That bug's/bugs'/bugs me!

While there are many other kinds of errors to be found during editing, one that can be particularly hard to find is the errant apostrophe.  It's so easy to skim right over its misuse.

And it's so easy to not realize that its (oops -- it's) missing:

* diggin in the dirt --> diggin'

* mendin the fence --> mendin'

* wishin' this punctuation lesson would end.

But there are other occasions where this popular punctuation mark gets abused.  For example, until is often shortened.  It appears that the alternative till is correct -- it is a version of the word until, though I always think of till as "plow the soil."

Then there is 'til, the abbreviated version of until.

But I've seen other variations that really bug me:

• til (no apostrophe in front -- punctuation police please take notice)

• 'till (mmm....curious)

•  and til' (someone knew it needed an apostrophe -- just didn't know where to put it).

Well, back to my editing, looking for those errant apostrophes.

Don

Trilobite fossil (2.5-inch Flexicalymene meeki) from Kentucky: a big "bug"

Who Wrote That?

Sedona, AZ

I'm busily editing and revising the draft of book #7 in the Nathan Hale Parker series.  In the process, I often find sentences that raise the question, "Who wrote THAT?!!"

The sentences are grammatically correct, every word is spelled correctly, and they fit with the story line.  But I couldn't possibly have written THAT!  And certainly not THAT way!

Did autocorrect do it?  Or some virus?  Probably.  I'm sure that as soon as I close the document for the day, something invades my manuscript, randomly rewriting entire sections.

Well......perhaps not.  Perhaps I am actually guilty of creating that awkward phrase, or choosing that questionable wording.  So, I dutifully re-write the phrase, the sentence, the paragraph, the page, or maybe even the entire chapter.  When that still doesn't feel right, start over.

For me, this is the YUCKY part of writing.

But eventually, it begins to feel better.  Yet I know that once this "heavy" editing phase is done, there's still another round (and another, and....).  When it's over, hopefully, all of the THATs infesting the flow of the story will be gone.  I can dream, can't I?

It would certainly help if there were radar or sonar or "wordar" that went BZZZZZT! and boldly pointed to each and every one of the THATs.  And let's add yellow highlights with bold pop-up windows that scream FIX THAT!!!!

But, nope.

To the best of my knowledge, the current state of the art in computer word-processing technology does not encompass an application that can automatically discover, or recommend corrections to, the phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and chapters of a manuscript that might, in the opinion of the reader of the manuscript, be considered inappropriate, politically incorrect, awkward, or similarly deficient in quality.

Wait a minute!!  Who wrote THAT?!!

Don 

How Much Would/Wood....

A lot of wood is being chucked in Ohio and surrounding states.  Because the emerald ash borer is wiping out huge stands of native ash trees. 

Gazing at a forest, I find it easy to pick out the dead ash: their leaf-less skeleton limbs dot the horizon.  If only typos in a manuscript were as easy to spot as those ash borer victims poking up through the forest canopy.

But, alas, typos tend to be more elusive: that stray comma, the missing quotation mark, an extra space between words, or the wrong there/their/they're. Ware/wear/where are they hiding?  Finding all of them is sometimes just to/two/too much to bare/bear. 

Digressing a bit, let's look on the positive side of disappearing ash trees.  We did see more woodpeckers in the yard: they apparently developed an appetite for ash borers, though perhaps too late to save the species.  There are fewer leaves to rake in the fall.  And all the dead trees have been a boon to the tree-trimming and firewood industries.  Mounds of wood are being chucked and stacked for winter heating, such as the huge piles created from the 23 trees that were cut out of the neighbor's yard.

So, before the winter would/wood-burning frenzy begins, whose/who's going to clean out the fireplace flew/flu/flue?

Don

KISS

Keep It Simple, Stupid!

That phrase, according to Wikipedia, was a design principle used by the U.S. Navy in 1960.  It seems applicable also to book editing.

Wait a minute!  One of my previous blog posts was about book editing, and here is that same topic again.  Boring!

Maybe, a little.  But KISS is something that I need to keep in mind while editing my own writing.  Keep it simple.  I'm learning.

I'd also like to share a few simple quotes from other writers on the topic of editing.  These came from (where else?) the Internet.  (If it's on the Internet, it must be true.)  Here are the quotes:

“You should edit before and after editing.”
-- Dwayne Fry

“There is no great writing, only great rewriting.”
-- Justice Louis Brandeis

“It was a miracle to me, this transformation of my acorns into an oak.”
-- Betsy Lerner

“Only the writers can change or fix the past by going back to edit old works.”
-- Munia Kahn

“Remove the comma, replace the comma, remove the comma, replace the comma...”
-- R. D. Ronald

So, inspired by these wise writers, I must go back to the manuscript I'm drafting and replace (or is it remove?) that comma -- again.

Don

PS:  On the topic of "acorns into an oak", I do have a brief story.  Was recently in Michigan in an area that is packed with giant oak trees.  One night, a 30-mph wind came off Lake Michigan.  The acorns fell like hail.  The noise, as they pummeled the metal roof, was like machine gun fire.  Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!Bam!  I don't know if any of them will become oaks, but the chipmunks love 'em.

Black Walnuts and Book Editing

These two topics are connected -- really.  Please read onward.

My front yard has several tall native trees (black walnuts and osage oranges) that produce bumper crops of unpalatable fruit.  So in the fall, I spend many many hours picking up these botanical rejects from the lawn.  Billions of black walnuts (golf ball to baseball-sized green orbs) and a few lumpy brain-like green osage oranges (softball-sized spheres).  Yesterday morning, I took twelve wheelbarrow loads of walnuts to the woods behind the house -- picnic time for the squirrels.

While doing this mindless task, my brain can focus on earth-shaking topics, such as, "What was the name of that movie I watched last night?"  Or, "Did I put the milk back in the refrigerator?"  Or, "Why don't my socks match this morning?"

I also think a lot about book editing.  Some edit ideas pop into my head.  So I dig a small spiral notebook and pen out of my pocket to jot them down, and remind myself that I really need to do more and more and more editing, to make my novels more irresistible.  I'm relatively new at creative-writing -- I'm learning.

But I digress from the important topic: black walnuts.

When I finally finish picking them all up and dumping them out of sight, I get the reward:  the sight of a clean yard.  Yay!!

Thump!

Dang, another walnut just fell.  OK, I'll pick it up.

Thump!  Thump!

Only two more.  No big deal.

Thump!Thump!Thump!Thump!Thump!

They're everywhere again.  Well, at least I've never been hit by a falling black walnut.  I bet those suckers would hurt.

Ouch!

That one just hit me!  On the head!  I'm gonna sue!

Well, at least I've only been hit once by a falling osage orange.  That really hurt.

OUCH!!  

That's it.  I'm getting a hard hat and a suit of armor.

Thump!

As if the trees really care.

And the point is....?  Collecting black walnuts and book editing are never quite done.  For the latter, I hope that with enough experience, I"ll got this erditing thang write,

Don