Writers Tricks of the Trade Issue 3 Volume 9 | Page 22

Y OU D ON ’ T S AY !
U M —T HAT W ASN ’ T W HAT I M EANT
W HAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU USE THE WRONG FORM OF A WORD
B Y M IKE D ENNIS AND M ORGAN S T . J AMES
Y EARS AGO M IKE AND M ORGAN WERE WORKING ON A PROPOSAL FOR A BOOK CALLED "Y OU D ON ' T S AY ." T HEY
COMPLETED THE PROPOSAL , HAD A PUBLISHER INTERESTED , BUT IT NEVER HAPPENED . H OWEVER , IT WAS LOTS OF
FUN WRITING THE COLUMN OF THAT NAME FOR EXAMINER . COM , AN INTERNET NEWSPAPER THAT LATER WENT OUT
OF BUSINESS .
This You Don’t Say column was the perfect addition to Hal Morris’ article on Page 16.
O
ne of the frustrations in life for a writer is
to think they’ve got it right, only to have
someone point out something like “The word
should be stationery not stationary. See, one
little letter changed the whole meaning. Instead
of the woman grabbing a piece of writing paper,
now you’ve said the woman grabbed a piece of
not moving. Not exactly a brilliant statement,
but it is a real word so how was SpellCheck to
know?
We’ve all read books, articles, descriptions
and more filled with these faux pas. For that
reason, try to be very attentive when it comes
to proofing your work. Sure, your first readers
might catch some or most of those errors, and
F ALL 2019
editors generally have a built-in “right word
detection radar,” but their job is so much easier
and you look professional if you are on the
alert. Remember, no one is perfect.
If you’ve been using wrong word forms like
these, pay attention! Always look up the syno-
nyms or definitions when in doubt, but this is a
little fun exercise.
Marcy wanted to get their first, but Mil-
ton and Myrtle picked up there bags before
she could.
Well, what you've said is Marcy wanted to
get belongs to them first, Milton and Myrtle
picked up that place bags.
It is astounding how many people make this
P AGE 18
W RITERS ’ T RICKS OF THE T RADE