If there would be one job I would be good at, it would be a barrista. While I don't know the secret to making good coffee or have ever made a cup myself, there is one stereotypical skill I share with baristas everywhere. I have trouble with spelling. It's because of this I don't give the baristas a hard time if they try adding a "y" to my name or switch some of the letters around.

But wait, so far, this article seems to be free of errors. There aren't any grammatical mistakes that are spotted. That's because I edit. Many writers will edit their story because there are many consequences if they don't. It's not just spelling errors writers will look out for. We will also pay attention to any run on sentences, fragments, missing punctuation, and other grammar issues that makes it hard to read.

English is a hard language to grasp, but it's hard because it's a medium. Writing is a way for us to communicate or share a story to one another. By taking out the correct spellings and disregarding proper grammar, it can be hard to understand what is being said.

I'll admit, I talk a lot. Even though I'm shy, I'm the kind of person who speaks paragraphs. My writing reflects that a lot, so I know that's the first thing I have to concentrate on. I'm also bad at spelling. Back when I had those spelling tests, I always had to take them twice. The teacher would give us two try's on them all, and never have I ever passed a spelling test on the first try.

Everyone has their weaknesses because nobody is perfect. It's because of this no story is going to be perfect. Keep in mind, you may find the secret to a story free of spelling and grammar errors, but there will always be a critic who dislikes your work. That's inevitable.

Besides that, there will always be the grammar nazi of Wattpad. They will read a book and comment on any misspelling, run-on sentences, bad word choices...anything that is wrong in the English language. As a writer, this can be a bit discouraging, but these people aren't doing it out of spite. They are doing it to help you grow in your writing. Think about it. Why would they put the time and effort into criticizing the small mistakes if it wasn't to help you?

That still doesn't mean it can hurt seeing a spam load of comments of what can be improved. It's because of this, you should really think ahead and edit as much as you can. Sure, you can wait for people to point out your mistakes, but then you run into a new problem.

If a grammar nazi comments on a misspelling, and a new reader catches onto it, problems may arise. Say you don't fix any of the mistakes and a new reader comes along. If that reader  catches that mistake and sees someone else comments, and you did nothing, they may assume you don't really care for your story. Seeing that, or having too many mistakes, some readers may turn away. It's an unspoken rule, but writers want people to read their story. We put a lot of hard work into those stories, so why should we give our readers an excuse to turn away now?

There are a ton of ways to edit a story on your own. You don't have to rely on people for this. My method is the long way. I'll write a chapter to a story weeks before it's published. Why? If I have it done, shouldn't I give it to my readers right away?

No.

That first draft I have is bound to have at least 100 mistakes. This is because I'm a fast writer; therefore, I'll forget commas and other punctuation, spell Pokémon without the accent, spell a Pokémon's name wrong, and who knows what other mistakes. I will spend weeks catching every mistake possible.

Once that is done, I go to Chrome on my computer. There, you'll see three little dots on the right hand corner. As you are editing your story, click on those three dots, and it will open up a few options for you to do. One of which is "find." "Find" is really cool because you can type in key words and find them throughout the document.

(Picture above is from google. I didn't take that picture).

I'm very bad at capitalizing attacks and accenting the "e" in Pokémon. It was actually recently that I found out some readers really look out for that stuff. They may not comment on it, but they find it a nuisance. If you know you spell a particular Pokémon's name wrong, you can even spell a bit of that word into "find", and it will help you spot the mistakes.

Another thing to look out for when editing is missing punctuation. I will lock myself in a small room one time during my editing process and read the entire thing out loud. I'll read at a slow pace, pausing at every punctuation mark, and reading whatever word is on the page. It's tricky. Sometimes I'll come across a word that has duplicated itself and will just say it once. Things will still slip through, but catching grammatical errors this way is effective.

Of course, that's the long way. Not everyone is going to want to go through that process. Honestly, I don't blame them. There are reasons I do the things the way I do them, even if there's a simpler way.

In editing, there are ton of ways to catch these errors.

For example, Wattpad can catch spelling errors, but not all. This app doesn't do a great job at grammar errors either. Luckily, there are two free services that many people use on a daily basis that solve this problem.

The first is Microsoft Word. Yes. Microsoft Word. We've all probably been using this since we were very young. What does Word do when you make a weird sentence? It catches it and underlines it in green while you type. Simple! It even gives suggestions on how to fix it. You can also search the document for key words and phrases as well.

The downside to this is that it will count Pokémon and certain names as a spelling error. That's okay. You're probably spelling it right. It's just not a word in the dictionary.

You can do the exact same thing if you have a gmail account. If you have a gmail account, you can open google docs and edit the same way as Word. This document can also be shared to other writers if you have their emails. It's wonderful. If you have a friend who is willing to help you out, google docs is a great medium to do so. You can highlight, make comments, and mark it up so many different ways to see what needs to be improved.

It's awesome.

