Another think coming vs. another thing coming

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

This is one that bothers me when I see or hear it wrong because the original is so sly and humorous, and the "correction" is so dull.

This is the phrase in use:

"If he thinks he's going to get out of paying for that llama, he's got another think coming!"

Too often lately I see it instead as "If he thinks … he's got another thing coming."

Lauren's link love: Making a living as a writer, editing Hemingway-style, & the good of Amazon

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

<3 this: How I Make a Living as a Writer (and You Can, Too) by @jaltucher https://t.co/8agyxAXaio (Hint: It involves a LOT of #writing.)

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 27, 2016

Need an editing app? So did Hemingway, apparently.

Hemingway Takes the Hemingway Test - will he pass? https://t.co/k5O9LyFtc5 #editing #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 26, 2016

How to Edit Your Book in 4 Steps by Mike Nappa at @WritersDigest https://t.co/HgL9egfIG3 #editing #writing

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) February 28, 2016

Lauren's link love: Editing tools, author publicity, & crafting a book

Links to share, collected at @LaurenWaynecom on Twitter:

5 Ways to Use #Instagram as an Author | Jane Friedman #writing https://t.co/W3OsTNpeHH

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) January 25, 2016

#Writing is as hard as breaking rocks. Sparks and splinters fly like shattered steel. Clarice Lispector #amwriting pic.twitter.com/pX2yIvxqx5

— The UnNovelist (@TheUnNovelist) January 27, 2016

7 Web tools that check for empathy, inclusivity and more https://t.co/HMUnAIf6hV

— Lauren Wayne (@LaurenWaynecom) January 28, 2016

Make do vs. make due & Without further ado vs. further adieu

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

This is one of those times when people try to make things harder than they are. We have certain words in our language that are just so plain that apparently they beg for spicing up.

The phrase "make do" means to manage with what you've got. You don't have to add a fancy "due" to make do with the original.

"Due" is mainly used to indicate that something is owed, which doesn't make sense in this construction.

Sunday Surf: Where's the money in publishing?

Links to share, from Writing Tidbits:

The 7k Report – Author Earnings

What authors are really earning self-publishing vs. traditional publishing, and what’s right for you. Hint: Self-publishing’s earning more for everyone. Really interesting results!

1 WEEK AGO

Finances self-publishing traditional publishing

money (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)

An Open Letter to Journalists and Brands About Blogger Compensation | IFB

If you’re doing the work, you deserve to be paid. Tips for bloggers working with brands.

1 MONTH AGO -  2

blogging Finances monetizing 2 notes

Haters and Critics: How to Deal with People Judging You and Your Work - James Clear

How to focus on the positive and respond to the negativity.

1 MONTH AGO

writing criticism blogging reviews comments negative comments

On Professional Editing and Why I Charge My Friends For Advice

So I only work with highly successful highly motivated writers and I expect great things from them. You can’t hire me if you are only dabbling or if you want someone to tell you how great you are. You can only hire me if you are willing to succeed. And you can only hire me if you are going to be so successful that you make back my ridiculously high hourly fees and then some.

1 MONTH AGO

writing editing

National Novel Progress Month: Join me in making progress!

I don't know about you, but I could use another National Novel Progress Month.

I've decided once again to skip National Novel Writing Month, though I'm a huge fan and would love to encourage you if you're participating — as well as National Blog Post Month — since what I need right now is not more writing but more finishing, if you know what I mean.

Last time I hosted NaNoProgMo with the lovely Teresa from Spirit Grooves, but she's busy with holiday sales, so for this month, we're going to keep it low key and my husband, Sam, is hosting it with me. I mean, he's not blogging or anything (unless he wants to guest post), but … I dunno, we're just both doing NaNoProgMo, so that totally counts as a co-host. Tree and I would like to host an all-out ProgMo in January, so hang on to that if these next two months are not your style.

We started NaNoProgMo to support writers who need to finish, edit, research, polish, or publish a novel. I'm also totally happy to embrace writers who are working on non-fiction books, ebooks, articles, or blogging. If you need to make some writing or editing progress this month, come along!

I'd like to offer you some support as you work on your writing in November, in whatever form it takes!

Jive vs. jibe

Thumbs Up!

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

I don't know why, but this is one of those word distinctions I relish knowing and wish more people did. Maybe it's that both words are so fun to say.

"Jibe" sounds made up, right? The reality is that "jive" is a much newer word.

If you want to say that something sounds about right, or that something resonates with you, which one do you use?

Forward vs. foreword

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

Vorwort = a strong sign that English is a Germanic language!

This one should be short and simple. I'd think it wasn't even necessary, except that I just picked up a published book with the wrong term used. (Oh, I know — mistakes in books wouldn't normally horrify me, but this one seemed egregious given that one of the options is a book-specific term.)

"Forward" is the descriptive word we all know and love meaning in or toward the front. (It has lesser meanings that are more metaphorically inclined, such as "precocious" and "brash.")

"Foreword" is a noun referring to a front introductory section in a book, usually written by someone other than the author, who presents and endorses the author and the premise.

