Dear “I Hate Grammar!” Writer

Dear “I Hate Grammar!” Writer,

Many writers hate grammar. I used to be one of them. But to write well you have to understand grammar to some extent. In this post, I am providing quick rules, examples, and tips to help you understand some areas of grammar.

Image from Pixabay

1. You and I or You and me?

The quickest way to figure this out is to cut out “You and” from the sentence. Does “I” sound better or does “me?” Whichever one makes more sense is the correct pronoun.

Ex: Where would you like Mary and me to stand?

Sounds good. "Me” is correct.

Now let's look at it this way:

Ex: Where would you like Mary and I to stand?

Sounds bad. “I” is incorrect.

TIP: The POV we are in is always mentioned last. Ex: Mom and I went to the mall.

2. Italic letters or quotations for the names of songs/books/movies/TV shows?

The names of songs and other short works part of a bigger work (chapter titles, names of TV show episodes) are always in quotation marks.

EX: I listened to “Baby One More Time” on repeat.

The names of whole works such as books, movies, and TV shows are italic.

EX: I watched Gone with the Wind last night.

3. Who or whom?

Who – he/she/they

Whom – him/her/them

Ex: The woman who hit my car.

She hit me car. (Who is correct.)

Ex: To whom do I address this letter?

Do I address this letter to him/her/them? (Whom is correct.)

4. When to capitalize titles with names.

Always capitalize titles when they appear with a name.

Ex: President Obama, Queen Elizabeth, Dr. Cristina Yang, Chef Ramsey.

Capitalize titles used as a substitute for a name. When it’s like this, it’s like a nickname.

Ex: I looked at the Chief and knew the criminal got away.

("Chief" is referring to one person and is in place of a name.)

Lowercase the title when the term is used in a general way, not for a specific person.

Ex: The duties of a president are daunting. 

7 Fast Tips:

-       Seasons (summer, autumn, winter, spring) are lowercase.

-       Directions (north, east, south, west) are also lowercase.

-       Use em dashes at the end of dialogue when there’s an abrupt stop, such as when one character cuts off another character’s speech.

-       Use single quotation marks inside double quotations when a character is quoting someone.

-       No question mark for an indirect question.

-       There’s no such word as “alright.” Correct: All right

-       “Already” means it happened in the past. “All ready” means prepared. 

Author of Hurricane Crimes, Seismic Crimes, 30 Seconds Before, and 30 Seconds. Blogger. Reader. Auntie. Vegetarian. Cat Lover.

Facebook / Twitter / Blog / Website / Amazon

Dear “Editing is Crap!” Writer

Dear “Editing is Crap!” Writer,

Editing your book can be difficult, especially if you don’t know how to edit. I know writers who hate the task, and others who enjoy it. I actually enjoy it, so I’m going to share some tips and techniques to help you get the job done.

First, download my pdf The Ultimate Editing List. I’ll share a little of what you can find in it, but the full list will really help you make your writing stronger and tighter.

Whenever I edit, I start by using the Find tool in Microsoft to hunt down unnecessary, cluttering, filter words. I input them one at a time, take a look at every sentence with the no-no word, and cut as many of them as I can.

Some of these are: that, just, like, really, very, only.

Once I eliminate these “naughty” words, I do my first of several rounds of editing. I typically do three rounds before I give it to 2-3 beta readers. Then I implement changes based on my beta readers’ notes and go over it once more for good measure.

Image from Flickr

4 Editing Techniques:

1. Print out your manuscript.

Having a tangible form of your book that you can hold and edit by hand is always useful. Buy some red pens and highlighters, punch holes into your manuscript pages, and put them in a binder for accessibility. Read each page, each line. Cut out words, sentences, and whatever else needs to go. Add words and paragraphs of descriptions. Make notes on the side to fix scenes or add more emotion. When you’re done, transport the changes to your Word DOC.

TIP: Reading through the full story after these changes are made is wise.

2. Read backwards.

Start with the final paragraph, read it in its entirety, and work your way up, paragraph by

paragraph. This technique helps you to focus on the sentences rather than the plot. It’s

also a great way for you to focus on the flow of the sentences.

3. Change the font size and color.

Changing the way something looks gives your brain a rest and a way to spot new things. I like to make the font size 16 or 18 and change the color to dark blue, green, or purple.

