Old Navy, USC and Your Editing

 I nearly always include at least one editing tip in my Sharing with Writers newsletter. And sometimes a tip on the craft of writing, too. This is an example of one I came up with after reading a fun article in the LA Times. It was amply illustrated with a picture of the shirt--complete with booboo--in color! (-:

The LA Times business section reported on an editing booboo made by Old Navy. They printed up T-shirts for USC and at the top of the design it said “Lets Go.” They felt it necessary to explain to readers that “...’lets’ is missing its apostrophe, which is necessary to create the intended contraction of ‘let us go.’ Without the apostrophe, ‘lets go’ means to release something.”

I had to laugh. They must have been in a hurry to get the news out (sort of like Mindy and me when we publish this newsletter!) because it would have read better if they’d said “Without the apostrophe ‘lets’ is a verb that means ‘to release something.” The lesson here is that editing isn’t only about catching typos. Sometimes it’s also about clarifying. Maybe I should send them a copy of my The Frugal Editor, www.budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor.

 By the way, anyone who would like to subscribe to the Sharing with Writers newsletter may do so by going to www.howtodoitfrugally.com. There is a freebie offer there in the sign-up box--and there is a sign-up box on every page.


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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. (-:

Jargon (Especially Tech Terms) to Avoid

I love word lists. Lists of words that are easily confused, as an example. David Pogue, who usually writes about tekky stuff, recently listed some of the new tech terms that don't make sense or are so misleading or just plain ugly we writers should avoid them. How I enjoyed it! I thought I'd pass it on to you, of course.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/16/technology/personaltech/16pogue-email.html?scp=7&sq=david%20pogue&st=cse

Pay special attention to the trap most everyone is falling into these days. Many of us are using "content" when we probably just mean "articles" or "tips" or "music." So, if you're talking about what is on your Web site, for clarity you'll just want to say what that is. It might go, "You'll find great articles and reviews on the Free Content page on my Website at www.howtodoitfrugally.com."

Mmmmm. I think you can see there may be times when the word "content" fits the bill. Like when we're talking about a variety of things that will give our readers valuable information but we can't be all that specific about what that might be because we don't know.

Otherwise, forget "content" or you may hear from David. Maybe you'll hear from me!
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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 at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0978515870. Learn more about her other authors' aids at www.howtodoitfrugally.com. She blogs on all things publishing (not just editing!) at www.sharingwithwriters.blogspot.com.