Loose vs. lose

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

If your gate is loose, you might lose your dog.
Ah, the two-Oed monster. It's so tempting for internet commenters everywhere to write loose no matter which word they mean. It must just be fun to type those double Os.

"Loose" is pronounced with a short S sound, the kind that sounds like a hiss. As in "sound" and "hiss," in fact.

"Lose" is pronounced with the Z sound that S can make, as in the second S in "sounds."

Once you can remember how each is pronounced, you probably can figure out which one you want at a given moment. "Loose" is usually an adjective or adverb, describing something that's unfixed or unbound. (It can also be used as a verb, meaning "to set loose.") To "lose" is always a verb, meaning to forsake or misplace something.

Flack vs. flak

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

The one on the left is some serious German artillery, and the one on the right is a publicist.
Catch the difference?

I hope I don't catch a lot of flak for saying that "flak" is the appropriate spelling for an attack or opposition, and "flack" is a person who specializes in publicity.

Hard to imagine they'd get confused, then, but I think English speakers don't like the odd c-less spelling of flak. That makes sense, because "flak" is German, and unusual German at that. It's an abbreviation of Fliegerabwehrkanone (anti-aircraft guns), so it was adopted into English from WWII, and became metaphorical sometime thereafter. For another literal use, think "flak jacket."

Throws vs. throes

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

If you're enduring something, you're in the throes of it. If you've got a ball or a horseshoe, you can practice your throws.

They're pronounced the same, but one's spelled so much more interestingly.

Welch vs. welsh

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

Ok, I'm going to enlighten you as to the correct phrase for accusing someone of skipping on a bet, and then we all have to agree not to use it.

The fact is, both "welch" and "welsh" as verbs have a similarly long history, but etymologies track both back to suspecting residents of Wales of being cheaters.

According to the OED, the term "welsher" was being published at least as early as the 1850s in racing parlance, and welsh and welch developed from there, not long after. If I had to choose, I'd say "welsh on a bet" is the more accurate form (as opposed to "welch on a bet"), if by accurate we're not referring to how well it describes the actual Welsh.

I love that the OED and Merriam-Webster label this use "sometimes considered offensive." I guess whether you consider it offensive depends (a) whether you know what it means (I'm sure a lot of Americans assume it has something to do with grape juice) and (b) whether you're Welsh. I remember when I first learned it was "welsh" and not "welch" that I thought, "Well, that can't be right. Because isn't that saying people from Wales are all cheaters? … Ohhh."

Cardshark vs. cardsharp

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

This is one that people like to fight me on, but it's cardsharp. I don't doubt that enough people use cardshark now that it will become just as acceptable sooner or later. (Language is ever evolving, and it's a very democratic process.)

Sharp and shark as negative nouns actually probably both stem from the same root, sharker. Certainly the idea of a metaphorical shark being one who preys on others (witness loan shark and lawyer jokes) is well established. But sharp is more defined as an expert and/or a cheat, both of which relate more narrowly to card games.

Pawn off vs. palm off

The copy editor is in.
I'm presenting occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

If you're trying to hand off an unpleasant task or an unwanted object, you're palming it off. ("I'm trying to palm off the lawn mowing onto my little brother.") I imagine it as referring to a sneaky roadside magician, or maybe a pickpocket who's trying to incriminate you — the idea is that something is concealed in the palm and then foisted onto someone else.

Pawning is the act of putting merchandise up as security for a quick loan. I'm not saying it doesn't relate at all to the way "palming off" is often used, since you very well might pawn an unwanted object, but it's not the same term.

Whether someone palms or pawns something terrible off onto you, though, you're screwed. See what I did there?

Hone in vs. home in

The copy editor is in.
I'm going to present occasional posts on the use of English,
not to be pedantic but just for the fun of language.

Here's a pair of words I hear confused a lot: hone vs. home, used in the phrase "to home in on something."

And that way I used it in the phrase? That's the real way.

See, "hone" means to sharpen, whereas "home" refers to — you might have guessed this — home. So, for instance, carrier pigeons home, in that they fly back to their base after delivering a message (or however the heck carrier pigeons work — how do they work?). So if you want to focus on something, you might be honing your concentration, but you will be homing in on your goal.

Writing software vs. doing the hard work

I’ve been deep in the throes of editing my NaNoWriMo novel. It’s such a muddle to wade through, 50,000-plus words, and I do understand that that’s on the short end for a novel. In the end, being a cozy, it will be at least 60,000.

But whether 50,000 or 100,000, that’s a lot of words to edit!

I have three murder incidents in my book, as most mysteries do, and I realized after I’d written it in that crazy month that numbers two and three needed to be swapped. It just made more sense that way, and allowed the main character to get to know beforehand the person who’s killed last.

But, oh, dear — that means rewriting and rearranging fully two-thirds of the stupid thing. Even those wonderful, witty conversations I was so proud of will now have to fall, because the characters will all be talking about something else now.

But as someone on the NaNoWriMo boards consoled (and I can’t remember who it was now — sorry), you can’t edit nothing. At least I have a truckload of words to edit!

