Confusing “lay” and “lie” (and the various forms they take) is a common mistake I encounter as I’m editing, so I thought I’d post a reminder of how these work. To “lie” is to recline. LIE = recLInE. The couple should lie on the warm sand and enjoy themselves.The husband and wife lie on the […]
Here’s a quick tip for remembering how to spell “desert” and “dessert.” The second “S” in dessert is for sugar. I always had to double-check the spellings of these words when I encountered them, but ever since I came across this nifty reminder, I haven’t forgotten it. If you look up “desert” in Merriam-Webster, it
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I have something very cool to share this week. I had the honor of being interviewed by Bianca Vandenbos of booknotions.com You can read the interview here: I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever been interviewed in my life, and I was very flattered to be asked. Timothy
I Was Interviewed! Read More »
I’m excited to share my latest testimonial! I recently worked on “Demons & Ramen” by Alice Loweecey. Alice had this to say about me: “I worked with Repasky Proofreading for my book Demons & Ramen. Their attention to detail is outstanding. The style sheet they created for the book is exhaustive. They go beyond typos
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Something I’m constantly doing as a copyeditor is looking things up, and perhaps compound words are what I look up most. Should a compound word be open (like “rib cage”)? Should a compound word be closed (like “windowsill”)? Should a compound word be hyphenated (like the noun “run-in”)? It can be easy to know how
Here’s a proofreading tip for you. Use those arrow keys on your keyboard. I’ve found that it’s extremely advantageous to use the arrow keys to navigate through the document instead of scrolling with your mouse. Here are three reasons why. 1) They get you to slow down. It’s a known fact that the more slowly
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Do you know the difference between “snugly” and “snuggly”? “Snugly” is an adverb. It can be used to describe something that fits closely and comfortably. Here’s an example: The bibliophile’s books fit snugly on her bookshelf. “Snuggly” is an adjective. It can be used to describe something that is suitable for snuggling. Here’s an example:
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A client of mine has started a YouTube channel that I want to point people toward. His videos discuss his experience as a self-publishing author using Linux. He’s got a handful of uploads so far, and I know he has plans for more. If you’re a Linux user and a writer, this is a valuable
People who haven’t worked with proofreaders may assume that we look for only misspellings, punctuation mistakes, and incorrect grammar. While we are laser-focused on all of those things, another aspect we pay close attention to is consistency. A manuscript needs to be consistent in terms of style, how words are spelled, and plot details. The
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The other day I encountered a headline that mentioned something about the different Doctor Whos, and it inspired me to write this post. Do you know when to correctly use an apostrophe to form a plural? If you’re following Chicago Style, the answer is: Lowercase lettersCapital letters when necessary to avoid confusionSymbolsSingle-digit numeralsLowercase abbreviationsCapitalized abbreviations
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