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A few words
on language
prescriptivism

Editors are sometimes stereotyped as pathologically rigid guardians of excruciatingly correct language, but the stereotype is not the fact. Readers should understand from the outset that The Cranky Editor is cranky, but not an inflexible grammatical "lint-picker."

For example, it's OK to split an infinitive once in awhile. And you can start a sentence with a conjunction when it helps the flow. Sometimes. Same with sentence fragments. Just make sure you prove to your editor that you "know the rules before you break 'em."

Professional editors accept that the language is fluid, evolving over time, and they make it part of their job to stay up-to-date. However, to ensure clear communication at any point in time or history, we humans depend on fixed standards of language. At any fixed point, a useful and functional language depends on consistent grammar, usage, punctuation, and typographic style. That's why the newest revision of the AP Stylebook is always within reach.

If you are an "editor-by-default," the buck stops with you. You're responsible for the grammar, usage, spelling, punctuation, and typographic style consistency that makes written communication possible. In your heart, you may not want to be a prescriptivist, but at the 11th-hour deadline, it's you, the editor, on that particular day at least, who must enforce that stylebook consistency.

- R.W. Bacon


A FREE sign
guaranteed
to improve
your writing!

Now you can download in PDF format the same handy "reminder sign" that The Cranky Editor has in place above his office computer. It's just the right size to mount over your monitor where you can't ignore it. The constant reminder is bound to improve your writing! Click the link below and you'll be on your way.

The Craft of Writing & Editing

Who needs an editor? At present almost all job descriptions include, along with duties directly related to a position, the requirements of "written communication skills" and "social media expertise." So it is no surprise that fully-qualified business managers, engineers, floral designers, and muffler installers are also charged with churning out reams of business communications, advertising copy, Facebook snippets, and blog postings. These well-intentioned folks --- worthwhile intelligent industrious individuals who are undoubtedly kind to children and small animals --- have been tossed into the role unprepared, like a non-swimmer tossed off the end of a pier.

Variety Arts Press comes to the rescue with The Cranky Editor's Book of Intolerable Fox Paws (Oops! Faux Pas!): Helpful Writing & Style Tips So You Won't Look Stoopid. This book, infused with humorous examples, is aimed directly at the motivated do-it-yourself business or organizational writer that realizes they are in over their head ... off the end of that pier. The adjacent graphic is a typical example of "typographic style" blunders that never make it past a real professional editor, but that are all-but-invisible to the layman. Does any of this matter? Perhaps not on your lost-cat notice or grocery list. But when your livelihood, business, brand image, or reputation are at stake, yup, it matters.

Below are publications in this category currently available. Click on any book title below and you'll go to a page with a more detailed description of the book, a preview of selected pages, and a link to purchase and pay via PayPal.

Click on any title below for more information,
and to read the contents and introduction.


The Cranky Editor's
Book of Intolerable Fox Paws
(Oops! Faux Pas!):
Helpful Writing & Style Tips
So You Won't Look Stoopid
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2014)
6x9 softcover, 148 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-6-3
LOC: 2013956190

$16.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.


The Micro-Historian's Guide
to Research, Evidence,
& Conclusions:
Step-by-Step
Research Planning & Execution
by Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2018)
6x9 softcover, 112 pages
ISBN: 978-0-9977528-4-7
LOC: 2018905458

$16.00 (US) includes
book-rate shipping in the U.S.

Payment accepted by PayPal
(see "Buy Now" below or on the full description page).

To order by postal mail, send order details, your shipping address, and payment by check to Variety Arts Enterprises, P.O. Box 489, Newburyport, MA 01950.