THE American Grammar Guide: The Chicago Manual of Style, Seventeenth Edition, Released 09.05.2017

For all United States authors—whether you write fiction or nonfiction books, regardless if you plan to self-publish said works or to go the traditional publishing route—your main go-to guides should be:

1. For Grammar: The Chicago Manual of Style, Seventeenth Edition (aka 17CMS herein), which released in early September 2017. Per 17CMS 1.1, these grammar rules and their many exceptions apply to books and journals for publication (meaning, both fiction and nonfiction books).
2. For Spelling (per 17CMS 2.54): Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (aka Web11). However, note that rules like 17CMS 7.89 may override some preferred Web11 spellings.

Don't believe me? Check with any of the Big Five publishers. Aside from their own in-house style guides (that trump both Web11 and 17CMS on certain issues), you'll find they use the same two reference books that I do, because this pair represents the standard accepted guidelines for US book publishing.

I've been copyediting for almost a decade now, starting out with a well-known NYC publisher for 5.5 years, but now I work exclusively with Indie-publishing authors. So I've gone through three editions of the CMS to date. Here's a photo of my flagged copies of 15CMS and 16CMS. Do your copies look like mine? Ha!

As you can see in the next picture, my 17CMS copy is more pristine and for two reasons. One, I've just had it for not quite three months. Two, I also purchased the 17CMS online version, which should keep my physical reference book a tad neater. We'll see in a year or two.

So all authors should be aware of the basic grammar and spelling rules, checking these two reference books and hiring editors as needed.

On a side note, check out my new website (link in my signature below). I've got the bare bones setup initiated but will add more pages in my spare time.

Hope everyone had a happy and safe and fun Thanksgiving. Got your tree up yet? Mine is, but it's pretty bare at the moment. This year will be another experiment, as I have mischievous pets who like to play with the wooden ornaments and chew on the (fake or real) needles. I may have to remove my tree from my house. I hope not.

Have a great weekend, all.

"If your vocation isn’t a vacation, then quit, leap, change careers."

Denise Barker, Author, Blogger, Copy Editor
Books that Build Character(s)

https://deniseannbarker.com
amazon.com/author/denisebarker

A US Copy Editor's Perspective: Reference and Style Guides

Here in the States, if you are writing fiction and nonfiction alike for readers here, then The Chicago Manual of Style, Sixteenth Edition (16CMS), is the preferred grammar and reference guide, while Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (Web11), is the preferred US spelling reference.

However, if you are publishing to newspapers, the Associated Press Stylebook (AP) is preferred for that medium—not to be confused with the APA style used for the American Psychological Association. There is also the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, which is self-explanatory, and the Christian Writer's Manual of Style based on these particular subject matters and intended audiences. Just naming these specialized alternatives shows you the pool of reference materials you have to choose from.

So pick one. Use it. Refer to it. Study it. Confirm, and defend, your style choices made.

If your home base is not America, then your country of residence has its own particular guides. Or even if you are within the United States but want one edition of your book specifically targeting your readers in Britain, then accommodate that readership by embracing the rules of that land. Hence for England, I believe the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) seems to be the spelling reference book while the companion New Oxford Style Manual appears to be the UK's grammar guide.

Best wishes all!

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

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A US Copy Editor's Perspective: What Are the Two Most Common Errors Found in Manuscripts?

Hyphens and commas.

Hyphens

The majority of the errors of the first can be corrected simply by consulting Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition (Web11), either manually or possibly from selecting Web11 as your default dictionary within Windows 8 or Microsoft Word (MSWord) 2013. Since I have neither, I am going by secondhand info here.

However, I do know firsthand that my MSWord 2010 edition does not have Web11 as its default for spell-checking functions, because there are misspelled words that are overlooked and correct words that have suggested spelling options given for them.

I bought a hard copy of Web11 and uploaded on my computer the disk that came with it. I use the resident soft copy as it's great and much faster than any free online Internet version while that remains as an option. Remember also that the online version does not give you full access to all the Web11 entries that are within the hard copy or its soft copy.

There are many hyphenation exceptions (like when two As or two Is are run together, and sometimes when two Es are found side by side), but your copy editor can help out there for all you Indie authors.

Of course the Web11 is for US authors. UK authors and others around the globe have their own preferred reference and style guides.