4. Download your document to your Kindle device.

This can be easily done by emailing the document to yourself, accessing your email on your Kindle, and opening the document to be viewed in your library. This is usually my final form of editing when I feel I’ve edited as much as I could but still want to make sure it’s ready for someone else to view it. I like this technique because I get to see and read my story as a reader would. I can spot inconsistencies, typos, and where I may need to add more emotion.

2 Steps After You Edit Your Book:

1. Get at least two beta readers to take a look and point out any errors and plot holes. 

See: Dear Beta Readers and Critique Partners

2. If you are self-publishing, the final and most important step is to hire an editor. Yes, really. Yes, even after you edited it yourself. Look around, research, and get recommendations from other writers. 

See: Dear Writer with an Editor

You don’t have to do all of these techniques, but picking at least two will really make a difference.

QUESTION: How do you edit your books?

Author of Hurricane Crimes, 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. Blogger. Reader. Auntie. Vegetarian. Cat Lover.

Facebook / Twitter / Blog / Website / Amazon 




P.S. Today's post on my blog is 100 Marketing Tips.

Dear Impatient Writer

Dear Impatient Writer,

I’m impatient. I always have been. When I was younger, I was extremely impatient about getting published. At the age of seventeen, I wanted an agent and publisher YESTERDAY. I drove myself crazy with my impatience. Every month that went by without those things was brutal. At some point, I realized all things really do happen in their own time . . . when they are meant to, and no matter how hard I’d push against the wall, it wouldn’t budge until the universe moved it for me. But, of course, I kept working and striving toward my dream, because the universe does need a bit of help.

So many writers are impatient. They want to finish writing their book NOW. They want to finish editing their book NOW. And they want to publish their book NOW.

But here’s why it’s a good idea to take your time:

Writing: When you rush while writing, you can leave out details, emotion, mess up the chronological order, and create plots holes. If you take your time, even if other writers finished two or more books in the time it takes you to finish one, your sentences will flow better, the scenes will make sense, and your characters will be well developed.

Editing: Rushing through writing will lead to more editing and rewriting, but if you rush through the editing process, you’ll miss typos and grammar and punctuation mistakes. You won’t catch redundancies or unnecessary words, and you won’t be able to spot places that need help. Taking your time will ensure your eyes (and brain) can spot these mistakes.

Publishing: Now that you took your time writing and editing, this is the most important time to be patient. You don’t want the wrong agent or publisher, do you? By researching and taking your time, you’ll find agents/publishers right for your book. When you do, one of them may be the agent/publisher who signs you. And that is worth being patient for.

If you self-publish, you especially need to go one step at a time. Hire an editor and don’t rush editing. Get a professional book formatter and cover artist, too. Cutting corners on these may mean the difference between a good self-published book and a poor one.

Author of Hurricane Crimes, Seismic Crimes, 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. Blogger. Reader. Auntie. Vegetarian. Cat Lover.

Facebook / Twitter / Blog / Website / Amazon

QUESTION: Are you patient or impatient?

Dear Writer with an Editor

Dear Writer with an Editor,

Working with an editor can be nerve-wracking. You don’t know what they’ll say about your story or ask you to change. It can be especially worrisome if you’re a new writer, inexperienced, or never worked with an editor before.

For any writer planning to work with an editor (or currently working with one), here are some basic do’s and dont’s:

     -       Don’t say you’re broke

If you have no money to pay for an editor, you should wait to talk to one until you do. If you end up broke after paying for your editor, never tell the editor this. For one, there’s nothing they can do about it. Two, it’s not professional. You should only talk about money when you’re discussing prices or a payment plan.

      -       Don’t say you’re not going to publish the project your editor is currently working on.

What you do after your editor is finished with your book is up to you. The editor has no control over it. They could edit your piece and it could take you years to publish it, which is totally fine. Or you may decide not to publish it, which is also okay. But telling your editor that you’ve decided not to publish it at all, while they are working on it, can be a downer.

     -       Don’t bug your editor with publishing questions.

Editors edit. That is their function. Even if they’re published, they may not know about every avenue of publishing. And trying to answer your questions about publishing while they edit your work is tough. It’s your job to write the book, fix it through editing, learn about your publishing options, and do what you have to do to get it published.

     -       Do let your editor know of any concerns you might have.

