👋 Hey, you. Creative person in your 30s. You know you’ve been thinking about writing a book… But, you’re in your 30s… You’d better get serious now. And throwing yourself into a made-up world of moonlit romances does not seem all that serious. And your mum keeps asking if you’ve started saving for your future…Continue reading “Write a novel to create assets for your future. National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner.”
Tag Archives: writingtips
Is it took or taken? Spoke or spoken? Broke or broken? Using past participles correctly.
📸 Your photo will be took by one of our team. ❌ Your photo will be taken by one of our team. ✅ See also: 🗣️ I have spoke to her about it. ❌ I have spoken to her about it. ✅ 🖨️ The printer was broke. ❌ The printer was broken. ✅ 🚦In spokenContinue reading “Is it took or taken? Spoke or spoken? Broke or broken? Using past participles correctly.”
Have you ‘tried your hand’ at writing a book? Let me help you polish it up.
I was asked whether I wanted to take advantage of some free advertising on morecambeandmore.com. I said yes. 😁 Emily Ward who is in charge of the website asked me for a photo and my logo plus the link to my website. She then wrote a brief intro and made this super-looking directory entry forContinue reading “Have you ‘tried your hand’ at writing a book? Let me help you polish it up.”
Why you need a human as part of your editorial safeguards. Is it curtesy or courtesy? Waved or waived? Entails or entrails? I know!
🔤 Your spellcheck does not know it. 🤑 Your paid-for grammar software does not know it either. 🤓 But I do. Some #proofreading spots from a couple of indie author manuscripts which would have passed unnoticed without #EagleEyedCherry: ❌ It was an appropriate measure and a proper curtesy to my friend. ➡ courtesy ✔ ❌Continue reading “Why you need a human as part of your editorial safeguards. Is it curtesy or courtesy? Waved or waived? Entails or entrails? I know!”
Is it ‘should of’ or ‘should have’? Eggsellent advice contained herein.
❓ Why am I sharing this WhatsApp screenshot with you? 1️⃣ To answer the question: what do proofreaders have for lunch? 2️⃣ To demonstrate that I’m a proofreader with a winning sense of humour? 3️⃣ To give my international followers a taste of a British classic, as good in flavour as it is in onomatopoeia?Continue reading “Is it ‘should of’ or ‘should have’? Eggsellent advice contained herein.”
Today’s top proofreading spots.
🔎 Top #proofreading spots from an edit I’m working on. 1️⃣ I looked causally at… ❌ ➡ I looked casually at … ✔ 2️⃣ My friend Jaime ❌ My friend Jamie ✔ (The name had been Jamie throughout so this was just a typo/letter switch) 3️⃣ I used to be less social ❌ I usedContinue reading “Today’s top proofreading spots.”
Who[m] do you trust with advice for doing it yourself – decorating or self-editing?
Too many cooks spoil the broth? Too many decorating experts spoil the walls? Too many editors spoil the manuscript?! Yesterday I received decorating advice that sent my head into a spin. Shop worker: You want primer? Why? Tell me what you’re working on. Me: I’ve done a mist coat on newly dried plaster and I’mContinue reading “Who[m] do you trust with advice for doing it yourself – decorating or self-editing?”
Is it dispatch box or despatch box? Should Parliament be capitalised? Back-bencher or backbencher? Proofreading dystopian political fiction.
🔎 Today’s proofread has a political theme. Dystopian fiction, written in 2017, but weirdly prescient. It’s not a futuristic setting, rather a twisted version of our own, and so the words need to be styled in a recognised way. Part of this involves carefully checking spelling, hyphenation and capitalisation. Dispatch box ❌ has become despatchContinue reading “Is it dispatch box or despatch box? Should Parliament be capitalised? Back-bencher or backbencher? Proofreading dystopian political fiction.”
I’m rolling with it. New editing availability. (And, while we’re on it, is it role or roll? Rollout or roll out?)
🎪 Role up. ❌ Roll up. ✔ I’m on a role. ❌ Over the last few years, I’ve gone from one day a week of editing, to two, and, from September, I’ll be up to three. 👏 Go me! And a bonus #EagleEyedCherry #writingtip is to remind you of the different spellings and uses ofContinue reading “I’m rolling with it. New editing availability. (And, while we’re on it, is it role or roll? Rollout or roll out?)”
Should I use commas in lists of adjectives? Co-ordinate and cumulative adjectives.
❓ Loud cackling laugh or loud, cackling laugh? Is cackling laugh a noun in itself, or is cackling an adjective describing the noun? If we establish that laugh is the noun, cackling is the adjective. Loud is also an adjective describing the laugh. So, you’re listing adjectives. These are co-ordinate adjectives, each in turn modifyingContinue reading “Should I use commas in lists of adjectives? Co-ordinate and cumulative adjectives.”
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