How do you remember which word is right?
This past week, an author questioned if I’d used the right word. Should the sentence refer to the decision to add or to ad an accessory to his car?
As I responded to his email, my brain invented a memory trick to distinguish the two. “We want the word related to ADDitional,” I wrote, “not ADvertising.”
Make plans, but hold them loosely.
I arrived at my employer’s big event with my next issue thoroughly planned, the cover long since completed and every article accounted for.
But in a few minutes I realized those plans had to change. Before me stood my new cover — and my new cover story. Within an hour or so I’d taken the new cover photo. … Continue reading
And other reasons you may need an editor.
“I hope I don’t catch flack from my wife,” the author wrote me, “for having to write on Mother’s Day.”
I understood what he meant, even if he didn’t type flak.
What’s the difference? The first means a publicity agent. The second is a burst of anti-aircraft fire. I know which one I’d rather catch.
How can you … Continue reading