Tag Archives: pedantry

Grammar and Rules and Pedantry … Oh My!

You know what’s great when you have a new book out?

So many things!

Things like:

  • Your brain saying Hey! A new book! You did it! Maybe you can even do it again!
  • Your fingers taking some time off from struggling with the work-in-kinda-sorta-progress to stroke the gorgeous linen-emboss cover with spot UV.
  • Your brain repeating the words linen-emboss cover with spot UV over and over like a mantra in a cunning attempt to avoid working on the WIKSP.
  • Other people saying Hey! A new book! You did it! Look at that gorgeous cover! And all those words!
  • You get the idea

You know what’s less great? Things like:

  • People saying Hey! A new book! When’s the next one coming out? How come you haven’t written another junior fiction? Where is the sequel to A Single Stone? How come it takes you so long? What do you actually do all day? Are you even still doing that writing thing? (Yes, these are all things that have actually been said to me by actual people.)
  • Other people saying Hey! A new book! I found a typo on page 3. And a grammatical error on page 27. And did you actually mean to repeat that phrase twice in the same paragraph?
  • You get the idea.

I’m writing this not just to grumble but because hey, I have a new book out! and hey! I have some thoughts about ‘mistakes’ and rules and pedantry, oh my.

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Yes, Misinter

I’m a recovering pedant. I try not to let my work as a copyeditor/proofreader spill over into my daily life. I know how annoying it is to have someone gleefully pointing out errors, not least because there are so many of them all around us that once you get started, there’s scarcely room for anything else. And to a certain extent, as long as the communicative intent is clear enough, what are a few stray apostrophes or typos between friends?

But yesterday I broke my rule. Yesterday, I found myself compelled to send an email that began “I’m sorry to be a pedant, but this seems like the sort of thing you would want to know.”

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