8. Multiple Spaces

This is a simple error to describe and to avoid. Irregular spaces between words make your text look untidy and unprofessional. You can easily remove these using global search and replace: search for two spaces (two taps on your computer space bar) and replace them with one space (one tap on the space bar).

Don’t just search and replace once and think everything will now be okay. Repeat the procedure until your computer is unable to find any more multiple spaces. This is very important because there may have been three, four or five consecutive spaces hiding somewhere, which won’t get caught properly unless you search and replace until there’s nothing left to find.

Summary

• Remove multiple spaces using global search and replace.

• Repeat the procedure until no more multiple spaces are found.

9. Dates

It’s always obvious when a writer has not made up their mind about dates, or hasn’t even given them any thought:

‘On 30 July 2017 – just a few days before my brother’s birthday on August 5, 2017 and my parents’ wedding anniversary on August 7th, 2017 – I was born. On 31st July I fell ill.’

That’s four styles in one sentence! Never mix styles in this way. Use your preferred style and stick with it. Here’s how to decide:

In US English use month, day, comma, year: July 30, 2017

In UK English use day, month, year, no commas: 30 July 2017

In casual speech, do this:

US English: ‘I’ll see you on the 30th. I mean July 30th, okay?’

UK English: ‘I’ll see you on the 30th. I mean 30 July, okay?’

In works of fiction, speakers of dialogue can be as casual and inconsistent as you like. In biographies and histories, on the other hand, where lots of dates are used, it is vital to settle on your style and stick with it.

Summary

• Never mix styles.

• In casual speech, be casual!

10. Numbers

Many indie authors – and a whole lot of other authors come to that – get into a terrible pickle over numbers. Most of the time, it seems as if they haven’t given numbers a single thought; at other times, they start out with one style and end up with another. This drives readers mad!

You must decide how you want to treat numbers. Here are a couple of options:

• Spell out one to ten or one to a hundred.

• Just use figures only.

Don’t use a mix of figures and words, especially not in the same sentence. Here’s an example:

‘He’s been confined to bed for 2 days, and the doctor says he’ll have to stay there for another two.’

You will have spotted what is wrong with these numbers. As a general rule, I recommend this:

• In fiction, especially in dialogue, use words, not figures: ‘He’s been confined to bed for two days, and the doctor says he’ll have to stay there for another two.’

In fiction, especially when a character is speaking, it can look very odd to use figures instead of words. The figures draw attention to themselves and can distract the reader. It’s far better to use words.

The same is largely true for non-fiction, especially genres such as biography, histories, etc.

• In technical works with a lot of numbers – especially mathematics, of course – figures should be used. If in doubt, look at professionally produced books in your field and follow what they have done.

Write words rather than figures when numbers begin a sentence:

• ‘Two years ago …’ never ‘2 years ago …’

Also use words for approximate numbers and for ‘hundred’, ‘thousand’, ‘million’, ‘billion’, etc., if they appear as whole numbers:

• ‘Three hundred and ninety days passed.’

• ‘About two thousand books were destroyed in the blaze.’

• ‘She lived and wrote a hundred years ago.’

Summary

• Generally speaking, use words, not figures, unless you are writing a technical book.

• Avoid starting sentences with figures.