CLEAN-UP OF ARTICLES

Writers toil hard at their craft. We sit our butts in the chair, reread those notes, highlight all the research, and begin to write. At last, it looks like all of our work on this idea is coming to fruition. We'll have something great to send out in just a few hours. Hours? Hold up there, partner.

In spite of the experience we have writing, we often get in a hurry to get our unique article idea out there for all to read. Sometimes we forget all of those lessons we learned: write the first draft, let it sit for a week or so, rewrite, let it sit a bit, and then give it one last look-over before sending it out. I think we should stop and make sure our best work is going out.

Is our subject matter something unique or a new line on an old tale?

Have we studied the publication we are sending it to: is it right for them, will it appeal to their readers?

Is our word count within their guidelines?

Have we verified our sources, confirmed the spelling of all expert names and their titles?

Have we double-checked our facts, statistics, dates, or the acuracy of any history we are using in our piece--did it actually happen, or should we refer to it as a legend?

Have we not only used spell-check but gone over and over our work looking for typos, mispelled words, and the right grammar usage? Reading it aloud is an excellent way to catch many errors, and to get an idea of how it will read/sound to our audience.

Doing our homework is vital. If we have covered these points, we can feel certain we have done all possible to guarantee a sale.