Commas

In general there are five easy rules for authors to know about in dealing with commas. The rest can be covered when your copy editor reviews your manuscripts. Here's my choice five:

16CMS 6.24 (paraphrased): Parenthetical elements midsentence take a pair of commas. Example: I was, at the least, mortified. NOTE: This sentence still makes perfect sense when you delete the phrase, the pair of commas and what was in between. Ending up with this: I was mortified.

16CMS 6.25 (paraphrased): The only one-word intros that require commas are: therefore, indeed and however. Example: However, I was tired. NOTE: When internally placed, a pair of commas is needed (per 16CMS 6.24 above). As in: I was, however, tired. Otherwise I would suggest no commas for other single words, especially with stand-alone LY-ending adverbs, unless for a pause effect or to add clarity for the reader.

16CMS 6.28 (paraphrased): If you have two complete sentences (each with its own subject and verb) that are conjoined by a conjunction, then a comma must precede the conjunction. Example: I had to run to the store for bread, but I needed to leave soon to avoid traffic. NOTE: Here is an exception example: I suppose that you know what you are doing and you can be trusted. Technically "I suppose that" is shared by both parts of this sentence, with "I" as the shared noun and "suppose" as the shared verb, so no comma is needed before its conjunction "and."

16CMS 6.29 (paraphrased): If a noun is shared within two clauses conjoined by a conjunction, no comma is needed before the conjunction. Example: I had to run to the store for bread and would need to leave soon to avoid traffic. NOTE: "I" is the shared noun here. Because each phrase is not a complete sentence on its own, no comma precedes the conjunction "and" here (as also discussed in 16CMS 6.28 above).

16CMS 6.36 (paraphrased): If your intro phrase has a verb in it, then a comma should follow that phrase. Example: If you had not driven me, I am sure I would have gotten lost.

Again there are many exceptions within 16CMS as to usages of commas (like none are needed around Jr. or Sr. or III as referring to names). These your copy editor can address.

In Closing

Per 16CMS 7.85, "In general, Chicago [Manual of Style] prefers a spare hyphenation style..."

Per 16CMS 6.16, the comma is for "a slight pause" or for "ease of reading."

As a copy editor and an Indie author, I am very interested in making our Indie manuscripts as professional as possible. To that end I believe both author and copy editor alike should always consult Web11 first, then 16CMS second, especially if you are an Indie author who is not a copy editor and has also chosen not to use such services. Whether you attempt to tackle the five comma rules above is up to you and how much you love learning more about our English language as used here in the States. But if you do, you will have given your manuscript an undeniable polish.

Best wishes to all.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

amazon.com/author/denisebarker

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

C. C. MacKenzie is Famous in Sweden

C. C. MacKenzie is a fellow author although across the pond--living in England but born in Scotland (forgive me, C.C., if I have this wrong). I met her on a shared online writing community and she is "a hoot and a half" as we say here in Texas.

Anyway, her latest post is a happy tearjerker (all of hers showcase her wicked sense of humor) and I just have to share it with authors everywhere. For in this one, C.C. finds out she is famous for the first time.

What a thrill!

I look forward to my own such experience.

Plus, as I said in my comment to her post, her life is just way more interesting than mine on a daily basis. So I live vicariously through her. And my book characters.

Here's C.C.'s link:

http://ccmackenzie.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/what-do-you-do/

P.S. Copy editor disclaimer here: Per CMS16 Rule 8.4, periods follow initials representing names with a space in between, unless the initials are used without a last name--then periods remain, but no space is needed in the middle of the two. Note that C.C.'s covers and blog posts reflect no punctuation for her use of "CC" and I think that is her particular preference. Were it not for the two huge publishers I freelance for and our strict adherence to The Chicago Manual of Style and this public forum, I would go along with her preferred spelling.

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

Story Structure to Die For by P. J. Reece

One of my CPs reminded me of this e-book which I had downloaded but not yet read. So I gulped all fifty-six pages last night. Major revelation!

The title is a foreshadowing, an overview, of the author's insights. Once read, you'll remember it too. And there is a lot of white space involved in the PDF version, so it won't even take an hour to ingest and learn.

You can look at the pieces of a good story or you can look at the sum of the parts. You can look to formula or you can look to goal.

Once incorporated, how freeing!

