inside the ) mark if the entire sentence is contained within the parentheses, or outside otherwise; look for mismatched pairs of parentheses, square brackets, quotation marks and dashes (that’s 7 searches in all – once each for (, ), [, ], ", ", and –).

You may wish to print a manuscript draft. I find it easier to see my mistakes when they are in print rather than viewing my computer screen. Make a duplicate copy of your file in another document. Change the page setup with margins of 1.5". Change the font to a fixed pitch font (like Courier New in 12 points). Change line spacing to 1.5 or 2. Print. You now how an old-fashioned "typed" manuscript to edit with plenty of space for editorial comments.

It would be best to have another person proofread your manuscript looking for typographical errors, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, and punctuation issues. Be open to their suggestions, but make sure to only make changes you feel comfortable with.

I personally have a difficult time catching my own writing errors, however, if I take the time to read it out loud, I am better able to identify errors and problems. Another trick is to read backwards. This is the best way to edit for grammar, punctuation, and typos. Begin at the back of the book. Examine the last sentence. If it’s okay, examine the next-to-the-last sentence, and so on. Go through sentence by sentence – not paragraph by paragraph – so you don’t fall into the trap of reading for meaning when you’re supposed to be focusing on grammar, punctuation, and typos.