This is Why We Have Editors

by | Apr 7, 2015 | Checking in, Prose and Cons | 2 comments

why_we_have_editors

  • I use commas the way the B29 dropped bombs: let them loose to fall where they may, and hope they land where you want them.
  • I can’t spell names I invented.
  • I string together sentences longer than some short stories.

This is why we have editors.

  • I overuse ellipses like I bought them on sale in bulk.
  • I hyphenate words that should be a single word.
  • I run together words that should be hyphenated or separate.

This is why we have editors.

  • I type ‘and’ instead of ‘an’ and reverse ‘me’ and ‘my’ with no discernible pattern.
  • I put the backs of my sentences at the front.
  • I add redundant words when I’ve already made my point clear.

This is why we have editors.

Share your own in the comments, or on Twitter with the hashtag #WhyWeHaveEditors

2 Comments

  1. Brian Switzer

    For the life of me Don’t know when to use a semi-colon and when to use a hyphen. The main character in my WIP is named Will; about half the time I call him Rick. I use ‘ly’ words to describe how a character said something (she said quietly, wistfully, loudly, sadly, stupidly, tiredly…) way too much.
    Is that semi-colon above used correctly or should it have been a hyphen?

    Reply
  2. authorjsmorin

    Brian Switzer This is one of those things I bet could go any of three ways. You could leave it as is. You could switch to an em-dash (which when you get really, really technical, isn’t quite a hyphen). I think you could even just capitalize “about” and start a new sentence there. In this particular instance, how you handle it is more about style and flow than right or wrong.

    …but I’d still change it if my editor said I was wrong.

    Reply

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