tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post6997878003103719244..comments2024-03-29T05:45:39.184-06:00Comments on Blood-Red Pencil: Beyond Grammar, Spelling and PunctuationDanihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-69793042374261291922012-12-28T18:49:53.966-07:002012-12-28T18:49:53.966-07:00"Just" is one I tend to overuse, too, al..."Just" is one I tend to overuse, too, along with "really".Elle Carter Nealhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02266309723919011181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-17118490230792098592012-12-28T14:41:42.449-07:002012-12-28T14:41:42.449-07:00Velda, Thanks for the reminders. The taking out of...Velda, Thanks for the reminders. The taking out of "just" mentioned in # 2 is my personal bugaboo. I just can't seem to get away from using it liberally. And it's not as if I'm not aware of them once they're piled up—on my proofreads they just jump out at me for deletion. It's just on those first go arounds, I can't seem to avoid inserting them. :-) Alisonalisonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17481879917467051418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-53975336266831556572008-09-12T19:19:00.000-06:002008-09-12T19:19:00.000-06:00Good points. Thanks for sharing them. I would say ...Good points. Thanks for sharing them. I would say more, but others before me have said it all so well. Plus, I am exhausted. :-)Maryannwriteshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09479027709233807149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-39367341602226816402008-09-12T16:31:00.000-06:002008-09-12T16:31:00.000-06:00Velda, what many people don't realize in journalis...Velda, what many people don't realize in journalism is that "styles" change all the time. I was just talking to my good friend from high school who has been a journalist for many years, and it drove her crazy how each publisher had a different idea of what "their" newspaper would look like. Language is fluid and changes, more quickly now in the modern day than ever before. And commas.... whoa! They are all over the place or not at all. One has to learn to roll with it. You definitely can't be an old stick-in-the-mud when it comes to the written word, and nitpick everything to death. The basics will hold the essay up well enough. The point is for the communication to be sharp, and sometimes proper language can dull the edge. You'll see a fine example of that in our header description today. ;)<BR/><BR/>I was thinking of adding some quotation marks (or italics in the new habit) to a couple of your words. Just for clarity. You think?<BR/><BR/>DaniDanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-85417814190847179212008-09-12T14:40:00.000-06:002008-09-12T14:40:00.000-06:00Good tips. Here's another: Print out Velda's list,...Good tips. <BR/><BR/>Here's another: Print out Velda's list, hang it above your editing table and refer to it often.Helen Gingerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09794759602654727110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-68303935762999307762008-09-12T12:44:00.000-06:002008-09-12T12:44:00.000-06:00Velda makes a habit of sending a page of commas to...Velda makes a habit of sending a page of commas to her editor, not having an education in English, but rather learning in the school of hard knocks. <BR/><BR/>My editors never seem to mind. In our critique group we have a woman we call "comma Momma." She helps a lot. In the newspaper business we leave out a lot of commas to save that one space. Guess it may be a bad habit. Or, wait, maybe I put in too many. Gosh!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-43873196754309905622008-09-12T11:12:00.000-06:002008-09-12T11:12:00.000-06:00Okay, quick! Who can find Velda's punctuation mis...Okay, quick! Who can find Velda's punctuation mistakes? LOL.<BR/><BR/><BR/>That being said, the essay is full of good advice.<BR/><BR/>Simply put, I'm feeling like a bit of a brat today. Must be the weather. ;)<BR/><BR/>Hugs and kisses,<BR/><BR/>DaniDanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14471919576687777886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-17555560544663577042008-09-12T06:52:00.000-06:002008-09-12T06:52:00.000-06:00Good advice, Velda. Many writers tend to repeat wo...Good advice, Velda. Many writers tend to repeat words, phrases, and sentence structure. For example, on one blog I read fairly often, I don't think I've ever read a post that didn't have "that being said" and "simply put" somewhere in the post. I make a game of seeing how many times the blogger will use those two phrases. The blog has good information but repetition of those two phrases becomes very annoying. That kind of repetition in a book-length manuscript is even worse.Lillie Ammannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01851121176224654240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5704943052235281766.post-7760287216714600662008-09-12T06:42:00.000-06:002008-09-12T06:42:00.000-06:00Lots of things for a novice writer to remember. Go...Lots of things for a novice writer to remember. Good idea to print out this list because everything mentioned is important.<BR/><BR/>Morgan Mandel<BR/>www.morganmandel.com<BR/>http://morganmandel.blogspot.com<BR/>http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.comMorgan Mandelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10118929301591850918noreply@blogger.com