I recommend it for plotters and pantsters alike. Enjoy. Here's the link for a free download of P. J. Reece's wonderful e-book:

http://www.pjreece.ca/blog/wordpress/story-structure-to-die-for-pj-reece/

P.S. The author styles his name as "PJ Reece" without the usual periods following his initials. But for us copy editors, CMS rules. Particularly CMS 8.6 which not only requires that I put in periods, but also a space to separate each initial. Unless it was reference to the initials alone, as in "P.J." (no space in between). OR unless it was a set of three initials, like JFK or LBJ--then no spaces, no periods.

Aah (yes, this is Webster's preferred spelling), the life of a copy editor . . .

Denise Barker, author + blogger + copy editor

http://bit.ly/DeniseBarkerBlog

http://bit.ly/AMAZONDeniseBarkerEbooks

http://bit.ly/BNDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/SMASHWORDSDeniseBarkerEBooks

http://bit.ly/KOBODeniseBarkerEBooks

Manuscript Formatting Tips Before Uploading to Nook

Let me say up-front that I have not yet conquered the beast, but wanted to share some tips with fellow Indie authors. Even though I already have five e-books online at B&N, this particular one I am uploading now is longer, a novel, which compounds the errors to be fixed as I preview my work.

1.  Because I recently upgraded to 2010 MSWord, I ended up with my fiction document in "compatible" mode as I tried to upload to B&N. I found hitting "convert" saved some time and left me with less formatting snafus than from my previous tries.

2.  Beware of the default within the PubIt! site that lands you in the COLOR Nook preview. Because my offering has no color, except for the cover, and since I'm guessing there are more black-and-white Nooks in use right now than color, I'm working off the older Nook version and will so state in my Description. Although once I get the first "publication ready," then I may see if it simultaneously aligns within the color Nook as well.

3.  Styles. Use styles within MSWord. It was the only way I could get a Page Break to stay put so my chapters all ended up on a new page, along with my back matter.

4.  Extraneous spaces. I found that a paragraph ending with a period or question mark or closing quote followed by any extra spaces and then the return paragraph symbol lent all sort of havoc to my uploaded preview of my MS. Just a warning here.

And just to be clear, the resulting problem showed up pages before, pages after, no rhyme, no reason.

5.  FYI: On one of the LinkedIn communities, I saw a comment that the first paragraph of every chapter should be flush left with the large initial cap on the first word.  Yes, this does show up in many of the paperbacks I have in my personal library, no matter which traditional publisher. But, it shows up indented in regular type in others also. 

In my freelance copy editor life, I work for a large NYC publishing house with well over thirty individual lines and each one has a particular look (design) assigned to it. Some repeat. Some are different. Some are flush left, large initial cap. Some aren't. I guess I said all that to say this: I'm not sure where I sit on this particular fence. Whatever you decide, make it consistent throughout each of your books.

For now, I'm just trying to get my debut e-novel uploaded to PubIt! without one single glitch. And still working on it. Afterward, I may think about pretty-fying my work with some design elements.  Hey, I made all my chapter headings bold, so I'm getting there.

6.  Another LinkedIn community complaint was about the double space between sentences.  I learned to type on a manual typewriter therefore, yes, I continue to put the double space between sentences when I type anything--a blog, a novel, a letter, a recipe, whatever--and having a dickens of a time untraining myself.

I had to go back and delete the extra space at the end of each sentence in this very blog talking about it. Grrr.

I know. Times have changed.  I also know because, as a freelance copy editor, I am very familiar with the Chicago Manual of Style.   Per CMS 2.12: Line spacing and word spacing.  . . . A single character space, not two spaces, should be left after periods at the ends of sentences . . . . 

I'm really trying on that one. 

Hopefully this helps you and saves you the hours of frustration I have dealt with every other day this week. The days in between were to regroup.

Should I find out more, I'll report back.

Next Grammar Lesson: Dealing with N-Dashes and M-Dashes

You can go your whole life without needing these two.  HOWEVER, if you are an Indie-pubbed (my shorthand term) author doing it all yourself, you have need to know.  These punctuation marks are also called the En Dash and the Em Dash.

