03.31.09
Posted in Writer's Resource at 4:47 pm by Administrator
The Online Slang Dictionary is a collaborative project and an indispensible source for anyone who writes or edits contemporary (mostly urban) American slang. Particularly when used in speech, slang can provide color and help establish character, but many of us aren’t sure how to spell some of these strange phrases we hear, and this is where the slang dictionary comes in. You can search for a word or phrase to find its most common spelling or meaning (also useful if you have teenagers), consult a map to see where the word is most often used, and send in your own slang suggestions if you know of a term that is not already included. This site does include explicit and/or vulgar terms, so if you are squeamish about such things, consider yourself warned.
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Posted in The Word at 4:47 pm by Administrator
Many people are not aware that these are two separate words. The two words are often confused and used interchangeably, or a writer will choose one spelling and stick with it for all uses. Trust me (and Mr. Webster), they are totally different words.
Complement as a noun refers to “something that fills up or completes”; as a verb it means “to be complementary to: fill out.” (Please consult your dictionary for other meanings.)
Her boldness was the perfect complement to his shyness.
That color really complements your eyes.
Compliment is a noun meaning “an expression of approval or admiration” or a verb meaning “to pay a compliment to.”
My compliments to the chef.
He complimented her for her gracious manners.
Putting it all together,
She received many compliments for her green dress, which complemented her eyes beautifully.
(Definitions from The Merriam-Webster Dictionary.)
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03.28.09
Posted in Newsletter at 5:05 pm by Administrator
Writing good dialogue is not easy, but punctuating and formatting dialogue usually is easy—and important. Dialogue punctuation and formatting tells the reader when someone is speaking, when their speech stops, if they’re asking a question or making a statement, if the speech is halting or interrupted, etc. Good punctuation is vital to your meaning and should not be an afterthought. Unfortunately, many writers do not know even the basics of dialogue punctuation (I have even seen English teachers get it wrong). If you’re one of them, don’t worry, these four basic tips will cover most of your dialogue needs.
1. Enclose direct quotes in quotation marks. Capitalize the first letter in the quote.
He said, “Go ahead.”
Please note that indirect quotes do not need quotation marks:
He told them to go ahead.
2. Notice the placement of commas and other punctuation with the dialogue tags and quotation marks:
He said, “Hello.”
“Hello,” she replied.
“What are you doing here?”
In American usage, commas and periods always go inside the ending quotation mark. Question marks and exclamation marks go inside if they are part of the quote, and outside if they are not part of the quote.
“Eek!” she screamed. (The exclamation is part of the quote.)
What did she mean by “just you wait”? (“Just you wait” is not a question. The question mark goes outside.)
3. Start a new paragraph for each new speaker, even if that person only says one word. This helps the reader keep track of who is speaking.
“Do you like dogs?” she asked.
“I love dogs,” he replied. “In fact, I have six dogs at home.”
“Wow!”
Note that when one character’s speech is broken by a dialogue tag or short narration, there is no need to start a new paragraph when that character begins speaking again.
4. Use a three-period ellipsis to indicate stammering speech or when a character’s speech trails off.
“I’m not sure … I mean … Oh, I don’t know anymore.”
“I’ve been thinking …”
Use an em dash (or two hyphens) to indicate interrupted speech.
“I think we should—”
“I just don’t care what you think!”
These four points cover only the basics of dialogue formatting and punctuation, but the basics will take you far. For more detail or more complex situations, consult your grammar book (every writer should have one).
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03.24.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 10:01 pm by Administrator
Well, not really. I just wanted to get your attention. I did become very ill once while reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, but it wasn’t Harry’s fault. Actually, it was the chemotherapy. I had taken the book with me to a chemo treatment, thinking Harry and friends would distract me from the more unpleasant things going on that day. Unfortunately, the unpleasant things completely took over. Between the nausea and the drugs they gave me to allegedly relieve the nausea, I was unable to read more than a few pages. I put Harry Potter aside that day and couldn’t pick him up again until over a year later; every time I thought of Harry I became so queasy I would have to lie down.
Which brings me to my actual point. Sometimes people dislike or refuse to read certain books for reasons that have nothing at all to do with the books themselves. I love Harry Potter. I admit I was a late convert and didn’t begin reading the books until the first movie came out, but I love him just the same. For that one year though, I absolutely could not read or even think about him.
