Mal ,'Our Mrs. Reynolds'
[NAFDA] Spike-centric discussion. Lusty, lewd (only occasionally crude), risqué (and frisqué), bawdy (Oh, lawdy!), flirty ('cuz we're purty), raunchy talk inside. Caveat lector.
That makes my brain hurt, megan.
Actually the trick is to read each sentence whole (forwards), but starting at the end of a paper. It pulls each sentence out of context, thus making it easier to spot a variety of problems. But, you can also read each word in a sentence backwards to check specifically for spelling errors.
We were asked last night (during the "getting-to-know-you" activity, which included thumb wrestling) what we would do if we got a million dollars. Neither I nor my partner could come up with a pithy answer, other than "not be here."
I abstained from the thumb wrestling, I have to say.
.useful be also can backwards Reading
yes. this. one of the best proofing techniques around - if it doesn't make your brain cave in.
3 days without my passwords. Happy birthdays and Happy Holiday to those celebrating, and, um - let's see (I jumped a lot because I am having one of those days that makes me want to take up proofreading full time again. Or a sharp pointy stick. Any istas want to give career counseling to a mid-level, mid-life dork?):
- you go: Raq, MM, JZ, Teppy, Vortex & istas in general
Sometimes people who are great speakers in person don't write well
And a few of us are great writers but poor speakers. I tend to sort of stumble over my sentences, like I'll start them, get lost in them, and have to go back and restart. Obviously when I write I can quickly edit, but I swear I don't stumble as much when I'm writing to begin with. My brain just deals better with text than spoken word.
Every once in awhile, under pressure, I turn into a good speaker. It's like I'm possessed by someone more articulate than me--I go from Shy Geek to Bill Clinton or Barack Obama at the '04 DNC--and then I turn into Stumbling Socially Awkward Girl again once the moment is passed.
And a few of us are great writers but poor speakers.
raises hand
Well, I'm a good writer, at least.
Hey, if I'm calling myself a great writer, you can, too.
Mostly I'm doing that to make the "you suck and you'll never be published" voices shut up and go away. They've been noisy of late, and I'm getting sick of it.
The other thing might be the person writing that thought they needed to be more "formal" in their writing so used awkward phrasing because it seemed better. It's weird but I know that some people feel that writing has to be "proper" and that ends up with weird stilted language.
Actually, this sounds right. Too many people view writing as Writing, like some mighty alchemy that only a mystical few can carry out. And they view Writing (versus conversation) as Important and Serious. But then when they try to write Important and Serious, they come across as Latka.
The #1 thing I tell people who are having trouble writing because they think it's too hard to Write something Important and Serious is to take what they want to say, and write it in a letter to their best friend. Generally, you can go from that, tweak it a little, and have a very passable piece of writing that doesn't sound like it was written by Latka or MegaHAL.
And a few of us are great writers but poor speakers.
raises hand
Me, too. I'm pretty sure that, in conversation, I come across as Forrest Gump. Or -- to continue the metaphor -- Latka.
People also write without rereading what they've written.
Car Talk mentioned a print ad for a company that makes reference books. The ad read "The only place success comes before preparation is in the dictionary."
(beat)
Grammar and math use the same part of the brain, so if someone tends to not have that organized, logical, rule-happy part working well, they may end up writing like Jackson Pollack painted.