Tag: editing

Posted in Writing craft, punctuation, editing

Ode to the “Em Dash”

Posted on by Patricia J. Parsons

I’m working on the second draft of my newest novel. I love working on second drafts almost as much as writing the first draft. (The less said about how much I love working on the subsequent ones, the better.) As I edit, I’m struck by a detail that should never have become a problem. It is a punctuation mark.

I’m not sure when I first discovered that I had a favourite punctuation mark. However, it was a revelation when em dashes began appearing in my writing decades ago, if I recall correctly.

Most people aren’t aware, but the em dash first appeared in the fifteenth century as a mark indicating the width of the letter “M.” It was, in fact, not even an invention created by grammarians to assist us in expressing our precise meaning, as most punctuation does. Rather, a printer gave us this handy little mark, which lets us replace parentheses, commas and colons. In my view, it also gives the sentence a different feel and, therefore, a different meaning.

I even did a YouTube video on this handy, well-loved little mark back in 2022 (when I still did that kind of thing), giving tips on my personal favourite punctuation marks. FYI, I’ve added it at the bottom in case you’re into these things.

So, you can imagine my horror at discovering that the em dash is now one of the ways editors and readers think they can spot writing created by artificial intelligence. How utterly simplistic. This horrific discovery then sent me on a mad chase to find my em dashes in my second drafts. I examine where I have used them and try to figure out whether parentheses or commas would be better. In almost every case, they would not. So, I’ve succumbed, like so many other writers these days, to incorporating the dreaded sentence fragment. Probably even worse. If you get my meaning.

Then, common sense dawns. I step back and realize that if anyone thinks any piece of writing wasn’t created by a human just because there are em dashes, then I believe we have a serious literacy problem. If, on the other hand, you love a story that also might have the odd em dash, used correctly, effectively and by design, then read it and love it.

I am not apologizing for my em dashes. I love them. 

Posted in Writing, Writing craft

Proofreading: 5 tips to improve the thing you hate the most

Posted on by Patricia J. Parsons

Maybe you’re one, but I don’t know a single writer who enjoys proofreading their work. It’s that absolute final step that comes hot on the heels of copyediting but is even pickier. And it’s so crucial to the final product.

What is it about proofreading that we all dislike so much? For me, it’ soften because it means that I can’t be writing somethgin new―exercising my imagination. It is true that proofreading isn’t all that creative, don’t you agree? Still, we have to do it.

Some writing gurus seem to think that we shouldn’t even try to edit our own work. While I agree that we do develop blinders, often failing to see a whole swath of errors that look right to us, I still think we have to do much of it ourselves. Of course, when it comes to a project like a book, you’ll need a final copyeditor and proofreader in the end. But what about all that other stuff you write? Book blurbs, your bio, your blog posts, query letters? You need to copyedit them yourself.

There’s hardly a news story, magazine article, blog post (!) or book these days that doesn’t bear at least one typo or punctuation error, and don’t we all hate them when we see them―especially in our own work. So, before you can send anything out to editors or readers, proofreading isn’t an option. And there are a few tips and tricks to make yours better (and maybe even easier) that I’ve learned over my thirty-plus years of writing.

So, proofreading is important no matter whether you write books, business reports, advertising copy, social media content, or magazine stories.

If you have five minutes, I have five tips that might help to improve your proofreading.

Posted in Writing craft, Writing Nonfiction

5 Tips for Tightening Your Writing

Posted on by Patricia J. Parsons

Seventeenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal once wrote the following:

“I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time.”

Clearly, he had an innate sense that tight writing takes time―and is preferable in many ways. The concept of “writing tightly” is one that all writers have to come to terms with at some point in a writing career. The reason this is so important is simple: tight writing is more likely to be published.

When an editor tells you that you need to tighten your writing, what does that mean? If you think it means to trim your narrative of all unnecessary words and phrases, then you’d be right.

Tight writing is important because it compels the reader through your copy, whether it’s your book, feature article, blog post, or advertising copy. Loose, wordy writing slows the forward motion of the story and bores readers.

In this week’s video, I explain my five tips.

Tips summarized:

  1. Use fewer prepositional phrases.
  2. Eliminate filler words.
  3. Use strong stand-alone words instead of weak words padded by adverbs.
  4. Remove redundancies.
  5. Read everything you write out loud and listen to it carefully.

Some extra resources for you:

Common Redundancies in the English Language.  https://www.thoughtco.com/common-redundancies-in-english-1692776

Linda Alley. Why Tight Writing is Not Just for Journalists. https://medium.com/@linda_44105/why-tight-writing-is-not-just-for-journalists-bd037d907447