Since this is a writing community, I think one of our main goals, in addition to sharing our own creativity, should be to help each other write, and become better writers. Many of our members have already been handing out helpful suggestions and constructive criticism in the form of comments and reviews, but since articles cannot be changed after they are submitted, I'm sure that quite a few of our members see some of these suggestions as too little, too late. Typos, in particular, are most definitely not something that can be remedied by pointing them out in a review.

This is why I've decided to open a thread where members can post unfinished articles for other members to proofread before submission. I'll be happy to proofread anyone's work and suggest changes related to spelling, grammar, etc., as long as I'm not flooded with a bunch of requests at once. Anyone else who thinks they're good at editing can help me out, too.

WHY IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?

Technical mistakes -- including spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation, sentence structure, and word usage -- are the most common and most irritating errors to find in a finished piece of literature. If there are enough of these mistakes, readers will notice, and it severely subtracts from the quality of writing.

In my opinion, we should not allow such easily-corrected mistakes to limit the quality of our writing. Even the best of us make typos, and it's surprisingly easy to overlook your own mistakes. Sometimes, even after you proofread your own work, it's a good idea to have someone else take a look at it, since the better you know a piece of writing, the more likely you are to overlook a missing word or a spelling error.

HOW THIS WORKS:

It's simple. First, you post an article that you've written, or a specific excerpt that needs attention. Make sure it's in some kind of format that will be readable on the forum. (Double spacing between paragraphs would be nice.)

Then a reader (such as myself) will read through your article, finding technical mistakes and correcting them, and the revisions will be posted in this thread. When I proofread your work, I will re-post any paragraphs that needed to be changed, with my corrections marked in bold. (I suggest that other proofreaders do the same.)

If you have any questions about why I made a change, feel free to ask. If you think I'm wrong, feel free to argue. Most of all, feel free to ignore my suggestions if you think they somehow infringe on your creativity. (Maybe you wanted those extra commas. Who knows?)

THE RULES:

Just keep in mind that this thread is for proofreading only. I don't think it would be fair to give out advice or ideas regarding plot or writing style. If you want those kinds of suggestions, or if you just want to know what people think about your article, then feel free to make a separate thread to address your specific needs.

Also, this is a serious thread. Don't post an intentionally bad piece of writing for laughs or to keep me busy. Furthermore, don't complain if no one proofreads your work right away. I humbly offer my services for free and I make no promises.

This post will be updated if I think of anything else. In the meantime, feel free to make use of this thread.