editing Archives - Words by a Pro

A Christmas Twist: The 12 Days of Content

Greg Hill — Mon, 24 Dec 2018 22:46:27 +0000

Greetings from Words by a Pro! We hope everyone’s enjoying the holiday season so far. But if you’re like most folks, you’ve already had your fill of holiday cheer thanks to the nonstop barrage of Christmas music that comes post-Thanksgiving. We’ve all heard these holiday tunes in stores—in coffee shops—running through our heads nonstop—for nearly […]

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Is It Okay to Use the Word Hopefully?

Susan Metzger — Tue, 07 Nov 2017 21:15:58 +0000

There remains debate about whether this adverb is appropriate or not. According to an NPR article, thirty years ago a few famous grammarians decided to “vilify” the word. Prior to this, so they say, the word was used without complaint. After three decades of debate, most of us are now confused. I like to quote […]

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Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

Susan Metzger — Tue, 20 Jun 2017 20:57:35 +0000

“Huh?” you may ask yourself. “I kinda remember hearing those words in high school English class, but I have no idea what they mean,” you may answer. The robber was described as a six-foot-tall man with a mustache weighing 150 pounds. Funny, right? What weighed 150 pounds—the robber or the mustache? This sentence reads as […]

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Style Guides & Manuals: What Are They?

Susan Metzger — Wed, 29 Mar 2017 20:42:33 +0000

Perhaps your high school English teacher told you about style guides, but maybe you didn’t even come across them until college when your English Composition instructor informed you, “You must use MLA style or fail this course.” I have said it, and other instructors have insisted on APA or Chicago (Turabian) Style as the style […]

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Angels and Brats: Which One Are You?

Anne King — Tue, 24 May 2016 18:13:38 +0000

To put broad strokes on the canvas of writing and editing merely for over-simplification, there are two overarching types of writers and editors: the brats and the angels. How they behave is distinctly different due to their different roles. The good news is, once a writer or an editor recognizes he or she behaves in […]

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The Rocky Mountain English Professor: I wish I were OR I wish I was?

Susan Metzger — Tue, 26 Apr 2016 23:05:38 +0000

If I were OR If I was? Which is correct? Most of us might vaguely recall a high school English teacher discussing mood, but few of us remember what it means. There are three moods in English: “indicative, used for facts, opinions, and questions; imperative, used for orders or advice; and subjunctive, used for wishes, […]

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The Rocky Mountain English Professor Discusses “Which” vs. “That”

Susan Metzger — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 01:00:00 +0000

Do you ever wonder whether you should use “which” instead of “that” or vice versa? In the United States we use “which” differently than those living in the United Kingdom. I have no idea when or how the usage diverged, but according to our Modern Language Association, there is a correct way to use each. […]

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