Editors don’t just cut out cluttering words or fix commas, but point out plot and character issues. When you let them know of something specific you’re concerned about (a character, scene, or certain detail), they can keep an eye out for it.

      -       Do ask questions based on your editor’s edits and suggestions.

If an editor comes across an issue, they usually offer a suggestion to fix it that the writer can take or use as a spin-off to do their own thing. If a writer has a question about a suggestion or the editing process, editors are more than happy to answer.

     -       Do be patient.

Editors have lives. Most editors write their own books, sometimes have their own editors to answer to, and have more clients they are working with. When an editor first accepts your project, they’ll give you a time frame for when you can expect to get your work back. Don’t ask them where they are, if they’re done, or start discussing the next project. Just wait. (Of course, if you don't hear from them at all and the deadline has passed, please email them.)

Bottom Line: Don’t pester your editor. (Unless it’s about editing your book.)

Author of Hurricane Crimes, Seismic Crimes, 30 Seconds, Ghost of Death, and Witch of Death. Blogger. Reader. Auntie. Vegetarian. Cat Lover.

Facebook / Twitter / Blog / Website / Amazon / Goodreads

QUESTIONS: Have you ever worked with an editor? What was your experience? Are you an editor? What do's and dont's can you come up with?

World Building

Charity recently posted about world building, and her post inspired this one.  *Waves at Charity*  There have been times when I’ve come across a manuscript where the world building wasn’t quite what it needed to be.

I once received a submission that was actually a pretty interesting and compelling story.  However, the author needed to go back and flesh out the world a bit more.  The story was set in a future U.S. that had already been through a war.  Certain areas had been nuked.  The survivors had primarily banded together into two groups in two different regions.  Think of how the Mason-Dixon Line is supposed to sort of separate the North from the South, and you have a basic idea of what I mean by two different regions.  Well, one of these groups is composed entirely of females.  There are no males allowed, relationships can only occur between two women.  If a couple wants to have a child, they have to be registered and go to the clinic.  All embryos are female and no male DNA is used in their creation.

The other group is composed of male/female pairings, but it’s in the extreme, because the men are completely in charge.  Women do have jobs and things like that, but in the long run, they don’t have much say in matters.

As I mentioned before, the story itself was interesting, but the world had some issues with being believable.  For one thing, why weren’t there any groups of people who didn’t fall into either of the above categories?  Even though there were the female only communities, why weren’t there any similar communities strictly for men?  Why weren’t there any communities who had male/female pairings, but where women and men had equal rights?  Surely, the war didn’t twist everyone into believing the two extremes.  You find out later that there is a resistance, a group who believes that neither of the two societies is right, but why did they have to be a resistance?  Why weren’t they just a third society?  What made people believe that either of the two extremes was right in the first place?  What made people decide they had to split into those two distinct societies?  The entire U.S. wasn’t laid to waste during the war, so it’s not like there were very few inhabitable places left.  Why didn’t those who disagreed with the two extremes go out and form their own societies?  Why did they have to be underground as a resistance?  This author did receive a rejection, but I was very detailed in the issues I noted in the manuscript.  I explained that this world just wasn’t believable, because there wasn’t enough of a background to give the world plausibility.  While the author didn’t need to drown the readers in the backstory of it, they did need to give some plausible reasons for this world to form.

The questionnaire Charity shared during her post is a great place to start.  Sure, it’s detailed, and some of the questions wouldn’t apply to every story, but just reading through the list of questions shows authors the things they need to think about when creating their world.  The author can get away with not explaining some things by having their characters say, “That’s just the way it’s always been.”  However, that will only get you so far.  The author needs to think about whatever’s being questioned in their world and decide if something is insignificant enough to say, “That’s just the way it’s always been”, or if it’s important enough to explore why it’s always been that way.  And if it hasn’t always been the norm, to explore why it became that way.

You need to make your world work, and even if it’s an odd world where social conventions don’t make sense to us, it has to make sense within that world.  Readers have to be able to see the connection.  Even if it’s not something they could ever agree with, they need to be able to see how it was possible for it to become normal for your world and its characters.  The same is true if you have fantasy elements in the modern world.  How does the magic work?  What is the price for using magic?  If there's a prophecy, who made it and why?  Try to look at your world from an outside perspective and make sure things will make sense to your readers.  This is another thing betas are good for catching.

