The Editing Impulse
Yesterday afternoon I attempted to indulge in a little escapism by reading a sci-fi mystery I picked up from the library last week. There I was, lying on the sofa, happily turning page after page as I tried to envision the various alien species, when I saw it: an error of omission (in this case, [...]
No Time for Tweeting
Freelancers spend a lot of time getting potential clients to notice them and, hopefully, hire them. We join professional organizations and subscribe to job boards. We post free ads on Craigslist or pay to advertise with search engines. Sometimes we even spring for a print ad in a relevant publication. We post little tidbits on [...]
Palate vs. Palette vs. Pallet
English can be a wonderfully confusing language. We have so many homophones—words that sound alike but differ in spelling, meaning, or derivation. Homophones can trip up even native speakers and writers who are otherwise excellent spellers. Take, for example, palate, palette, and pallet. These similar-sounding words hit the homophone trifecta: They differ in spelling, meaning, [...]
Freelance Editors Beware!
A few weeks ago, I received a query about doing some editing for a student named Dependra Santha. It looked like a fairly typical query, complete with two academic papers for me to provide quotes on. I did a quick sample edit on a few pages, provided price quotes for both papers, and the next [...]
The Writing Habit
Habit: a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition. Writing is a habit. When you do it daily it becomes second nature, part of your routine—I won’t say it ever gets to be easy, but getting your thoughts on paper (or screen) does become easier with frequent practice. Once you’ve been in the writing habit for [...]
Defuse or Diffuse?
Situation: Your two best friends have gotten into an argument over whose turn it is to buy beer (or Ensure, for those of you who are perhaps a little older and more health conscious). They go back and forth, becoming angrier with every breath. Eventually, when they are both too angry for words, the silent [...]
Chicago vs. Webster
To hyphenate or not to hyphenate—that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler to preserve that hallowed dash Dividing one letter from its brother in the manner of Chicago Or to take arms against superfluous marks And, like Webster, end them. I recently stumbled into an editorial conundrum. Actually, I’ve been stumbling all around this problem [...]
In Search of … the Candy Isle
My friends, there are homophones among us. Homophones, in case you’ve forgotten, are words that sound alike but have different meanings, spellings, or derivations (according to Webster). When used incorrectly, these words can make us chuckle or weep, or perhaps scratch our heads in confusion. Aisle and isle are homophones. They sound alike but have [...]
Sometimes, Sense I Do Not Make
One of the best ways to find out just how you’re doing as a writer is to ask several people to read your work and give you honest feedback. These several people must not be related to you in any way, and they must not be your best friends, your employees, or your dog and/or [...]
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