Beyond Proofreading and Writing Help: Life Edits for 2010

It may seem like I’m obsessed with proofreading, but I see opportunities to edit everywhere. Any choice that you make can potentially edit a bad habit—revising and improving it.

We can edit what we say or think. Stress and anxiety always seem to be at the top of the list of things we need to edit out of our lives. What about priorities? What priorities do you need to reevaluate?

Let’s not forget selective memories: editing out what we don’t want to think about. For some, what we “don’t want to think about” may be making those sometimes difficult changes that are necessary to better our lifestyles. However, every 365 days, at the turn of the New Year, people tend to get enthusiastic about starting a new chapter.

Here are three simple life edits to put you on the right track for twenty ten (and, if nothing else, make you jazzed about the fact that you now have the option of succinctly writing out the year in words).

Multi-tasking
Living in the hectic, busy, fast-paced 21st century world is getting a bit old. When the masses can respond to three emails at once on their iPhones, while inhaling a double latte on a conference call via headset and participating in a Skype chat, the skill of multi-tasking loses its luster. Big whoop, you can do more than one thing at once.

You are less likely to make mistakes when you focus on one event at a time. Take the most important activity that you do and give it your undivided attention. If you’re writing, facilitate the process by turning off your phone and text message alerts. If you’re proofreading a document, close out your email client or TweetDeck. You can catch up on your Twitter timeline when you’re doing something less important.

Timing
The theory of relativity couldn’t be more pervasive. When we’re doing something that we enjoy, time goes by quickly. When we’re struggling to get through an unpleasant task, time crawls. For me, my appetite is never as strong as when I have to do something less than appealing. “I’ll just have a quick snack for 10 more minutes,” I tell myself.

Although this is an avoidance technique, something can be learned from the idea that we tend to monitor time more when we want it to go by quickly. Don’t get so caught up in your work that you forget to take breaks to eat or remind your circulation that blood should flow to your legs as well. It’s great that you are passionate about what you are doing, but to keep your stamina for the long haul, it’s important to take breaks. Remind yourself that you’re a person outside of your work. Set alarms so that you don’t have to monitor the clock and then take a few minutes to do something for yourself—whether it’s taking a walk, stretching, or catching up on your favorite blog. Work is something that you do, but ultimately, you are in control of your days.

Trust
Trusting in your own nature and abilities is the key to overcoming anxiety. The simple idea of trust will make you more productive. Worrying about a task or fearing a meeting or encounter won’t change how the actual event plays out.

Trust that you know how to handle a situation. Trust that you know the best decision for you. Learn to let go of over-thinking and second-guessing. It’s okay if things don’t go exactly as planned on the first try. There’s always another chance to rise to the challenge.

Life is about editing. If your life began as a polished, final draft and you knew all the answers right away, it wouldn’t be a journey.

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours to eliminate reputation-crushing mistakes from your writing. She's a professional proofreader and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Connect with Stefanie on Twitter.

Don’t You Just Hate Words?

I hate words.

Nothing complicates your ideas more than words. However, most writers love words. Go figure.

I don’t necessarily mean that an article’s word count is problematic. How many words it takes you to express and support your points is circumstantial. Just don’t get carried away with words that hinder, rather than enhance, your thoughts.

For example, the passive voice is often considered taboo. But I just used it anyway. In the exemplary first sentence of this paragraph “is often considered taboo” is the passive voice.

In this case I used the word “considered” to emphasize that it’s not the way something “is” but how it “is thought of/considered.” Here, the passive voice helped me explain what I wanted to say in more detail. I did not want to claim that the passive voice “is” actually taboo. I wanted to express that it is commonly considered taboo.

While there are instances where the passive voice is appropriate, the following is a case where the passive voice is unnecessary—adding excessive words to your text:

Above, I just wrote, “I used the word ‘considered.’”

The passive voice-version of this phrase states, “I was using the word ‘considered.’”

There’s no difference in meaning in these two sentences—neither makes my point more clear—but the later has one extra word.