The Editor/Author Relationship

I know some of you have never worked with an editor, and some of you have, but I have a few things to say about the Editor/Author relationship.  Some editors might approach the process as a dictatorship, with the editor being the dictator.  I don’t personally know of any who are this way, unless it’s about certain things, but I’ll get into that in a minute.  My personal approach is something of a partnership.  When I’m editing your work, a little of my own heart and soul becomes entwined with your work.  I come to know and love (or hate if necessary) your characters almost as well and as much as you do.  At the same time, I often see things about your characters or story that you don’t, and I’ve helped authors more fully develop these things or get rid of them if need be.  When I’m editing, I might make suggestions regarding phrasing, but I always let my authors know that while they’re welcome to use my wording exactly, it is only there to serve as an example.  I’ve had authors who rephrased it exactly as I suggested, and I’ve had authors who rephrased it entirely differently, but which still corrected whatever issue I was pointing out.  An editor shouldn’t go in and rewrite your book.  That’s not what we’re for.  While you might say something the same way I would say it, you also might say it differently, so my words are only intended to help you find yours.  I’m not going to change something arbitrarily, or simply because I don’t understand what you mean.  If I’m concerned about it, I’ll leave a comment and ask you about it.

For example, Carol and I had a conversation regarding regionalisms.  There was something she said a certain way (sorry Carol, I can’t remember what this one was specifically) and I was wondering if she was missing a word in the phrasing.  Then I discovered it classified as a regionalism.  This spawned an entire conversation regarding regionalisms and how, when someone asks me if I want a pop, I always think, “No.  I don’t want you to pop me.  What did I do to you?”  Around here, it’s either a soda or a coke.

“Do you want a coke?”

“Sure.”

“What kind?”

“Mountain Dew.”

Once Carol explained the wording, and that it was how she and others around her always said it, it made sense.  I left it in the manuscript because I felt it added authenticity to the scene and “local flavor”.  I’ll even let you get away with using ain’t and git (as in “Git yerself outta here!”) in dialogue, because I’m from the South.  Ain’t is a word here.  However, don’t even think about using it in narration.  Not gonna happen.

For the most part, I work with authors.  If they disagree with me, I expect them to open a dialogue with me and tell me why they disagree.  Sometimes it’s simply misunderstanding the meaning, and an explanation clarifies it, so we’re good to go.  It stays as is.  Sometimes I understand, but it still has to go, so we have to reach a compromise.  And still sometimes it has to go, no matter what.  For example, Carol and I had to reach a compromise regarding “K” as a word.  She wanted Bert to say “K”.  Now, I completely understood her reasoning, (and yes, I have Carol’s permission to share this) but our publisher had a House Style Guideline that absolutely forbade the use of “K” as a word.  They would only allow okay or ’kay (only in dialogue).  For the record, a lot of other publishers have the same guideline.  Carol and I finally compromised on ’kay for Bert’s dialogue, but even if we were in his POV, it had to be okay in narration.

I try to be friendly with my authors and get to know them.  Some aren’t very reciprocal in that regard, but most are.  There are a few that have become friends.  I’ve only had one or two that you could probably describe as prickly, but we still worked together without any major issues.  With other authors, our relationship was strictly limited to edits.

My comments to an author are honest, and I try to use humor, because I know how hard it is to write and then have someone tell you this scene isn’t working, this character is coming across as a doormat, or another character you want readers to like is actually coming across as a huge jerk.  I’ll also tell you if I don’t like a character, even if it’s not yet clear whether or not I’m supposed to dislike them.  One character in a manuscript I’ve recently edited was coming across as a real annoyance.  I wanted to smack her.  Another character in the manuscript was accused of poisoning someone (no, they didn’t), and I told the author I wouldn’t be surprised if the annoying character had actually poisoned the person.  The author got a laugh out of that.

So, if you disagree with your editor about one point or another, open a dialogue.  Keep in mind that their hands might be tied by the publisher’s guidelines, because part of our job is making sure your manuscript adheres to them.  And that (along with grammar) is where most of us will become dictators.  Always remember that we, like you, want your manuscript to be the best it can possibly be, and we want to see it do well.