Let's say you don't have the time to do my method, have access to gmail account, or have "Word" on your computer. That's okay. There are still other ways to edit. I haven't checked them out, but there are editing websites/apps you can always look. The downside to this is that some require you to pay them. Not all editing sites are like this, but beware, there are some.

Another great thing to look into is to "hire" editor. There are editors here on Wattpad that you could find who will edit your story for you. Just be aware. Just like critics, cover artists, or any other person who offers these great services, editors may have a particular payment as well. This could be a quick follow, a comment, or some other simple Wattpad payment. All you have to do is read carefully through their rules and payment.

Most importantly, when you're asking an editor to edit your story, they may only do one or two chapters. Remember, just like you, editors have other things to worry about. At least they are kind enough to give some service and help you out. It's just a good rule of thumb to always thank them for what they're doing since there is time into editing, even if it's just a single chapter.

Editing takes a lot of work, but it truly makes a difference when reading a story. I'm going to give you all three examples pulled from the prologue of Storm Crossed. The first will be an extreme of what no editing could look like. The second will have a bit of editing for it. The last will have gone through as much editing I could do before gaining a headache.

These examples are for the sole purpose of understanding why it is important to edit. You may find that you don't find any of them annoying to read whatsoever. There are readers who simple do not care about spelling and grammar. It's all about preference, and every reader has their expectations on what to look forward to in a book, whether that be grammar related or storyline related.

Example 1:

the wold is running by varables, evn the mos midicor live is controll by them is not hard to figur out what they are for a a normal tranr, they wake up eat brekfest train whil they travel eat while they tran and fin a plac to camp out for te nxt nit til they make it to the net town.

Now dear reader i know ur gonna debunk my theory here. wHat happenz once the trainer gets to the next town or city that hasa  gym? OR, beter yet what happenz if the trainr is lucky becoming champon. My answer to u is thatthereis is still a constent as the trainr still has to wake up eat break fast prepare for the next battle that ahead, travel to the place that they they'll have that battle and wyn or loose, they still wantto remain strong that they go to bad and repeat the process once more.

Example 2:

And yes, before you say anything, I know my story is being read, so don't expect much from it. True, my story isn't about being one of those pokemon trainers because I have no need to do that. If your looking for that, go check your nearest library for the books about great trainers. Im sure there are hundreds about the kanto greatest hero, red, or ones about the newest champion, moon. Those are a good start as to what a trainer's life should be like, so why you're nosing your way into my story, it's beyond me.

Example 3:

There are still constant variables in my life. Nothing exciting happens, and that's okay. I like the predictability of getting up in the mornings and eating with the same group of people. It's good to know that everyday I work for my job, we are doing what is right for this world. While my tasks may be a bit different, I still journal them for the same reason anyone else does.

I write in my journal to keep a record of what happened. Yes, I get it. No one cares what goes in it. Most journals usually list things off for Trainers. I just find that boring because I need to have details on everything that happens.

As you can tell, there is a difference between each one. The first is an extreme. As much as I wish I could say I've yet to find one of those examples on Wattpad, I have. It makes it hard to understand what's going on in the story. There are run-on sentences, misuse of capitalization, and other grammatical errors. If that's how your story starts out when you type, that is completely normal. Your story isn't horrible. It just needs some editing to make it easier for your readers.

At first glance, the second one seems normal. There are a few longer sentences used in it that could work better as simple sentences. It's not that compound, complex, or compound-complex sentences are bad, but you've got to make it easy for your reader to read. Too many long sentences can be hard to follow.

There are also few things that needs to be capitalized, such as Champion, Trainer, Red, Moon, and Kanto. Pokémon should also have an accent above it. These are all easy fixes and to someone who's reading it, it can be hard to find. This is because it's not well known that certain words, such as Trainer and Pokémon, needs to be capitalize. Some readers may even argue that it doesn't need to be. Names of trainers, like Red and Moon, should always be capitalize because they're a proper noun.

As for the final example, there may be one or two mistakes, but they're not as noticeable as the first two examples. That's what you want to achieve in editing. After looking at all three examples, I want you to ask yourself the following questions:

Which one do you write at? I'll admit, I tend to write and publish chapters that resembles example 2, though, I do have tendencies such as repeated words and misspellings like example 1.

Which one do you like to read? Personally, I don't mind reading example 2 stories, but I love reading stories that are based off of example 3. Example 1 are the kind I can't stand to read as my brain hurts from just looking at it.

Which one do you want to strive for? Hopefully, you all answer example 3, if not, at least strive for example 2. You all have the tools at your fingertips to get you to that standard.

Will it take time? Yes. Will it make you feel amazing when less mistakes are found? Of course! Are you capable of writing well enough to be like example 3? Absolutely!

You all have the tools. You all have the brains. Stop those grammar nazis before they come, and when they do, know that they're there because they care. Always edit.

There is no such thing as too much editing.