I thought there might be some computing help out there to make my life easier. Microsoft Word is dismal when it comes to the demands of fiction writing. There’s no easy way to outline or to rearrange whole sections.

I started researching writing software for the Mac, reading reviews and comparing demo videos, and I settled on two that sounded promising — Scrivener and Copywrite — before a review for one of those led me to a third possibility — StoryMill. I looked at other options as well, but those three sounded like the best fit for the kind of writing I do, which is to say, novel-length fiction. Some other programs seemed to have more use for non-fiction writers or technical writing.

Intriguing features of these types of fiction-writing word processors (not available in all of them) are the ability to create timelines that link to your scenes, chapter views, the ability to save multiple revisions and revert to an earlier one if necessary, character description files, virtual corkboard for rearranging index cards that contain parts of the story, multiple windows to see various drafts simultaneously, inherent outlining, etc., and everything’s theoretically linked to everything else — so if you, say, moved a section on your corkboard, it would move that section in your novel as well, no tedious searching, cutting, and pasting necessary.



I have links from Amazon just for StoryMill, so I went ahead and put up screen shots that were available to give a general idea of the sort of experience you’d have with one of these writers’ word processors.

If you want to find out more about the programs, feel free to click on the software site links above or read some reviews for them here: CopyWrite reviews, Scrivener reviews, StoryMill reviews.

I won’t go into the details of each one, because ultimately I decided to hold off. It was when I was reading StoryMill reviews and one reviewer’s words really spoke to me:

May 15 2008 MSWWSM —

I can’t give this product any kind of fair review as I can’t quite figure out what it’s for. If I had to guess, I’d say this — and the similar Scrivener — are for writers who may indeed have the prose chops to get the job done but can’t get a handle on how to organize longer manuscripts in their heads …

Foremost, StoryMill and Scrivener are not models for how novelists I know actually work. We have various loose “processes”, we keep notes, we do research — not too little research on-the-fly, so to speak — and we may rough out in a notebook, on an index card, or on the back of the power bill, overarching plot lines, concepts, perhaps brief character sketches, snippets of especially pithy dialogue or metaphor we just have to use, that sort of thing. But everyone I know merely takes something that’s been stewing, sits down one morning, or evening, or dead in the middle of night, and begins writing; then we go back and eradicate, illuminate and, well, prevaricate, as required to make the story whole. …

As for aspiring novelists, screenwriters, playwrights, etc., I can’t help but advise you’d be far better off just sitting down and writing, ignoring the confusing disorganized mess you may create — because you CAN — and WILL, if you stick at it — develop a process for sorting things out, making sense of disparate parts and gluing them together into a coherent story. The bottom line is, called upon to take 60,000 - 120,000 words or more, vet this draft for grammar, style, continuity errors, etc., it’s never going to just wrap up nicely, and it’s always going to degrade into a brutal grind at times, whether you write on legal pads with a blunt pencil or with these sorts of computerized writers toolkits. It’s never easy, no matter what.

Emphasis mine, because man, oh, man.

Here’s a portion of the response from someone who liked the above review as much as I did:

although i am trying to write a novel with various timelines and therefore became interested in any computerized help i could get, i now am convinced that a dry erase board or a yellow pad with lots of revisions/erasures, as mswwsm notes, will work better.

a writer i admire once told an audience that when she teaches creative writing, she emphasizes B.I.C = butt in chair! there is no substitute and most of these apps are probably - at least for me - more of a distraction and an ill-fitted crutch than the solution and will probably never accomplish what mswwsm suggests. — rich ratzan

So, butt in chair, I have been doing the hard work.

I figured that spending any more energy than I already have on these software apps would just distract me from the task at hand. I would spend so much time copying my scenes into each demo version, then editing in each one to see how it works. I would type in character descriptions and obsess about details. It’s probably best just to use what I have and try to figure out a process for myself.

I think next time I write a novel, I will start off in one of these software options, to see if it helps. Ideally, I’ll start three novels simultaneously, so I can see which of the three options makes things easiest!

But for now — I have an outline of my original draft in OmniOutliner. I’ve rearranged it in the same app, checking my timeline by sketching it out with purple pen (hey, it was around) on the back of an envelope and drawing arrows to show which parts I wanted to change around or add.

I have another file in OmniOutliner for notes and revisions, which includes my character descriptions, painstakingly copied every time a character came up. Then I can make sure haircolor and age and the like don’t change throughout the story by referring back to my notes. I have listed things I want to add and things I want to change. I have ideas for place names and poisons. (Hey, it’s a murder mystery!) I chose OmniOutliner for this file, because I can indent subtopics to show that they relate to an above main topic, but also primarily because OmniOutliner offers little checkboxes all down the side. Whenever I’ve completed a revision task, I can check it off and stop worrying about it. Most of the boxes remain unchecked, but at least I know that they will get done, and I don’t have to keep it all in my head.

I’ve saved multiple drafts now in Word, and I’m going to start the annoyance of cutting and pasting according to my outline, and then … it’s rewrite time. I’ll just have to go in, read it through, and change what doesn’t make sense anymore. Which I’m assuming will be most of it. Sigh.

Butt in chair. I’ll get there.