And for the record, even though Carol said I did, I’ve never told any of my authors they were falling down the stairs like a defunct slinky…at least, not in those exact words.  *grin*

Follow The Guidelines

Follow the Guidelines

I’m sure I’ve told you some things you already know, but maybe I’ve told you something you didn’t, or possibly shed additional light on those things you did.  But I know you’ve heard this.  You’ve probably heard it so many times you’re sick of it, but it’s just as true now as the first time you heard it.

Make sure you follow submission guidelines exactly.  Even if they tell you to send your manuscript in TNR 8, or Jokerman 16, their guidelines exist for a reason.  (And no, I don’t know of anyone who actually has these guidelines! *grin*)  Maybe their email platform does strange things to files, or maybe their software doesn’t play well with certain file types.  Maybe they just like the way the manuscript looks in Jokerman 16.  Or maybe they just want to see if you still remember the number one rule you learned in Kindergarten.

Follow the rules and/or directions.

Even if it seems arbitrary to you, there are usually reasons for the guidelines, so make sure you follow them.  And please don’t ask if you can do something different unless there is a very good reason for the deviation.  For example, if an editor tells you to send your full manuscript in an .rtf, .doc, or .docx file, don’t ask if you can send it as a .pdf.  I had this happen.  The author wanted to send a .pdf because they were concerned the other file types would ruin their formatting.  I explained that if it was accepted, it would have to be reformatted following our guidelines and template anyway, so a .pdf wasn’t necessary.  The author wasn’t obnoxious, but I got the distinct impression the author still wasn’t happy about it.  They agreed to send it, but they were still concerned about their formatting.  This might sound snarky, but I promise it’s not intended that way.  My only thought to this comment from the author was, “What kind of formatting are you using that it would be messed up by not having it in a .pdf file?”  Maybe they were just concerned with the way different programs communicate (or don’t) with each other.  That would be perfectly understandable, but our file had to be a .doc file when our content editors sent the files to the line editors.  I’m not sure what the author's concern was, or if they had tried something special in the .pdf format, something to make it look like a book, but I didn’t see anything wrong with the format when the manuscript was sent as the file type I requested.

So please, please follow the guidelines, no matter how normal or strange they seem.

Mistakes In Submissions Continued -- Research

This week should wrap up my Mistakes in Submissions topic.  Other than one or two posts that were inspired by the posts of other moderators, all of my posts were written out as a single post.  Due to the length, Carol suggested I break it up.  I've enjoyed covering this topic, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it!

At the very least, please do basic research on the elements of your story.  It will save both you and your editor time and possible migraines.  For example, one author I worked with had a scene pertaining to a heart transplant.  A doctor intended to pretend he was going to perform the transplant until the patient was unconscious, and then not do it.  (Don’t ask, it would take a long explanation, and I’m trying to stay away from as many specifics as I can for the sake of anonymity.)  Now, I’m not a transplant surgeon, nor do I play one on TV, but I knew this scene was not right at all.  What the doctor was doing to convince the patient a transplant was about to occur brought me to a halt.  I felt there was a major misconception in the scene, as well as elements that could have proven fatal for a real transplant patient.

 I stopped edits and spent quite some time doing online research, and I called an area hospital with a CCU (Cardiac Care Unit).  If someone there couldn’t help me, my next call was going to a hospital in Atlanta.  Thankfully, I happened to get someone who had assisted in many transplants.  I explained why I was calling and asked if he had a few minutes to spare for a couple of questions, or if there was a better time for me to call.  I’m certain he was a little bemused, but he was kind enough to answer my questions and I thanked him for his time.  Let me go ahead and say this.  When conducting research, it’s always better to try to be as unobtrusive as possible, so if you don’t know someone in the field you need to research, and if you can’t make an appointment for a phone interview, sending an email or letter would probably be best.  I don’t recommend cold-calling like I did, but I was working against a deadline.  Cold-calling could bring you together with someone who’s having a really bad day, or who’s extremely busy when you call.  Neither bodes well for your research.

After the combination of online research and my phone call for verification, I had some very definitive answers for my concerns and I was able to help the author correct the scene.  And yes, I was correct about the things that troubled me the most.

“But wait!” you say.  “If the readers knew the doctor wasn’t going to perform the transplant, why would you even bother with the research?”

