1. Get the piece workshopped.
American writer Jodi Picoult said, “Read a ton. Take a workshop course so you learn to give and get criticism.” Sure, workshop can be nerve-wracking, but one of the best ways to find errors is to let others do it for you. Having new eyes read a piece is a great way to gain different perspectives. Perhaps something is clear to you but not your reader. Wouldn’t you like to know this before submitting to readers who will determine acceptance? Perhaps they don’t have the time or budget to do developmental edits. This means no matter how moving or powerful your piece is, they can’t accept it because developmental edits aren’t an option. Clarity of your piece is essential.
Even if a workshop environment is not available to you, it is still beneficial to get the piece read by others, even if they aren’t writers, and sometimes, especially because they aren’t writers. Writers can sometimes be too critical because your piece isn’t written the way they would write it. An outside reader will know if something is off, but not judge your style or voice.
2. Read, read, and read again.
“I worked privately, and sometimes I feel that might be better for poets than the kind of social workshop gathering. My school was the great poets: I read, and I read, and I read.”
—Mary Oliver
Reading a piece out loud—if not already—should be a rule of thumb for writers. A writer’s eye will fill in mistakes that have been made, but the ear is not so easily deceived. If a sentence is clunky, the ear will hear it. If a sentence is a run-on, the ear will hear it. If there is no comma where there should be, the ear will hear it. Reading out loud can catch many, if not most places where commas belong, depending on how careful a reader you are.
There are two ways one can go about reading their piece: read slowly the first time through then more quickly with each read, or—my personal favorite—read quickly the first time through, then slower with each read. If you take up the latter option, more obvious changes are made first like simple misspelling or the lack of a period at the end of the sentence. With each read, smaller changes will be made, like commas that should be added for clarity then added for emphasis.
3. Is grammar tough? Here are some solutions.
There are a lot of ways to get tutoring on writing and grammar especially because of technology advancements. fiverr.com has many qualified people who can review all types of documents from essays to memoirs to business documents. Perhaps you know someone who has been called the “grammar police.”
If you prefer to do things on your own, here are a few recommendations I have:
The New Well-Tempered Sentence: A Punctuation Handbook for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed, Karen Elizabeth Gordon: This is a book that is less than $10 on Amazon and covers all punctuation from commas to apostrophes to em dashes.
Grammarly: Take this with a grain of salt. This can be downloaded on your device to check your grammar, though it is not perfect—similar to how spell/grammar check isn’t perfect on Microsoft or Google Docs.
Quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-girl: Grammar girl has tips for grammar, and not only will your question be answered, but it will also be explained.
4. Do your homework first!
No one publisher is the same. Often times, houses will only accept certain genres. Literary magazines and journals usually have a theme. Maybe they don’t. Whatever the case may be, it is crucial to understand where you’re submitting your piece. Many places often receive wonderful submissions that they can’t accept because it isn’t associated with their theme. And wouldn’t it be super embarrassing to receive a decline for your science fiction piece from a publishing house that wanted anything except that? Research is important. The take away: read about where you’re submitting before you submit.
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay