Not just a pretty space: why consistent heading style matters
As you’d expect, much of a proofreader’s job is checking spelling, punctuation and grammar. But a large part is spent spotting inconsistencies. There are more ways of being inconsistent than you might imagine, and some documents manage to include nearly all of them....
Wrong words and how to right them, part 3: Imply, Its
Continuing my series demystifying commonly confused words... Imply / Infer Imagine a house. Probably semi-detached suburban; definitely well-kept. It has a garage and a drive. Across the front end of the drive, at knee height, is a chain (it may well have spiky...
When is a typo not a typo?
Typos, eh? They’re sneaky, and they happen to the best of us. But we can’t blame our keyboards for everything… Technically, a typo is a mistake occurring through misuse (or failure) of the machinery used for typing. It is short for typographical error – the kind of...
How to write dialogue: 3 – character and viewpoint
In earlier posts, I covered dialogue punctuation and layout in fiction and memoir. But what about the things the characters actually say? Sounding natural A mistake often made by fiction writers is to think that ‘natural dialogue’ means including everything a speaker...
Wrong words and how to right them, part 2: Faze, Fewer, Flaunt
Continuing my series unpicking some of the most commonly confused words in the English language... Faze / Phase Faze is a weird word in meaning and usage as well as spelling. To faze means to disturb, worry or confuse. Examples: When asked to give an example, he was...
Fronted adverbials – do you need them in your life?
I realise I’m late to the party when it comes to fronted adverbials. That’s because I couldn’t decide which hat to wear. As a former Primary School teacher, I know that my brothers and sisters at the chalkface of education have to teach this stuff, whether they want...