Unpopular opinion? I hate adverbs. The girl I used to teach next to, back in the day, had a sign in her classroom that read: “Said is dead.” While I don’t disagree there are other ways to indicate someone is speaking, I think “said” gets the job done. To be honest, my biggest issue with the classroom poster was how… Read More
Guest Post: This is How You Kick-Start NaNoWriMo by Melissa Flickinger
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is just around the corner. If you’re new to the month of writing madness, it can be far too easy to fall behind before November 1st. My first mistake when I signed up for NaNoWriMo last year was that I had no writing routine. I simply thought “I’ll write whenever I get a chance each… Read More
Practical Tips: How to Avoid Misusing Some Common Words and Phrases
As an editor, I see a lot of words and phrases misspelled and/or misused. Often this is due simply to one letter (or number) difference and the misspelling makes for an amusing read. Such as when someone intends to say, “I made a complete 180 degree change in my life,” and instead they say, “I made a complete 360 degree… Read More
More Practical Tips from a Grammar Goddess
In the past I’ve referred to myself as “Grammar Nazi” and “Grammar Police,” but I much prefer a recent moniker given to me by one of my talented authors: “guru goddess of editing and formatting,” which I’ve shortened to Grammar Goddess. This title implies benevolence and forgiveness, so it suits me quite well. (Stop laughing.) And it flows off the… Read More
This is the Reason Editing Your Own Work is a Bad Idea
I’d like to share writing no-nos (aka Turtle Editor Wendy’s writing pet peeves) I’ve “collected” during my years of editing and proofreading. I’ll be gentle (I hope) and no names will be mentioned. This isn’t intended to be a “roasting” session, rather, a humorous, helpful post about some things to avoid when polishing your work before sending it off to… Read More
Mind You’re Grammar – Part Deux (II)
Okay, my lovelies, it’s time for another “episode” of Mind You’re Your Grammar, from your indulgent “Grammar Nazi”! 🙂 An apostrophe does not plurality – or possessive – make. I addressed this briefly in Mind You’re Grammar, but it needs more emphasis, I think. In MOST instances, an apostrophe indicates possession or contraction: Wendy’s opinion (possession); They’ve almost arrived (contraction… Read More