As set forth in earlier posts, my style guides—as a freelance corporate copy editor and as an author—include Webster's 11th edition and the Chicago Manual of Style 15th edition (or more commonly called the CMS, used for both novels and nonfiction work).   You may need a medical-based style manual or, if you write for newspapers, you will be using the Associated Press Stylebook aka the AP Stylebook.  Choose yours.  No matter the reference guide, there are still unifying guidelines throughout.  Like using nouns, verbs, punctuation marks.  Like if you are a U.S.–based English-speaking person, spelling book as B-O-O-K.

For those of you interested, the N-dash along with the M-dash can be found within MSWord's word processing system under the Insert tab, then choose Symbol and finally click on the Special Characters tab.  The regular old dash we all use to make hyphenated words is the shortest.  Then the N-dash is a little longer, but the M-dash is the longest.  You may have used one without knowing it.  Anytime you have used a double dash to add in a side thought, well, you were using the shorthand typing version of the M-dash.

Here's an example of where each should be used:

Hyphen:             He is one good-looking guy.
N-Dash:            The verse can be found at James 1:1–3.
Also N-Dash:    A North Dakota–style cold front struck our southern city. 
M-Dash:           She was young and tanned and probably weighed 120 pounds—oh, for the day when my scale stopped there!
Also M-Dash:    "I just thought—" she bit her lip "—that you cared for me."

So hyphens we probably all know how to use within the grammatically correct sphere, or can confirm with a quick check of Webster's.

If you are with a big or little publishing house, their production department works with the design of the books and the special characters, so they will have people to change any misused hyphens to their proper N-dash or M-dash punctuation before the manuscript is printed.

Again, if you are both the publisher and the author of your Indie works, then here's the scoop:

The N-dash is used for numbers (like the Bible verse quoted above) or for two-word proper nouns being modified into an adjective grouping (like North Dakota–cold being used as an adjective.)

The M-dash is for those off-tangent thoughts, to set them apart from the main line of thinking.  The M-dash can also be used within dialogue (see above) in place of the ellipsis (that three-dot punctuation mark that denotes a longer pause than say a comma and probably an interrupted speech pattern, either cut short by the speaker or by another person).

Webster's remains a monster go-to reference guide and, I'll repeat from yesterday's post, it gives a short grammar lesson when you look up "apostrophe."

The difference in the length of each of these dashes is miniscule, yet I think it serves a great function.  Even if our eye registers the three of them as "alike," I think our brain connotes the difference and gives each its own weight.  Like the shortest one, the hyphen, the dash, makes two-word combos into, essentially, one word.  Our readers skim over them just like the word "a."

I believe the N-dash is there to cause our neurons to take note, to take just a jot's pause to realize we may have read the location for looking up one verse, but it is actually the span of several.  Or to give our northern-based readers cause to smile when they read of a North Dakota–cold weather front hitting the South.  And the big one—the M-dash.  Shows us to take a moment to shift gears.

Our English grammar rules really do serve a function.  Like well-placed commas tell a reader when to pause and a period when to stop, then move on.  Isn't it wonderful that we can communicate to our readers "watch out, missing letter(s) here" by the simple use of an appropriately placed apostrophe.  It kind of boggles the mind.  Like the order of the universe.  But that's just it in a nutshell.  Order.  So consult your reference guides, or hire a qualified freelancer, and keep on learning.

P.S.  See today's additional Quote below, courtesy of Michelangelo.  It is so appropriate.  He states "I am still learning."  So true!

Two Down and Dirty (and Easy to Remember) English Grammar Tips

I need to know this stuff to make for clean, concise communication when I copy edit another author's work, as well as for my own use when I am writing my novels and in my nonfiction How-To books.  So I'll share my insights with you, distilling down a select pair here to its essence--what it does, how it works in our sentences.  If you understand the "why," then it is easier to replicate later.

This post has to do with commas and apostrophes.  Before you change screens, answer me this:  Do you know how to make "you all" into the proper contraction?  It ain't "ya'll" if that was your first response.

APOSTROPHES

Just remember that ONE of the ways to use an apostrophe is to show A MISSING LETTER OR TWO.  So, you all would properly become y'all.  Do not becomes don't.  Cannot (yes, run together, not two separate words--check out Webster's for yourself) becomes can't.  Whenever you have a missing letter or two, that is where you place the apostrophe.  So "because" would become "she said so just 'cause."

Another usage of apostrophes is to show possession, but that gets involved, what with plural possessive alone, so we'll just skip that until I have the time for another grammar lesson.

