Constant Content

Hi there all, even after writing more than ten articles here, I consistently make mistakes in my newer articles and get a rejection as a rule. Nowadays I tend to open my emails for seeing the unread rejection mails. The last thing I want is give the editor some more work as my share. I just hate to do that. I just want to create a perfect article, and save time and effort of both of us.

I draft my articles, and spend with each of them about three hours or so editing. Still, it seems that I miss some of the errors in the article, and get rejections. Then, when I look at them closely after the hit, I spot the obvious blunders I made, and correct them. Then I get them accepted. can anyone give me practical suggestions as to how to edit the content at the first time itself, and get it accepted right away.
Thanks, LenX

Hi there,

I've seen some of your other posts on the forum, and it seems like you're working really hard. So many people get a rejection and just run away, so I applaud your effort to truly improve!

I do have one suggestion for you. When you write an article, don't submit it right away. Save it, close it, and don't look at it for an entire day. Then read it aloud to yourself before submitting it. It sounds like once you get a rejection and reread your work, the mistakes are very obvious to you. If you wait a day or two before looking back at your work and submitting, you'll be "fresh" when you reread (like you are after you've waited for the rejection email), and you might catch the mistakes before submitting.

I hope that's helpful!

Lauren

sure is Lauren. Thanks for the reply.

I have to agree with Lauren. She gave you some great advice there. Sometimes it is a good idea just to put a few hours in between your completion of the article and the submission process. It gives you quite a different perspective.

Another strategy that you can try with longer articles is to read part of the article and then come back to it later. This way you are fresh throughout your entire editing process.

Congrats on your additional sales as well!

Someone on an earlier thread suggested changing fonts as a way to see things differently. I've tried that a few times and it seems to help by tricking you somehow.

For example, if you normally type in Times New Roman, that font becomes so familiar to you that your eyes just kind of skip ahead and miss typos, spelling mistakes, and other errors. So if you change the font to something different like Arial, it's visually jarring which I think makes you subconsciously slow down and see the text from a new perspective.

That suggestion sounds like it's for me - right after I tear off these fake $40 nails, sigh....

LOL. I keep my nails nice and short but the keyboard on my laptop still manages to mess me up. Never had a problem with my old keyboard. I don't know why but this one seems to grab my fingers at the oddest moments and insert all kinds of strange characters at the most inopportune times. Plus typing with a 1 1/2 year old in my lap doesn't help!

I always wondered how those women with the fake nails managed to type.

Download a free copy of readplease. Sorry i don't have the link. I have used it to catch many mistakes. You copy and paste your article and then a computer voice (pretty decent) reads your article back to you. Also helps with flow.

{Download a free copy of readplease.}

This is an idea I never thought of. I think that is a great idea and will help some with the editing troubles I am having.

Yes - thanks for this tip (readplease). I've used it for a few articles and it's proved very useful.

Jane

Yes, I already have readplease but never used it in editing. It is a really wonderful suggestion.