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I've received quite a few editing tips from our membership. Today, we're going to look at some provided by JayT. Enjoy! There are three common editing issues that I come across frequently. They are punctuation (ie. missing commas, misused commas, and dialogue punctuation), misused words (ie nauseous instead of nauseated, then/than misused, they're, their, there misused), and sentences that don't read correctly and interrupt the flow of the story (they can be fragmented sentences, run-on sentences, or sentences that are structured incorrectly). Commas can be the bane of both a writer's and an editor's existence. I've found that writers will either totally ignore using a comma because they're not certain where to place them or they'll overuse the comma and randomly place it where it does not belong. There are several resources on this site and out on the internet that will help writers when it comes to comma usage. Additionally, there is a blog on this site about proper dialogue punctuation. The next common editing issue that I've often encountered would be the misused words. An easy example of this would be they're/their/there. They're is a contraction for they are, meaning the only time a writer would use they're is when they combine the words they are. Their is used when referring to a group of other people. Finally, there is used when referencing a location. Some common misused words would be then and than, break and brake, neither/nor and either/or, and finally nauseous and nauseated. Then is used when you are referring to whatever will happen next. An example would be- When I get home from work, I change clothes then I decide what I want to eat for dinner." Than is used to compare things- "This is better than that." So, basically, then is used for chronological references and than is used for comparisons. Next, writers often misuse break and brake. While I'm working, I take breaks. The car's brakes are going out. Another common misuse is neither/nor and either/or. If you were given the choice between two things and you wanted to let the reader know that no matter what was chosen, nothing would work, you would use neither/nor. I've read sentences that say, "Either Chuck or Rick would not make a good teacher." That is incorrect. The proper way to word that sentence is, "Neither Chuck nor Rick would be a good teacher." The next misused word I'm going to mention is mainly a pet-peeve of mine- nauseous vs. nauseated. Other things give off smells that are nauseous, making someone nauseated. If you write, "I started feeling nauseous," you are saying, "I started felling like I was giving off an offending smell." If you were to write, "I started feeling nauseated," you would mean, "I started to have a queasy feeling in my stomach." Finally, the most common editing issue I come across is poorly structured sentences that do not flow well. They can be anything from a fragmented sentence like, "I noticed everything in the room. The grand chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The tables lined with white linen table cloths. The green balls." In this example, "The green balls," is a fragmented sentence. What were the green balls doing? They can also be run-on sentences that should have some sort of punctuation but don't so the sentence just keeps going and overloads the readers with constant information instead of helping the reader understand what is going on in the story. I believe that last sentence is a great example of a run-on sentence. Lastly, poorly structured sentences are ones that a reader has to go back and reread to try and make sense of what the author is really trying to say. I cannot think of a good example right now.