God, god, or gawd

[Guest]

I think that the real point of the capitalization is when you are addressing god as an individual. If i prayed to dining room chairs, I would capitalize the word, because I am addressing an individual.

"Dear Chair, please deliver me from checkered cushions and ugly dining room tables. Amen."

In that respect, the capitalization of Chair is the equivalent of God. From a literary standpoint at least (IMHO). You capitalize the names of Zeus and Aphrodite, right? You capitalize Yahweh. As a proper name, I believe it to be appropriate. However, as an atheist, I wll not capitalize it any other time. Goes against my (dis)beliefs.

~Paul

(incidentally, my spellcheck disagrees with my beliefs and tries to capitalize it every time)

 

[Guest]

Ummmm. I have been crawling editors threads for a month now (forgive me dear editors, but I can't abide the Authors hangout), and I have seen several differnet manuals for editing and several different dictionaries referenced by different people as being the correct one. Obviously some of these are regional (US vs UK), but for someone like myself, just starting out, which manual should I choose? Which dictionary should I purchase? If my writing progresses to the point where I can do this for a living, I would love to. So what should I choose?

~Paul

 

[CopperSkink]

I laughed pretty hard. My new rat's name is Chair, and she lives in a rather alter-like cage.

For my writing innacuracies, I use the Strunk and White method. It's about half an inch think and easy to lose, but it's loaded with examples (good and bad) and it doesn't afraid of anything.

 

[_Lynn_]

Ummmm. I have been crawling editors threads for a month now (forgive me dear editors, but I can't abide the Authors hangout), and I have seen several differnet manuals for editing and several different dictionaries referenced by different people as being the correct one. Obviously some of these are regional (US vs UK), but for someone like myself, just starting out, which manual should I choose? Which dictionary should I purchase? If my writing progresses to the point where I can do this for a living, I would love to. So what should I choose?

~Paul

The CMS is, as sr has stated repeatedly, what publishers follow. Why use others? This shouldn't be difficult to understand at all.

I laughed pretty hard. My new rat's name is Chair, and she lives in a rather alter-like cage.

For my writing innacuracies, I use the Strunk and White method. It's about half an inch think and easy to lose, but it's loaded with examples (good and bad) and it doesn't afraid of anything.

I hope you edit better than you write.

 

[sr71plt]

Ummmm. I have been crawling editors threads for a month now (forgive me dear editors, but I can't abide the Authors hangout), and I have seen several differnet manuals for editing and several different dictionaries referenced by different people as being the correct one. Obviously some of these are regional (US vs UK), but for someone like myself, just starting out, which manual should I choose? Which dictionary should I purchase? If my writing progresses to the point where I can do this for a living, I would love to. So what should I choose?

~Paul

You first need to know which market you are writing to.

If you are writing to the U.S. market, the best dictionary to use is Merriam-Webster's Collegiate (currently in its 11th edition). This is the best one, because this is the one that most publishers use and because it's relatively cheap. (Webster's, by the way, is a generic name--several different companies use the name. It's the "Merriam" that denotes you are using one the publishers mostly use.) More definitive for publishers is the Webster's New International Dictionary, which is humongous, and publishers often only have one copy of that around somewhere for when they really get into a dilemma. For individual desktops they provide the latest edition of the Collegiate. And that one is mostly good enough for authors.

Serious writers (and editors) in the U.S. market tend to use two different dictionaries, which provide different help.

Webster's Collegiate is a "descriptive" dictionary. It reflects the "what is" in current word usage and spelling (and this is usually good enough for erotica). Go here to get the most recent changes (and the dictionary is actually updated a couple of times a year--so the copy you buy today will be somewhat different from the copy you bought last year, even though both will be under the same cover and identify themselves as the 11th edition).

The American Heritage Collegiate edition (currently in its third edition) is a "prescriptive" dictionary. It gives more background on words and more help in why you'd pick one word or spelling over another. It takes longer for a newly coined word or definition to make it into this dictionary than into the Webster's. When an author wants to be more precise or use a more accepted definition or spelling, they will check here.

For Biographical spellings, publishers use the Merriam-Webster's Biographical Dictionary (first editiion) (which, unfortunately, only lists dead people).

For Geographic spellings, publishers use the Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary (third edition).

On Style Manuals.

The Chicago Manual of Style is the U.S. publisher choice (and many British publishers too) for humanities writing (which includes fiction).

The American Psychological Association Publication Manual (APA) is the U.S. publisher choice for scientific writing.

The Modern Language Association Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (MLA) is mostly for literary criticism.

The Government Printing Office Manual (GPO) is for U.S. government writing, but the updating of this is so haphazard that the writing areas of the U.S. government tend to have their individual writing manuals.

The Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual is generally used in media journalism, although some follow the New York Times Manual of Style and Usageinstead.

Strunk and White's Elements of Style is a handy little guide book for writing in general--up through the college level, but U.S. publishers don't use it.

For authoritative discussion on word usage, editors mostly consult Fowler's Modern English Usage. Purists, however, will go to an earlier edition than one you'd find on bookstore shelves. They'd go back to one that Fowler actually wrote.

Writers looking for less arcane discussion on word usage would benefit from consulting:

Theodore Bernstein, The Careful Writer.

William Zinsser, On Writing Well.

The American Heritage Book of English Usage.


