En Dash Bad: We met her parents-an affable pair-at the park.
Em Dash Good: We met her parents -- an affable pair -- at the park.

Em Dash Bad: mother--in--law
En Dash Good: mother-in-law

This is how I feel when I see a lot of them.

This is how I feel when I see a lot of them used incorrectly.

This is how I feel when I read a semicolon story that has at least some of them used correctly.

This is how I feel editing semi-colon stories.

Semicolons are hard to use correctly. The circumstances where you need them are few. But if you insist on using a plethora of them, you are

And you might get a lot more of this

Think of your reader when doing a line by line of your story or novel. On the kitchen table was a knife and the knife was on the kitchen table convey the exact same meaning. But the latter is the better choice in most cases. Moving the subject to the beginning of the sentence enables readers to understand its meaning more quickly. One might argue that the milliseconds it takes to compute the difference is negligible, but remember, how your sentences are formed, affect how readers form the movie of the book in their mind. The same goes for prepositional phrases.

In the kitchen, on the table next to the door, was a knife.

This might seem to read pretty well all by it's lonesome, but story is not a single sentence. Usually. Also keep in mind, where you place the verb or how many prepositions you use can speed up or slow down your story. If your hear feedback that your story has everything rocking but just feels slow for some odd reason, this might be why.

Challenge: Can you re-write In the kitchen, on the table next to the door, was a knife  with the subject at the beginning and subtract one prepositional phrase? Feel free to post your solution in the comments. 

Thanks everyone for your submissions. Whether it's a yes or no, know that GGP appreciates you.

Because of the nature of the 'Passion for' series, we get a lot of submissions from people who haven't thought about writing professionally. So here are a few pointers:

You don't have to send us your resume`. Anyone can submit a story. Your writing is all that matters. We do get a lot of good submissions that aren't quite what we are looking for so don't take a rejection personally. If you're worried that there is something you can improve, join a good on-line or in person critique group. Writers are a friendly lot, happy to share their knowledge.

You can increase your chances by taking a few minutes to research industry standards. Speaking of industry standards, let's look at pay rate.

Green Gecko Publishing is a semi-pro market. Semi-pro pays 1 to 4 cents per word. Pro markets pay 5 cents and higher.

Some markets pay a flat rate. Five, ten, and fifteen dollars are common amounts. This allows the magazine to acquire longer stories but the per word rate is often token.

For the love markets are places that don't pay. Getting your foot through the door can be easier with these markets, but a writer doesn't want too many non-paying "sales" on their writing resume`.

Because Green Gecko Publishing pays at the semi-pro rate, we are most likely to acquire stories that are near the professional level. That makes us a pretty good writing credit to put on your resume`.

Please do not submit if you think GGP is beneath your talent, experience and/or publishing history. This results in messy stories and bruised toes.

And this is exactly why GGP has two classes of pay. Placing pay rate in the hands of writers discourages submissions that were dashed off and unedited. Or old, unedited submissions, or any combination thereof.

Because, if I like what you sent but it needs cleaning up, you might get a letter from me asking for edits and an offer of 1/4 per word.

Don't get offended by the edits.
Don't get offended by the lower pay rate.
And don't try to impress me with the quality and/or quantity of your publishing credits.

I can only judge what you send me, not what you send to others. Be grateful that I didn't send you a form rejection. Be grateful for the second chance. Be extra grateful that I refuse to publish it as-is. (Because, at the end of the day, that's your name on the story. While industry professionals might blame GGP for poor editing and revision, readers do not. They blame you.)  

I love second chances. That's why I don't send as many form letters as I should. That's also why, the slush pile can take a little longer.

Last but not least. For those of you who have sent me your best work.I've noticed the increase in cleaner prose and I regret every rejection. I can't publish your work if it's not right for the book. But there is one thing I can do. I can take notice of who has sent in a polished, clean, well written draft. I see your effort and care, and because of that, your chances next time around go up. Finally, if I notice, you can bet your bottom dollar other publications notice and appreciate you too.