Small Things Count

Okay, so they’re not actually MY books. But they’re mine to enjoy for three weeks when I borrow them from the library. There I am, deep into the story, and YOU INTERRUPT ME! You do that because you took a red and/or blue pencil and circled or underlined words you feel are misspelled or misused. The main character is cleverly explaining to the evil-doer how he got himself caught…and there you are, with your colored pencil. I’m distracted. The character’s dialog-flow is lost. And I am NOT happy.

Besides, you’re often wrong.  You don’t seem to know that there are variations on spellings, especially between American and British English. You need to brush up on your punctuation and grammar rules,too. Most of all, you need to understand that an “illegal” word or phrase may be used as a stylistic tool.

The point is, you’re not an editor. If you were, you’d be reading these books before they were published.  When you’ve spent as many years as I have as a professional editor, then we’ll talk.  Until then, keep your *&%#@!!! colored pencils to yourself!