By Jan Verhoeff  »  If you can string five words together, make a sentence and add five more to have a paragraph, the world considers you a writer. However, the editor looking over your manuscript for publication considers you something else. Before you present your manuscript for publication, be sure you've followed these steps, completely.

1. Sentences have verbs and nouns. Yup, all of them. Every sentence you write (you didn't write the one that started this paragraph) MUST have a verb and a noun. Until you're published and have a solid understanding of what the publisher wants, give him what he expects. PERFECT GRAMMAR.

2. Punctuation matters. There's no place in formal or casual writing where three exclamation marks make one iota of difference to anyone, except your publisher. He doesn't want to see them. He hates exclamation marks, and would prefer you get your point across with words. Don't use them!

3. Show, don't tell. Do not waste the publisher's time telling him how funny your characters are. Show him. This is important. Give your reader (publisher) credit for having at least 10% of the same smarts you've got. Allow him to read and determine how funny, witty, scary or frightening the book is himself.

4. Follow directions. If the directions say to double space your book manuscript on blue paper with pink ink, do it. If they suggest you type it upside-down on a piece of platform card stock, do it. Whatever your publisher requests in the manner of manuscript, be sure that's what you do.

5. Check story lines. If one of your characters died in a plane crash in chapter five and never came back to life, he cannot possibly rescue the heroine in chapter twenty six. Nope, it can't be done, the publisher will know that, and he'll toss your story in the circular file if you try it. Don't do it.

6. Don't be redundant. If you said it once in three words, you don't need to say it again in forty, then repeat it again in three hundred, and your whole complete, seventh chapter doesn't have to say it again in five thousand words. Don't repeat yourself.

7. Overcome perfectionism. If it took you seven years to write the first paragraph and seven days to write the rest of the book, you've probably got a serious problem with obsessive compulsive perfectionism. Call me, I have the name of a good writer psychologist who can get you right in.

The best part of learning to critique like a professional is, you begin to write like a writer. The objective of writing the story (you remember the rough draft part of the paper?) is to get it on paper, THEN edit. 

• For more help with the critiquing process and a free e-course on writing for profit, visit acewriters.com