About 20 years earlier, I stopped reading Stephen King because of some interview he gave in which he said he was happy to settle for the gross-out when he couldn’t quite achieve a more disquieting sense of horror in his readers. I had enjoyed Stephen King until then, but I was idealistic and unforgiving in my youth and thought writers should be perfect all the time. Thank goodness those days are over. In the meantime, I’m sure I’ve missed some pretty good books. Now I wonder if my memory of that King quote is even remotely correct. Perhaps I got it all wrong and shunned a favorite writer for no reason at all.
Happily, I did eventually get back to Harry Potter and have eagerly read all seven books. I haven’t quite found my way back to Stephen King yet, but that’s mostly because I have so little time to read these days. I have forgiven him for that gross-out comment (which he may or may not have actually made)—or maybe I didn’t forgive him. Maybe what really happened was I realized what an arrogant nitwit I was being.
Finally.
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03.21.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 4:37 pm by Administrator
Not that long ago I edited a book in which the characters liked “catchup” on their burgers and fries. This looked like a problem to me. Actually, to my eye it looked slightly ridiculous. I dutifully changed every instance of “catchup” to either “ketchup” or “catsup” (I can’t remember which spelling I chose, and I am too lazy to look it up in my notes right now). Then, about five minutes ago, I was idly leafing through Merriam-Webster’s Concise Dictionary of English Usage (because that is the sort of thing I do on the weekends) when my eye fell upon the “catsup, ketchup, catchup” entry.
Turns out I was wrong. It seems “catchup,” though much less common than either of the other spellings, is perfectly fine. “All three spellings are standard,” the usage dictionary says. Heck, Hemingway used “catchup,” so it must be okay.
The lesson? Always look things up, even (or especially) when you are sure you are right!
By the way, I still think “a bottle of catchup” looks weird, but who am I to argue with Merriam-Webster, Inc.?
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03.17.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 5:25 pm by Administrator
The poor little apostrophe, so often misunderstood, neglected, or abused. The apostrophe, that small but important mark that indicates this is Sarah’s writing or shows where a letter is missin’. I, for one, think it’s high time we put an end to the abuse and misuse of this inoffensive little doohickey, a doohickey that all too often is either left out entirely or applied with too much enthusiasm.
I know I’m not the only person who feels this way. In fact, I am a little behind on this one: The Apostrophe Protection Society has been around since 2001. The APS, as you have undoubtedly already guessed, is dedicated to encouraging the correct use of the apostrophe.
Examples of misplaced apostrophes are everywhere. The most common form of abuse seems to be overuse. People love to use apostrophes to form plural’s. You don’t need an apostrophe to say you have three kitten’s, two sandwich’s, or a thousand dollars’. A plain old “s” (or “es”) will do just fine.
Do we just love our apostrophes too much? Alas, no. Our love is too little, not too much. If we truly loved our apostrophes, we would take the time to get to know them, learn all about them, use them in the right places. But instead we leave them in such embarrassing situations as “two drink’s for the price of one.” Or we forget them entirely when we say, “I’m going to Freds house.” That, my friends, is not love.
So I encourage you all to hug an apostrophe today. Or, if you’re not the demonstrative type, at least encourage their correct use. The apostrophes will thank you.
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03.15.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 7:21 pm by Administrator
Our teacher once told my college writing class that being able to diagnose problems in someone else’s work is a great way to build your own writing skills. This was several years before the thought of becoming an editor entered my little head, and I confess I did not take her very seriously. At that moment I only knew I didn’t like the concept that part of my grade would be based on my critiques of classmates’ work. Even after I had done the assignment, aced the class, and become a better writer, I still didn’t recognize the value of the experience.
Now I do.
An editor has a uniquely intimate relationship with a piece of writing. Only the writer is closer to the work. We editors spend our days worrying over the most minute details of a written work, all while keeping the big picture in mind as well. We notice where the plot sticks or the characterization falls apart, where the dialogue isn’t working or the punctuation is confusing. Each day, as I’m up to my elbows in someone else’s commas, I’m learning more and more about what makes writing work.
What have I learned? The most important lesson has been the value of being a careful, meticulous writer. This means organizing what you want to say and deciding how to say it before you actually write anything. It means proofing your own work and taking the time to get the spelling and punctuation right. Many writers make up punctuation as they go along. Others will spell the same word four different ways, all of them wrong. I have spent many days of my life trying to understand what they meant (and not always succeeding). If you want to look good in print, it’s up to you as the writer to put in the hard work up front. Yes, an editor can help you do a major overhaul after you’ve finished your first rough draft, but the final product will be better if you give an editor a high-quality manuscript to work with.
