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"'The Frugal Editor: Do-It-Yourself Editing Secrets for Authors' is a complete course of instruction under one cover." ~ Jim Cox Editor-in-Chief Midwest Book Review


Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Swiping Editing Tips from Ask Marilyn

We can find editing tips most anywhere. Don't know why, but this one was a surprise. Having said that, even my SharingwithWriters newsletter (subscribe and get a freebie book on editing at http://howtodoitfrugally.com), has at least one editing tip in each issue. Here is the one I borrowed from Marilyn.

We can get editing tips from many places but this one was a surprise. The Ask Marilyn column in our Sunday newspapers' Parade magazine tells us that the word theory is often misunderstood and used incorrectly. She says that theory may mean "a set of principles that govern or describe a body of facts" as when we say, "He is studying music theory." She explains that when the word is used by scientists many assume that that it means hypothesis. Not so. She says in science "one starts with a hypothesis [but once confirmed] that hypothesis becomes fact and is called a theory." So the theory of evolution is not debatable in science. It is no longer a hypothesis. It is a broad subject that has been scientifically proven, not a single, narrow fact.


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Carolyn Howard-Johnson edits, consults. and speaks on issues of publishing. Find her The Frugal Editor: Put Your Best Book Forward to Avoid Humiliation and Ensure Success (How To Do It Frugally series of book for writers). Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com/writers_books.htm , where writers will find lists and other helps including Great Little Last-Minute Editing Tips on the Resources for Writers page. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at her Sharing with Writers blog. She tweets writers' resources at www.twitter.com/frugalbookpromo . Please tweet this post to your followers. We all need a little help with editing. (-:

2 comments:

Mary Lynn Archibald said...

Well, who knew? So I guess there's no need to debate the theory of evolution with those folks who just don't get it. Or is there?

Thanks for that clarification, and yes, that Marilyn really knows her stuff!

Carolyn Howard-Johnson said...

Mary Lynn, wasn't thinking of it so much to convince someone as getting the nomenclature right. (-: And I agree. No need to debate. It's like editing. People tend to believe what they want to believe.