COMMAS

There is some debate about the serial comma--for example:  She carried her books, lunch and coat in her arms versus She carried her books, lunch, and coat in her arms.  I happen to think the first version is the way to go.  And for a couple reasons.  Number one, it's less messy, less cluttered.  But, number two,  mainly because of this tip:  When using a comma to separate individual adjacent words (apart from the clause-based comma as shown outside of the closing parenthesis here), only use a comma where there is not already an "and" (avoid duplication) or where "and" would still work (ensure clarity).  A comma CAN mean "and."  You don't need both, in my opinion.  Therefore, if you already have an "and" there, don't use the comma.

Plus there are some cases where an adverb modifies an adjective or another adjective modifies an adjective and you don't need a comma because you don't need an "and" there.  Here's a sentence to illustrate:  They were having pretty cold weather.  In this instance, "pretty"--which can be an adjective, noun, adverb or verb--is working as an adverb.  "Cold" is acting as an adjective modifying the noun "weather."  But you don't even have to have a working knowledge of adverbs vs. adjectives vs. nouns.  All you need to know is that you do not need a comma between serial words if "and" would not work there in its place.

Again back to our sample sentence:  They were having pretty cold weather.  If you believe this sentence needs two commas, insert an "and" where you think the commas should go.  Try reading this and maintaining the intent of the original sentence:  They were having pretty and cold and weather.  Not good.

What if you decide it just needs one comma?  Then you end up with a sentence (under the "and" construction) that would read:  They were having pretty and cold weather.  Still not the meaning intended.  Therefore, I contend this sentence needs no commas because "and" does not work in its stead.

Does that help?  I hope so.  Whether we are authors or bloggers or have need to write something for general consumption, we should communicate clearly.  Commas, of course, can have other usages--like setting off an introductory phrase as I already pointed out above or it can set off a phrase within a sentence in such a way that if you took out the opening comma and the closing comma and all the words in between, then the sentence would still make sense when read (like taking out ", of course," near the beginning of this sentence).

The English language is replete with grammar and spelling rules.  Some make sense, some don't.  But regardless of whether you are writing for a literary audience or a reading-for-fun audience, whether you are writing dialect (y'all) or colloquialisms (soft drink vs. pop) or slang (gonna) or jargon (send the RFA and RFP ASAP to the DA), you now know if you need commas and also where to place the apostrophe when you cut out some letters from the Webster-based spelling of a word.

Even Webster's will give you a short grammar lesson when you look up the word "apostrophe."

Oh, and you should have your favorite reference books from which you can state, "This is why I do this."  Be it Webster's 11th Edition and the Chicago Manual of Style 15th/16th Editions (for fiction and nonfiction)--which happen to be my two go-to volumes--or the Associated Press Stylebook (aka AP Stylebook for newspapers), at least have a standard to follow.  There are various style manuals out there.  Search the web for the medical-related version and others for the one you most need.

While you are searching the internet, Webster's has an online dictionary that now has a tab entitled "New Words & Slang" which may be of help to you.   Look for it at http://nws.merriam-webster.com/opendictionary/ or check out http://urbandictionary.com.

A final note.  There is such a thing as a "style sheet" within the traditional publishing houses.  It is called a "sheet" and not a "manual" because it is just that--pages, not a bound book for sale.  For the house where I freelance, they have chosen to override certain Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) rules.  The "style sheet" DOES NOT replace the 956-page CMS "style manual."  That would be like saying the list of the twenty words that the local third-grade students need to learn to spell by next week will now replace ANY dictionary.  No.  Of course not.

I hope this sheds a little light on a very complex subject.  For us authors, we need to be some order of grammarians to communicate well with our readers.  When I was young and devouring books, I sat with a dictionary by my side, looking up words that I did not understand.  Now that I am an adult and an author, I really don't want my educated readers pulling out Webster's like a challenge in Scrabble to prove whether or not my word was misspelled.  I don't want my novels interrupted by anything--for I want my readers to finish my books in one sitting.  To be that engrossed in my creation is my goal.  Thus, I plan on removing any such distractions from within my tales.

So turn on spell check and grammar check within your word processing system for your commercial writings, as well as clicking the spell check icon provided for within your blog or your email program or even on the Kindle Boards.  Utilizing this simple tool will stop your reader from taking an unplanned detour from your words to consult a dictionary instead.