Over ten years ago, I held my breath every time I emailed my writing to an editor. I watched my Inbox for a response, making sure the "send and receive" was set to refresh every two minutes. My eyes hurt as I stared at the computer screen. Food dropped onto the keyboard as I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner at my desk. Then came an acceptance, shortly followed by a check in the mail.
Great writing trumps all, but to look professional, whether a simple letter to the editor or an epic novel, these are some of the basics:
First, the font. Times New Roman, 12 pt., is the best; the one most editors like.
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Rarely, if ever, use exclamation marks. You can make your point quite easily with your wording and sentence structure.
No need to write "In my opinion" or "I feel." It's assumed that what you are stating is your opinion or thought.
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Try avoiding any form of "to be," as in, be, am, is, are, was, were, been, has, have, had, do, did, does, can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must. For instance, The child played in the street vs. The child was playing in the street. It's not easy to do, and you might end up grabbing the Tylenol.
Watch your grammar and spelling. "Me and my friend shop a lot" just doesn't cut it. Think of it this way: Take away "my friend" and the sentence becomes "Me shops a lot."