Here is another example from my own writing that illustrates the insertion of useless words:

I wrote, “I wanted to express that it is commonly considered taboo.”

The first draft of this sentence may have read, “I wanted to express that it is commonly considered to be taboo.”

Two extra words. No additional description.

Unwarranted words throughout your text complicate your sentence structure without adding any value to your writing.

Do you know what I hate more than words, “wordy” grammar phrases like “passive voice”? (Since phrases are compound words, I guess this gripe relates to my first complaint.)

The advice “avoid the passive voice” is a little vague, so let me break it down for you.

The passive voice consists of multiple verbs.

Combining verbs to form the passive voice describe the process of an action. The past tense of a verb describes an action that happened. The present tense of a verb describes the action as it happens.

When proofreading your text, your verb tense should be consistent.

1. Examine your content to see if you switch to the passive voice.

2. If so, decide if you need to emphasize the action or the process of the action.

3. If you use the passive voice in a sentence where describing the process of an action is no more descriptive than the action itself, get rid of the superfluous verb.

4. The passive voice may be changed to past or present tense.

Here are two more examples of a redundant passive voice.

Passive Voice (Present Tense): Jerry walks into the concert hall where Sally is singing.

Present Tense: Jerry walks into the concert hall where Sally sings.

Passive Voice (Past Tense): Jerry walked behind the stage at the concert hall where Sally was taking a break from singing.

Past Tense: Jerry walked behind the stage at the concert hall where Sally took a break from singing.

I shouldn’t have such negative feelings towards words. Sometimes they just need to be put in their place.

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours to eliminate reputation-crushing mistakes from your writing. She's a professional proofreader and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Connect with Stefanie on Twitter.

Punctuation: A Different Kind of Symbolism

Punctuation matters. Period.

Your profound representation of a snowflake resting upon a marigold and crimson fall leaf won’t matter if your sentence structure is not clear. The reader isn’t going to enjoy your brilliant allegory if she can’t follow what you’re saying.

Proper punctuation guides the reader through your story. Here are punctuation tips to help ensure that your writing, at a basic level, is straightforward.

Commas

“To be, or not to be,” might have been the question for Hamlet, but “to put a comma before the word ‘and,’ or to not put a comma before the word ‘and,’” is the question for a lot of writers.

Use a comma before the word “and” if you are linking two separate clauses:

“At the grocery store, I went to the produce section to get grapes, and Jane went to the dairy section to get cheese.”

Use a comma before the word “and” if the word “and” precedes the last item on a list:

“While in the produce section, I picked up grapes, bananas, apples, and oranges.”

Quotation Marks

Quotation marks often mingle with other types of punctuation, namely commas, periods, colons, question marks, and exclamation points. Punctuation can be very incestuous.

For direct quotes:

Quotation marks go outside of periods and commas.

Quotation marks go inside of semicolons and colons.

If a question mark or exclamation point is part of the quotation, then quotation marks go outside of the mark.

If a question mark or exclamation point applies to the entire sentence, then quotation marks go inside the mark.

Just because you prefer a double shot of espresso in your morning latte doesn’t mean that double quotation marks are always appropriate in your writing. Meet the “quote within a quote.”

To separate a distinct piece of information within double quotation marks, use single quotation marks:

John proclaimed, “I was so overtired and delirious that I thought my dog actually said to me, ‘John, you really should get some rest.’”

Parentheses

Parentheses, like quotation marks, are a basic form of punctuation, but become confusing when mixed with other marks.

If a phrase in parentheses is only part of a sentence, put other punctuation outside of the parentheses.

If an entire sentence is in parentheses, punctuation should be inside of the parentheses.

Apostrophes

An apostrophe + the letter “s” expresses possession. This formula can also sometimes make a word plural. There’s no real method to this madness, and there are a number of possessive pronouns that do not contain apostrophes, as well.

For example, “its” is a possessive pronoun used to describe that something is a characteristic of “it.” The word “it’s” is a contraction of the words “it” and “is.”

To simplify all of this nonsense, follow these rules for the letter “s,” in regard to plural and possessive forms of words.

