{"id":177,"date":"2013-08-06T14:35:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-06T14:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2013\/08\/06\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing-11\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T12:22:17","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T19:22:17","slug":"tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/tactical-tuesday-advice-for-self-editing-11\/","title":{"rendered":"Tactical Tuesday: Advice for Self-Editing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\nSome
\ngrammar and punctuation issues are set in stone. A grammatically incorrect
\nsentence will be corrected by an editor. A comma will be included before a conjunction
\nwhen the conjunction separates two independent clauses.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThen
\nthere are issues that an editor might allow as style: A short prepositional
\nphrase without a comma following it, a sentence that starts with a conjunction,
\nem-dashes to emphasize a parenthetical clause. You get the picture.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThere
\nare still issues with grammar and punctuation that fall within a publisher\u2019s
\nstyle guide. What exactly is a publisher\u2019s style guide? It\u2019s a playbook for
\neditors. Some publishers do provide them to their authors so that they can edit
\ntheir manuscripts accordingly. A few items included in a style guide are: <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOK versus Okay<\/b>: In everyday writing, I
\nrefuse to use \u201cOK.\u201d I\u2019m a curmudgeon in that regard. Pelican, however, uses the
\nmore fashionable and text-worthy OK. For that reason, when I edit, I have to do
\na find and replace because I will skip right over \u201cokay\u201d without even seeing
\nthe need to change. I want to point out that neither is wrong.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nCommas:<\/b> Some publishers want strict
\ncomma usage followed (with some leeway for style); other publishers prefer to
\neliminate commas if necessary (example: a comma before a short prepositional
\nphrase).<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBlonde\/blond:<\/b> This gets very confusing.
\nYou see blond is the color, but blond also denotes a male with blond hair.
\nBlonde refers to a woman with blond hair. Publishers may ask that the correct
\nusage be followed, which would mean when you are referring to a female with
\nblond hair, you add the \u201ce.\u201d When referring to a male, you leave off the \u201ce,\u201d
\nbut when you are referring to the color of the hair (male or female), you use \u201cblond.\u201d
\nStill, some publishers prefer using \u201cblond\u201d for any mention.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSemicolons<\/b>: Pelican is very semicolon
\nfriendly, as long as they are used correctly and sparingly. Other publishers
\ntell you that there is no room in fiction for semicolons, and I completely
\ndisagree. Semicolons are beautiful marks of punctuation\u2014when used correctly.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nPronouns Used for God<\/b>: Most Christian
\npublishers require that authors capitalize pronouns for God. This sets Him apart
\nand, in my mind at least, gives God the respect He deserves. Others prefer not
\nto capitalize the pronouns.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nCapitalization of Heaven and Hell<\/b>:
\nSeems like you would capitalize these as they are proper names for locations.
\nThe Chicago Manual of Style (CMoS) ndicates that in their general term they are \u201cdwelling places, ideal
\nstates, places of divine punishment and thus they are lowercase.” However, the CMoS does state that they are \u201coften capitalized in a purely religious context.\u201d
\nChristian publishers would most likely look at these places in a \u201cpurely
\nreligious context,\u201d but the styles do differ. Some capitalize Heaven and not
\nhell. Others capitalize both, and still some capitalize neither.<\/b><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAmerican English versus Non-American
\nEnglish<\/b>: Yes, there is a different. Most noticeable it is in the use of \u201cs\u201d
\nand \u201cz.\u201d Example: realize versus realise. That usually doesn\u2019t present a
\nproblem unless you\u2019re an American publisher publishing a novel written by a
\nnon-American English author or if the publisher contracts with an American
\nEnglish author writing a book which takes place in a non-American English country
\nand the author wishes to maintain authenticity. However, there are those words
\nlike toward\/towards\/backward\/backwards\/forward\/forwards<\/b>.
\nThe \u201cs\u201d is generally added in non-American English. The American English form
\nis to eliminate the \u201cs.\u201d Some publishers want to retain the American English
\nform, but since the non-American English form has slipped into American
\nEnglish, most publishers simply ask that whatever the usage, consistency is
\nmaintained. For that reason, as an editor of a publisher who allows both forms,
\nI tend to keep to the American English form unless I am editing for a
\nnon-American English author or a book set in a non-American English country.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOther Style Issues<\/b>: the form of plurals
\n(example: Jesus\u2019 versus Jesus\u2019s), scene break symbols, chapter breaks versus
\npage breaks, etc., are all matters of style, and a publisher\u2019s style guide is
\nhelpful when deciding these issues.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWhen
\nself-editing, it is always best to follow The Chicago Manual of Style (current
\n16th edition). Editors are aware when their house prefers an
\nin-house style, and these matters are usually changed by the editor in the
\nediting process. However, returning authors can always assist their editor by requesting
\na style guide and utilizing it, especially if their work has been contracted by
\nthat house.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nHappy
\nediting.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some grammar and punctuation issues are set in stone. A grammatically incorrect sentence will be corrected by an editor. A comma will be included before a conjunction when the conjunction separates two independent clauses. Then there are issues that an editor might allow as style: A short prepositional phrase without a comma following it, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[155,67,22,136,156],"class_list":["post-177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-dialog","tag-editing","tag-editor-tips","tag-editors","tag-submission-guidelines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}