Monday, April 11, 2011

KopiE , edDitting;

This past Saturday held the first sun Portlanders had seen in months.  My neighborhood kids rode their bikes up and down the street; friends walked around Glendoveer Golf Course; families flocked to the park with their picnic baskets and game equipment.  And where was I?  I was indoors the entire day editing a friend’s manuscript.  Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed every minute of it.  Frolicking in the sunshine with friends would have been fun as well, but I gladly accepted the confidence boosting job.

Now here is where my horrendous insecurities come in and start to attack.  If I admit I did some editing then any dangling participle, misplaced comma, split infinitive or redundant redundancy that slips into my blog will, once again, show my inadequacies.  But I have finally arrived at a place in life where I am okay with that.  It has taken quite a while but, Hallelujah, I’m here.

Everyone needs help from time to time.  And when I needed editing assistance, I turned to Grammar Girl.  She was very pleasant and extremely knowledgeable.  Also encouraging me on my journey were the friendly folks at Purdue OWL.  They couldn’t have been nicer.  I just showed up at these websites, ignorance in hand, and clicked away.  All that advice was free and at my fingertips. 

So maybe it took me twice as long to finish the job than a more experienced editor, but I did it.  And I hope for similar opportunities in the future.  Soe; if ewe no enywon out they’re, that needz help with eddittting: half them gave me a kall.

Question: What is your biggest grammar faux pas? 

3 comments:

wendy said...

Well, this one time, I had something wrong in my about me section, and this really nice friend of mine brought it to my attention, so I promtply fixed it, and I am ever so grateful that she told me about it so I could take care of the problem. The end.

PS - I didn't know that you were so into the writing process. Although I should've because you wrote that book and all.

wendy said...

uh, that would be "promptly."

Dana said...

I know you would do the same for me. :)