That’s a good question with a simple answer.  Remember the patient thought the doctor was going to perform the operation?  Well, the patient was also smart enough that the same things I was concerned about would have alerted them to the fact the doctor didn’t intend to do it at all.  The scene had to look good and be realistic for the patient.  Since the readers would know that this had to look real for the patient, they would be looking at how well the doctor was covering his behind.  You don’t want a reader who just happens to be a member of a transplant team to send you a letter saying, “The doctor would have never done that.  You need to do your research next time!”

Research glitches can happen in many areas, but I often see it in medical, law enforcement, military, forensics, and legal aspects of a manuscript.  I've seen:

Medals pinned on the wrong side of a uniform.

Period pieces where words that didn't exist for a hundred years or more after the story's time period were used.

Legal jargon used improperly.

Wines served in ways they would never be served in a fine restaurant.

Complications from medical procedures and injuries that made no sense whatsoever, or that were completely impossible.

Characters accessing files they shouldn't be able to access, from places they logically shouldn't be able to access them, and which would have gotten an innocent family member fired from their job, given them a hefty fine, and possibly put them in jail.

Do your research.  Don’t give your reader the details unless you absolutely have to because it’s integral to the story.  While it’s possible as much as ninety-nine percent of what you learn will never crawl out of your head or your notes, your scene must still be written with that research in mind.  It helps lend your scene the credibility and accuracy it needs to breathe for the readers.  I'm a stickler for research.  I could go on with other examples where it made the scene, and instances where scenes had to be rewritten because not enough preliminary research was done, but this post is probably too long already.  Just remember, research is important, whether it’s a minor aspect or a major one.

Continuity and Consistency

Continuity and Consistency

Say you have a group of eight characters.  Not all of them are major, but that isn’t important at the moment.  At the end of chapter three they have to escape a city and the only way to safely escape is to break into two groups and later meet up at a predetermined location.  Group one consists of characters A, B, and C, and they have to escape the city by a land route.  They’ll continue to travel by land to the predetermined location.  Group two consists of characters D, E, F, G, and H.  They have to escape through a waterway that flows through the city.  They’ll follow the river to a village where a few of this group’s members have allies that can get a ship for them.  Chapter four follows group one as they escape overland to draw their enemies from the trail of group two.  Of course, group one loses any pursuers, but through narration and dialogue, characters A, B, and C are all present and accounted for.  We get to chapter five and lo and behold, character A, last seen leading group one through the mountains at the end of chapter four, has magically appeared on the ship with group two.  This would be fine if there had been a time lapse, and in many ways there was one.  However, group two has not yet reached the predetermined place and they’re talking about how long they should wait for group one, since group two will almost certainly arrive first.  

Umm…no.

At first, I thought character A was there in name only, a typo because his name had been accidentally inserted in place of another character’s.  Unfortunately, as the scene unfolded I realized that all of group two’s characters were also accounted for and all were interacting with character A.  Not only that, but character A had a major role throughout the chapter.  So guess what happened?

Yep, a major rewrite of the entire chapter.

Not all continuity and consistency issues are that major.  One author referred to a specific set of objects by certain names near the beginning of the manuscript.  They weren’t mentioned again for roughly one hundred pages, but the author called them something else at that point.  He seemed happily surprised I caught this, but readers have a tendency to see stuff like that.  I admit I had to go back to the first mention of these objects to verify that yes, the names were different, but continuity and consistency are very important.

This is true for sequels as well.  Make sure all your characters have the same eye color and hair color as in the previous book, unless there’s a plausible explanation for it to be different.  If you write a scene in the previous book from one character’s POV, and then write that same scene in the next book from the POV of a different character, you want to make sure the scenes echo each other.  If your character only says two or three word sentences a couple of times in the second book, but in the first book he spoke a total of five times—twice in one sentence consisting of three or four words, once in two sentences, and once in a paragraph consisting of six to ten sentences—then you’ve got a problem.  If a character had their hands tied behind their back in the scene in book one, and they’re tied in front of them in book two, you’ve got a problem.  The same can be said for the layout of buildings, a school mascot, the name of a significant other’s ex, basically anything that’s pretty much concrete in your story or in your series.  If you say it’s May on page ten, you can’t have your character tugging her jacket closer and kicking at the orange leaves littering the ground when your reader gets to page twelve, not without a significant time lapse.

So keep in mind you want to look out for the major continuity and consistency issues as well as the small ones that might only be mentioned twice, a hundred pages apart.