‘s:

To make singular nouns possessive: the bus’s seating arrangement

To make proper nouns ending in “z,” “ce” or ‘x” possessive: Leibniz’s Monadology

‘ (Apostrophe Only):

To make plural nouns possessive: the boys’ toy trucks

To make singular proper names possessive: Descartes’ philosophy

To make single letters plural: Cross your t’s and dot your i’s.

s:

To make numbers plural: 1980s, ‘80s

Dashes

All dashes are not created equal. There are specific circumstances for each type of dash.

hyphen: -

en-dash: –

em-dash: —

Use a hyphen (the key next to the number “0” on your keyboard) to create compound words: time-consuming activity

Use an en-dash (PC: Alt + 0150, Mac: Option + Hyphen) to indicate range or to break a word and continue it on the next line: 7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

Use an em-dash (PC: Alt + 0151, Mac: Shift + Option + Hyphen) to indicate a break in sentence structure. Do not put spaces on either side of the em-dash: The words “compliment” and “complement” are essentially spelled the same way—there is only one letter that is different.

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours to eliminate reputation-crushing mistakes from your writing. She's a professional proofreader and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Connect with Stefanie on Twitter.

Become a Better Proofreader in 3 Steps

The main difficulty in proofreading your own text is simple: you have trouble recognizing your own typos, grammar mistakes, and inaccuracies. You know what you want to say; it’s just not always communicated in your writing.

When you act as your own proofreader, you may often overlook mistakes because your eye doesn’t recognize them as mistakes. You may even finish reading a sentence without actually reading the words on the page—the sentence already sounds correct in your mind since you know the meaning it is supposed to convey.

Here are three proofreading practices that will help train your eye to catch more of your own errors.

1. Find Your Proofreader Alter Ego. The Batman to your Bruce Wayne, the Superman to your Clark Kent. You need to look at your text as though you were not the person who wrote it, but someone with a superior eye for detail who does not know what you intended to write.

After you are done with your first draft, take a break from writing and reading. Spend time doing different activities before you edit your text. It’s important to plan a break and go back to your text at a later time, rather than writing and editing in one sitting.

2. Compare and Contrast. Inconsistencies occur in fiction and nonfiction. They make your text look sloppy and are often a matter of style, rather than grammar. What superpowers should your alter ego possess to combat inconsistencies, you may ask? To start: memory.

Make mental notes of specific terms as you review your text. For example, the term “copy editing” is also often spelled “copyediting,” or “copy-editing;” “proofreader” may be written “proof reader.” Is there a character named “Ann” in your novel? Make sure the proper name is not sometimes spelled “Ann,” and other times “Anne.” Are you writing about Walmart? Do you refer to the company as “Walmart,” “WalMart,” and “Wal-Mart?” Pick one style and make sure that you use it consistently.

A similar genre of errors includes typos that are properly spelled words (and therefore not caught when you use spell-check), but are not actually the words that you intend to use. You could type “over” instead of “oven,” “of” instead of “off,” “peer” instead of “pier,” etc. The possibilities are endless. A thorough proofreading will eliminate these flaws.

3. Say What? Read your text out loud, paying attention to each word. It’s equally important to pay attention to punctuation. Your proofreader alter ego also comes in handy here. Enunciate the words and pause for punctuation as someone who has never read the text before. Is it clear?

This technique may identify sentence fragments, run-on sentences, and other abridged or convoluted thoughts. When a sentence is weak, and does not express the proper message, it is usually either incomplete or contains too many ideas for one single sentence.

To dissect your writing, pay attention to the sounds of words joined together to make up a sentence. Do the words flow naturally, or have you read for five minutes without taking a breath? Once you break it down, you’ll spot the areas that need improvement.

If you still need professional proofreading services, I’ve got my proofreader alter ego down. I’m Revision Fairy.

About the Author: Stefanie Flaxman corrects business, marketing, and educational documents in 24 hours to eliminate reputation-crushing mistakes from your writing. She's a professional proofreader and the founder of Revision Fairy® Small Business Proofreading Services. Connect with Stefanie on Twitter.