grammar

Ships of the Line(edits)

March 24, 2011

Ever wondered how and when to italicize ship names in your fantasy, or spaceship names in your sci-fi? It’s easier for your reader if you adhere to real maritime style and procedure as closely as possible, unless you establish a clear and rational reason for doing otherwise. For your reference, here are some good guidelines [...]

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Belief [comma] Usage [comma] and Preference

February 7, 2011

I was asked, in response to last week’s post, if I believe in the Oxford comma. The Oxford comma, or serial comma, is the comma that sets off the “and” at the end of a list. It’s believed necessary for clarity by some, optional by others, and inefficient by yet others, and it’s one of [...]

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A Delectation of Supernatural Collective Nouns

October 4, 2010

Most writers with dark sensibilities will know that a group of crows is called a murder; many will know that a group of ravens is an unkindness. The best reference site I’ve found for collective animal groups (and a well-worn bookmark of mine) is actually this one, courtesy of the National Prairie Wildlife Research Center [...]

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Cheryl Klein on Commas (and Squids!)

June 17, 2010

Cheryl Klein doesn’t know it, but she was one of my inspirations when I decided to go into editing full-time. I was working at in the book club division at Scholastic, just a couple floors away. I don’t think we ever even met, though we exchanged email once over a typo. But the idea that [...]

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March Forth for Grammar

March 4, 2010

Every day is Grammar Day around here, but today is special. Today is National Grammar Day. We learn to hate in school, and then we learn to take it for granted out in the everyday world, but if ever there were a quiet, unsung hero that deserved a made-up holiday, grammar would be it. It [...]

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Seasonal Reprint: Grammar Vampires

November 2, 2009

A great time was had at World Fantasy Con. I met and caught up with a lot of fantastic people, and now I’m back in the office again. As a belated nod to Halloween, I’m reprinting a relevant column while I catch up on work. For your reading pleasure: Grammar Vampires. (originally posted July 31, [...]

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I and me

July 23, 2009

Why we capitalize “I” but not “me”: from the NY Times Magazine, via @grammargirl.

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Style Guides

May 7, 2009

When it comes to grammar, punctuation, and general formatting, there are a lot of gray areas that are often a matter of personal preference and experience. How are you supposed to know what to hyphenate, what to capitalize, where the punctuation belongs in dialog, and whether to use underlines or italics? Should you still use [...]

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Spelling out numbers

April 2, 2009

When do you spell out numbers and when do you leave them in numeral form? How do you know where to put the pesky hyphens? Your mileage may vary based on house style, but here are some guidelines to get you started. How to spell out numbers: – Hyphenate all numbers between twenty-one and ninety-nine, [...]

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Happy how-do-you-spell-that-again? day!

February 12, 2009

I don’t usually make two link/image posts in a row, but this time it’s for a special occasion: Valentine’s Day is this weekend. First of all, since February is Misused Apostrophe Month, let’s set the record straight: Groundhog Day doesn’t have one. Valentine’s Day is the day of St. Valentine. Presidents’ Day is the day [...]

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