Language – Just Write Right

It depends…

Often, as an editor, I’m asked about what’s right. People assume that there are rules, after all, language can’t be completely random can it?

Well, very often there is no right answer. It depends!

Going italic for Italian

Let’s not get laissez-faire over this. There are rules! So, settle down with your café noir, if that’s your preference, and let’s discuss italics.

Don’t cause a distraction

Every time I walk into a branch of a, well-known, discount chain, I am distracted by the massive sign they have above one of the aisles. It tells me that I can buy “DVD’s” there.

What’s your style?

I’m not talking about the clothes you wear. I’m sure you’re very stylish!

In my role as a copyeditor, I talk a lot about consistency. It’s your ‘style’, it’s how you do things. From a copy perspective, it’s about how you put, or style, words on your page.

It’s all Greek to me

Do you know your recto from your verso? What’s the difference between MSS and MS? What is this stet I keep seeing on the page? Definitions at the end of the post!

How old are you?

Rude! You should never ask that question!

But, are you the oldest in the room? Or the eldest? What’s the difference?

Telling tall tales

This is something that gets me each time I come across it. I don’t know why, but I must look it up each time I come across this in a manuscript.

They’re six foot. No, they’re six-feet. Or are they six foot tall? Six-foot-tall?

Well, aren’t you dashing!

Well, I’m sure you’ve put your best frock on for this blog post but I’m not here to compliment you!

Instead, we’re going to look at all the different dashes and lines on your page, what the differences are and when you might use them.

A fine line: between style and correctness

My job is frequently portrayed as being about pedantry. The correct use of the comma, the correct use of subject, verb agreement, the correct spellings.

But that’s not always the case.

The word “proofreading” is often confused with editing. See here for a post that explains the differences between editing and proofreading. Proofreading is the very last step in the journey towards publication and works differently to editing. This is a follow up to the How it works post detailing how the editing process works. BecauseContinue reading “How it works: Proofreading”