Text can shift . . . part 2

In last week’s blog, I discussed the inevitability of human error and how mistakes in print are there for everyone to see. It’s kind of like showing up for a presentation in your underwear . . . there’s nowhere to hide. The bad (and maybe in some cases, the good) is out in the open for everyone to see. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should stop trying to alleviate errors. Don’t show up in your underwear on purpose. And don’t skip the presentation just because you’re in your underwear. (Okay, okay. I know. I’ve run wild with the underwear analogy, but...

Text can shift . . . part 1

“The perfect is the enemy of the good.” — Voltaire As a professional writer and editor, my work is out in the open for everyone to see. Either in print or online, my job is to create content for others to read. And though I strive for perfection in everything I produce, I am far from perfect . . . and the mistakes I make are out in the open for all to see. As a writer, I accept this. But the kick in the head is that no matter how hard I try  — proofreading backward and forward, fact checking, checking sources, etc — simple, preventable errors still...

A cumulation

I (like many other word nerds) love to collect quotes about the power of words. We revel in the fact that the pen in mightier than the sword. That when words are scarce they are seldom spent in vain. And, even that one great use of words is to hide our thoughts. My favorite “power of words” quote comes from the didactic Nathaniel Hawthorne. He once wrote “Words — so innocent and powerless as they are, as standing in a dictionary, how potent for good and evil they become in the hands of one who knows how to combine them.” Those of us who make a living “combining...

An interlude

Writing skills waning. Editing overload imminent. An...

Thermostat wars

A common complaint in the workplace, aside from the usual bickering and office gossip, is about the temperature. You’re cold, so you bump the heat up slightly. Five minutes later, someone turns the heat down. Round one in the thermostat wars . . . If you complain about being cold, and you are a woman and not overweight, invariably you will hear “You need to eat. Put some meat on those bones and then you won’t be cold.” (Not sure what people say to overweight women or men who complain of being cold.) Statements like this are not particularly helpful, and they may...