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| Bette Frick
The Text Doctor®
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| Quote of the Month | I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter. James Michener
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The poll that just won't go away
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May's poll asked you to vote on the statement, "I will use only one space after end punctuation."
Well, I forgot to close the poll! 6 more people voted, and the results are pretty much the same:
62% said yes (compared to 63 in June); 29% said no (compared to 27%); and 9% had no idea what we were talking about (compared to 10%).
I've now closed the poll, but you can still write to tell me your thoughts.
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Do you have technical spellchecking software to recommend?
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Our August poll focuses on your writing--do you use spellchecking software in your field or technical
discipline?
Click here to take the poll!
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The Text Doctor's Diagnosis
August 2010
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Greetings!
I am so sorry that I missed writing to you in July. I had the busiest (and most profitable) July in my 20 years in business, and I am grateful for the interesting projects I worked on and the exciting groups I taught. I finally finished editing the 2700-page medical textbook Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy, 3rd edition, and now I can relax a bit and enjoy the rest of summer. Hope your summer is closing out well.
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Slow notion
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| Warning: This message may be counterintuitive and contrary to everything you've heard about the importance of speed in getting things done. This message may even be possibly unAmerican.
Today, I would like to introduce two new ideas to you: I recommend that you read v e r y s l o w l y and that you write
v e r y s l o w l y. (This advice also applies to proofreading and editing: Slow is best in those communication activities, too.)
I base these revolutionary suggestions on a blog post from Malcolm Jones, a Newsweek columnist. Jones wrote about the Slow Reading movement, which goes back to Friedrich Nietzsche in 1887. How different from the core Western principle that faster is better! John F. Kennedy's legend included his ability to speed-read four to five newspapers every morning. Instead, Slow Reading, like Slow Food, encourages mindfulness and focus, depth rather than speed. It seems intuitive to me that Slow Reading increases comprehension.
And it's also crystal clear to me that the slower I write, the more intentional I am in my writing process (the process of crafting a message that meets my readers' needs), and the more intentional I am in my writing process, the better my writing is.
When I can hold still to plan out my message and to prewrite possible ideas and outline those before I start pressing keys, I'm more organized when I actually start drafting. When I share my draft with others for feedback, they help me revise my text for clarity and completeness. When I proofread
s l o w l y, I catch silly, embarrassing mistakes that compromise my credibility.
I do try to slow down when editing, but not all clients (and not all bosses) understand the concept of Slow Editing. Their deadlines and/or budget drive
their desire for me to move quickly, and I miss a lot of corrections that would improve their document.
And for those of you raising your hands to argue that you don't have time to slow down, I have five words: Pay now, or pay later. Think BP. No time to follow the safety regulations? No problem, just pay later.
Slow communication is not always easy, but it's always better.
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Tour de style guides: The MLA (Modern Language Association) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers
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|  Occasionally a learner in one of my classes asks if they can use the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers as the style manual for writing at work instead of, say, the American Medical Association Manual of Style (AMA) or the Gregg Reference Manual. Their earnestness and hopefulness are touching (they will save money by using the style manual they had to buy in college), but the MLA is not really appropriate for business, technical, or medical writing.
That's because, according to the MLA website, this manual is "widely adopted by universities, colleges, and secondary schools...the MLA Handbook gives step-by-step advice on every aspect of writing research papers..."
I have no doubt that the MLA will help writers improve their writing in general. However, if you as a writer need to format a term such as Streptomyces hygroscopicus the first time you use it in a document, then you'd probably find it only in the AMA.
But there is good news: "Every copy of the seventh edition...comes with a code for accessing the accompanying Web site," which includes the ability to search the handbook online. For $22, then, you'll get both print and online version, which is much less expensive than any other print manual that I've reviewed, and most of them charge separately for the online version.
MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (7th edition)
Pages: xxii + 292 pp.
Published: March 2009
ISBN: 9781603290241 (paperback)
ISBN: 9781603290258 (large print)
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These are a few of my favorite things: Stedman's Plus Medical Dictionary Spellchecker
| DysbetalipoproteinemiaI can't even say the word above, let alone spell it, so that's why I bought Stedman's Plus Medical/Pharmaceutical Spellchecker 2010 ($99.95), advertised to have "half a million medical, pharmaceutical, and bioscience terms." The CD automatically installed and integrated with my existing spellchecker to catch simple spelling errors in long words like the above. I believe that using this specific spellchecker saves me 10% of my time in looking words up on the Internet. It also catches errors in medical terms that I might not see after a long editing session. I also want to tell you about spellchecking software in other technical fields, but I haven't been able to locate any in spite of several Internet searches. If you know of any such products in your field or discipline, please share them on my poll on Technical Spellcheckers. Thanks! |
For fun: The Great Typo Hunt
| |  Fans of Eats, Shoots and Leaves may remember Lynne Truss' admonition to find typos in signs and correct them with a black marker (see her gleeful picture on the inside back jacket of the hardback edition).
Well, two Americans have accepted her challenge and recently spent two and a half months traveling the perimeter of the United States changing typos in signs. Their book, The Great Typo Hunt, was recently featured on NPR.
But what do you do when the sign is 30 feet up? (I found these next two examples while on a bike ride in Maplewood, Minnesota).  Or on the side of a moving truck?  Now, if only we all could get paid to fix typos on signs, we could retire today! |
Well, summer is waning, and I hope the heat is too, wherever you are. I look forward to a cooler September!
Sincerely,
Elizabeth (Bette) Frick
The Text Doctor®
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