It’s not all about being right
When people hear that I’m an editor, they assume I must use perfect language all of the time, never make a grammatical slip and spell like a creepy 12 year old prodigy.
The trouble is people don’t think or write or read perfectly. As long as the sentence makes the sense the author intended, and sounds as elegant as I think it can, that’s my priority.
Spelling mistakes are different though, the printed word has authority (especially for children) and should be correct. Spelling does change over the years though – very few people spell flying machines aeroplane these days – and that should mirror the character or narrator that’s talking.
Incorrect use of apostrophes changes the sense of what is being written and should be stamped out. I have been known to edit graffiti when the apostrophe is in the wrong place…
May 6, 2015
Comments are closed.