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Common Errors | Formatting
| Editing Tips | How to Send |
Writing a Travelogue
The following is a summary of common errors, helpful rules and guidelines.
We request you to kindly review this entire page and carefully edit your article using these
guidelines before you email it to us. This would save both Sulekha and you a lot of
of heartache and pain. (FYI: Write Right by Jan Venolia and Elements
of Style by Strunk and White are two delightful little books on usage,
punctuation and grammar. The consensus holds that these two books must be
on every writer's bookshelf.)
Common
Errors
The following is a list of common and simple errors many writers commit.
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Common errors
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Wrong
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Right
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Wrong: Two or more spaces between sentences
Right: One space only |
Cats are lazy. And a bit stupid. |
Cats are lazy. And a bit stupid. |
Wrong: Hyphen as one dash
Right: Hyphen as space-dash-dash-space |
Put all of your eggs in one basket-and watch that basket. |
Put all of your eggs in one basket -- and watch that basket. |
Wrong: Comma or full stop outside the quote
Right: Must be inside the quote |
"I cannot bear this separation no more", he said.
He said, "I cannot bear this separation no more". |
"I cannot bear this separation no more," he said.
He said, "I cannot bear this separation no more." |
Wrong: Space before full stop, exclamation or question mark.
Right: No space. |
Many who crave for immortality don't know what to do on a Sunday afternoon
! |
Many who crave for immortality don't know what to do on a Sunday afternoon! |
Wrong: No space after initials
Right: Space after prefix and initials |
Mr.K.R.Rao spoke next. |
Mr. K. R. Rao spoke next. |
Wrong: Avoid multiple punctuation marks
Right: Use single punctuation mark |
You love me!!!! |
You love me! |
Wrong: The ellipsis is lots of periods
Right: The ellipsis is three periods |
If only I had eaten the onions........ |
If only I had eaten the onions... |
Formatting
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Italicize all non-English words
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In cases where the meaning of a non-English word is important, please insert the English translation in parentheses right next to the word. If the word is repeated in the article, please provide the translation next to the first occurrence only. Do not italicize the English meaning within the parentheses.
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Italicize all titles of books, movies, organizations and other similar
things or entities.
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Please use any common spell checker to correct spelling errors.
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Italicize words that need emphasis. Do not write the words in capital letters.
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Please separate paragraphs with two breaks and do not insert leading spaces
before the first word of a paragraph.
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Use orthodox spelling.
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You can use the British or the American form of spelling but be consistent with either form throughout the article.
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Abbreviations can be used throughout the text only if the full form has been mentioned next to the first occurrence.
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Use the word not only as a means of denial.
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Omit unnecessary words.
- Use active voice.
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Use the positive form.
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Be specific and concrete.
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Use simple words.
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Eliminate jargon.
- Vary sentence length and construction.
- Watch out for the word very; use it sparingly.
- Do not switch tenses very often.
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After you are done writing the first draft, let the article rest for a day or two. Print a hard copy and go over it with a
fine toothcomb for simple errors such as the ones listed above.
- Print another copy of the corrected article and go over it again, this time for conciseness, focus and flow of thought. Edit and rewrite as needed.
Formatting
- Microsoft Word is the preferred format.
- If you don't use Microsoft Word, you can send your article as a plain text file attachment or you could insert the text within the email itself.
- When submitting a story, an article or a poem stick to this format:
Title of the submission
Author's name
Text
- When submitting a poem, make sure that you clearly indicate where the poem starts and where it ends. Take special care when you format poetry.
Editing
Tips
Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence
should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences,
for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and
a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make
all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects
only in the outline, but that every word tell.
William Strunk Jr.
How To
Write A Travelogue
Travel is perhaps one of the
most popular pastimes of people around the world. But a Travel experience will
never be complete unless and until the traveler shares his experiences with
others. And how does he do that? Through travelogues of course. The usefulness
of travelogues works both ways - the person reading the travelogue learns from
the experiences of the traveler and the travelogue takes him to a new world
full of beauty, mystery, surprises and what not. The traveler also benefits
from his writing, he is given the opportunity to recall and to an extent
relive the wonderful experiences he witnessed during his travel.
Travelogues can be
created using a multitude of different styles and techniques but the
best stories generally share certain characteristics, notably:
A Clear writing style.
Strong sense of the writer’s personality, ideally
demonstrating intelligence, wit and style is another requirement. Travelogues
that are formal in nature cannot convey to readers, the travel experience
through the use of words alone.
Use of the writer’s personal experiences, other anecdotes
and quotations to add life to the piece. Meaty, practical and accurate
information that is useful to the reader should be provided.
There are certain important points we have to bear in
mind when writing travelogues:
- Tell the story from your point of view. Travelogues
that sound more like essays don’t go down well with the readers. Your story
will attract readers only when it has a personal voice and it will also
induce a breath of freshness into the story.
- Be creative in your writing. Strive for the best and
strongest use of English and the most original and powerful metaphors and
similes.
- Play with words.Bringing an element of surprise or
thrill in your story will definitely help.
- Blend your personal observations, descriptions and
commentary with practical information that is useful to your readers.
- Identify the theme before you sit down to write. Never
go off-track.
How To SendPlease send all of your contributions to Swapna at
editor@sulekha.net.
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