The Tidy Guide to Writing, Editing, and Publishing Your Novel

I write in Microsoft Word and use its tools for much of my self-editing. When I review my manuscript for consistency, I use the Search (or Find) feature often to search for a particular word for punctuation mark. That way, I can focus on a specific item, such as an ellipsis or exclamation point, and see how it's used throughout the story. I treat each category in my style sheet as a checklist item to speed up my self-editing process.

Below are five of the most common categories you might include in your personal style sheet to speed up your self-editing session. Refer to my website (https://www.rachelaukes.com/extras) for a comprehensive list.

· Word usage refers to using the correct word, e.g., lay or lie. I overuse it, so I include an item in my style sheet to search for "it" in my document to make sure that anytime I use that word, the meaning is clear.

· Dialogue tags show who's speaking and can show changes in emotion. Said is generally the best tag, and you certainly want to avoid impossible tags. For example, someone can't laugh a statement, but they can say something with a laugh.

· Punctuation marks. Exclamation points denote strong emotions, such as shouting, and they stand out when they're overused (and are often a red flag of a writer telling a story and not showing it). I once quit reading a series I otherwise enjoyed, simply because the exclamation points exhausted me to the point that I set down the book and never returned. An editor once recommended to have no more than one exclamation point to every one hundred pages. Now, I won't prescribe any rules, but if you have an exclamation point on every page, do a search and see how many of those instances are truly instances of strong emotions. If they're not, then change that exclamation point to a period.

· Comma. The serial comma, also known as the Oxford comma, is the industry standard for novels, but there is some flexibility for personal preference as long as you're consistent.

· Capitalization. Indicate what should be capitalized and what shouldn't. E.g., family terms aren't capitalized (e.g., I love my mother.), but those terms used as names are capitalized (e.g., I love Mother.). Since I write science fiction, my style sheet includes a note to capitalize names of planets and asteroids.