I'll leave it to British editors here to identify the authoritative sources for the British market.

 

[Guest]

Mistress Lynn:
"Why use others? This shouldn't be difficult to understand at all."
Ummm. Mostly because other editors on other threads (besides the Gawd one) have also mentioned different guides. Dipping my toes into the water and trying to become a better author, I wondered if there were specific reasons for using guides. You, as an editor, have this knowledge found through experience, trial, error, and questions. I am just trying to eventually get to be as proficient in the craft of writing as the regulars of this forum. Also, my question included dictionaries. With entire shelves at B&N devoted to dictionaries, each claiming to be accurate, I wanted to know.

To SR71PLT: Thank you. I appreciate your response. I have copied it to my word files so that I can look some of these up and order them after the holidays.

 

[Guest]

The CMS is, as sr has stated repeatedly, what publishers follow. Why use others? This shouldn't be difficult to understand at all.



I hope you edit better than you write.

Also, Mistress Lynn, a large reason for my question is that I am overseas. I have to purchase these books online and have them shipped. Buying books and sending to an APO effectively doubles their cost (unless you buy used for some reason). I have to factor in things like shipping and add an extra week for delivery. I am looking at approximately $50 for the CMS and roughly the same for a decent desktop dictionary.

Spending $100 on sr71plt's opinion is a gamble for me. I take it that you happen to agree with his choice of style manuals, and that forms a small consensus for me. Things like that make it easier for me to choose. but i have lost of reasons for asking questions on this. The chief one being, however, that I lack the knowledge and experience that the regulars here have. Thank you very much for recommending the CMS to me. It did help me to make a decision to purchase.

 

[driphoney]

Also, Mistress Lynn, a large reason for my question is that I am overseas. I have to purchase these books online and have them shipped. Buying books and sending to an APO effectively doubles their cost (unless you buy used for some reason). I have to factor in things like shipping and add an extra week for delivery. I am looking at approximately $50 for the CMS and roughly the same for a decent desktop dictionary.

Spending $100 on sr71plt's opinion is a gamble for me. I take it that you happen to agree with his choice of style manuals, and that forms a small consensus for me. Things like that make it easier for me to choose. but i have lost of reasons for asking questions on this. The chief one being, however, that I lack the knowledge and experience that the regulars here have. Thank you very much for recommending the CMS to me. It did help me to make a decision to purchase.

Right now Merriam-Websters Collegiate CD version at Amazon for $20, and it was my understanding that the cost of shipping to an APO was always just to the NY or SF location, then the military picked up the charges beyond that. If that's changed, boo on them, but at least the CD version would be light. I'm saddened to learn you can't pick up a copy of this at a nearby PX/BX.

As for the CMS, you can buy online and download it. No shipping there.

And yeah, unless you can get to a good used bookstore (yeah, right! he says), reference books always are costly. But they are good long-term investments, and never a gamble. There are professional or academic standards, and SR clearly defined them for the US system. When someone challenges him on the CMS for US publishing my eyes always widen. Perhaps you have a friend stateside who can do a little used book shopping for you. Could save you some cash, though I'm thinking the shipping would be a lot for a hardback MW dictionary, so getting the CD might be a better option.

And, to help you limp along, you can do what I do and use dictionary.com. It's not definitive, but then I ain't writing War and Peace either. (At least not yet!)

I hope you can work something out.

 

[AsylumSeeker]

CopperSkink:

If you are going to hang out an editor's shingle here, why don't you buy a copy of the Chicago Manual of Style and use it? This is all covered there. No need (or justification even) for you to fly by the seat of your pants in working with other people's manuscripts.

Got my copy today, was told it'd be here on the 8th but here it's just the 3rd, how's that for service? And Amazon only paid the "slow boat" rate. Hats off to the USPS!

Finding it very enlightening, will be reading it and noting helpful pages/passages, well worth the sale price of $30 (list price on the cover is $55). Now can read, learn, and be a better editor without being as much of a nuisance!

Highly recommended for all potential editors, wishing I'd done this earlier!

 

[AsylumSeeker]

Also, Mistress Lynn, a large reason for my question is that I am overseas. I have to purchase these books online and have them shipped. Buying books and sending to an APO effectively doubles their cost (unless you buy used for some reason). I have to factor in things like shipping and add an extra week for delivery. I am looking at approximately $50 for the CMS and roughly the same for a decent desktop dictionary.

Spending $100 on sr71plt's opinion is a gamble for me. I take it that you happen to agree with his choice of style manuals, and that forms a small consensus for me. Things like that make it easier for me to choose. but i have lost of reasons for asking questions on this. The chief one being, however, that I lack the knowledge and experience that the regulars here have. Thank you very much for recommending the CMS to me. It did help me to make a decision to purchase.

I'm retired military and have spent several years overseas. The APO is an address in NYC, meaning you should only be paying for shipment to NYC, the Army Post Office (APO) will (should) then sustain the remaining transport costs, and should be at no additional cost to the servicemember as I understand it.

 

[Guest]

f I can get it shipped at the NY rate, then I will do so quickly. Perhaps I should have been looking at new. I was looking primarily at used, because I wanted to save a buck. That may have been my issue. I will dig further. Usually, I had my wife ship everything when I was deployed. Shipping to APO from a seller is a new one to me. Apparently I have more to learn than writing. Thank you all.