Manuscript Strengths

When submitting your work for publishing, it is important that your writing be the best it can be. Following the tips below will strengthen your manuscript.

Use concrete language.
Detailed sentences will engage the readers more than vague ones will. A sentence like “The storm was scary.” can be much more evocative: “The house was shaking from the thunder claps, and the rain pelted the window panes like bullets.”

Use active voice.
Active voice will keep your sentences focused on the action, whereas passive voice can be unclear or awkward. For example, instead of saying “We were invited by the neighbors to attend their party.” you could say, “The neighbors invited us to their party.”

Don’t overuse there is/are and that is/are.
Usually, if you delete the there is/are or that is/are phrase, the sentence is stronger. For example, “There are three eggs sitting in the basket.” This could easily be changed to “Three eggs sit in the basket.”

Use one positive, not two negatives.
Unless you are trying to convey hesitation, like “Mary is not unwilling to do chores,” use one positive: “Mary is willing to do chores.”

Use parallel construction.
Your meaning will be clearer, and the sentence will flow better. “Getting good grades is the goal but to make friends is important, too.” should be “Getting good grades is the goal but making friends is important, too.” Making both verbs gerunds (end in –ing) balances the sentence.

Also keep in mind basic writing techniques: state the main point clearly at the beginning of your manuscript; organize information logically; leave out unnecessary information; use various sentence and paragraph lengths; eliminate unnecessary words; and use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.