I have also learned how important it is to have someone (preferably someone who knows what they’re doing) edit your work. No matter how careful you have been, you will almost always skip over a few errors in your own work. You may have written something that makes perfect sense to you but is hopelessly confusing to everyone else. Only a careful, critical reader can highlight these problems for you.
That college critique experience wasn’t editing, but it did help to prepare me for editing. It showed me how to look for problems in others’ writing. And, yes, it showed me how to learn from others’ mistakes and diagnose and avoid those problems in my own writing. Once again, teacher knew best.
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03.10.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 9:44 pm by Administrator
In real life, medical mistakes are no joke. But on the pages of fiction, medical mistakes and misspellings can be hilarious.
John was rushed to the hospital in intensitive care. He was suffering from a comma and kept coming in and out of conscience. His breathe was gravely, his heart beat unregular. He has an infection in his lounges, the Dr. thought and he might not make it thru the night. The put an ivy in his arm and pumped in saltines continually. When his mother came to see him the site was just offal. All those tubs and machines. She cried and cried. How much more could she bare? They said they would have to go through his juggler vein to reach his kidney. She made a jester of despair in sadness. Then, miraculously, John’s eyes flitted upon and he woke up and said good morning. They took all the ivy and tubs off and he went home right away.
I hope none of you ever experiences a tragedy of this magnitude. Be comforted in the knowledge that it is extremely unusual for so much unpleasantness to visit one person in one paragraph. And if you’ve ever been hospitalized for any reason, you will immediately recognize this paragraph’s most glaring mistake: “he went home right away.” Everyone knows it takes approximately twenty-seven hours to be discharged from a hospital after even the most minor illness or injury.
(As always, the misspellings are real examples of errors I have corrected in my travels, but the exact context and story are of my own creation.)
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03.07.09
Posted in Editorial Musings at 7:00 pm by Administrator
I believe I am the world’s slowest sender of text messages. Part of the problem is lack of practice; I text fairly infrequently, so my thumbs don’t always know what to do. Another problem is age; 40-year-old thumbs are naturally slower than 16-year-old thumbs. But the most serious drag on my messaging speed is the simple fact that I am a writer and editor and cannot bring myself to assault the English language with concoctions like “gr8.”
The various contractions and inventions are, I suppose, quite useful in the texting world. Certainly serious texters can’t take the time—or character space—to spell out every single word. Our language changes constantly, and I embrace that evolution as evidence that English is alive and kicking. We need a constant supply of new words and meanings to keep up with modern life. Still, some of us aren’t quite ready to participate in the messaging language revolution. I think of us as the Old Guard, standing fast against the constant barrage of fast-forward sloppiness that is currently insulting the English language. Others may prefer to call us dinosaurs.
How does a dinosaur text? Slowly, methodically, thoughtfully, maybe even ploddingly.
When I text, I spell out every word (except standard contractions, for which I take the time to insert an apostrophe, every single time), I tend to write complete sentences, and I use appropriate punctuation (yes, I even write “2:30” rather than “230”). Oh, I also proofread everything I send. Clearly, this method is not designed for speed (but neither am I—I also drive in the slow lane).
Speed isn’t everything. Consider accuracy, beauty of expression, the perfect turn of phrase. All of these tend to be lost in texting. And so I and my fellow dinosaurs will leave it to others to fly along at breakneck speed in their quest to be the fastest at saying the most (or is it the least?).
Why fly when you can plod?
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03.03.09
Posted in The Word at 9:07 pm by Administrator
Lately I’ve seen quite a few characters who either have a guilty conscious or are not conscience. It seems this is the perfect time to review.
Conscience is a noun meaning “consciousness of the moral right and wrong of one’s own acts or motives.”
That little lie weighed on my conscience.
Conscious is an adjective meaning “aware,” “mentally awake and alert,” or “done with awareness or purpose.” Conscious can also be a noun meaning “the upper level of mental life of which a person is aware: Consciousness.”
After two days in a coma, the patient was fully conscious but still in serious condition. I made a conscious decision not to tell her the truth about the accident … and that little lie weighed on my conscience.
(Definitions from The Merriam-Webster Dictionary.)
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