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This is an error I see all the time and it is really very simple to remember the difference. When a word has been shortened we use an apostrophe to show a letter has been omitted. In the case of ‘it’s’ the original word was ‘it is’. However ‘its’ with no apostrophe shows possession, i.e. that something belongs to someone. […]

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When writing—whether an email, book manuscript or corporate document—make sure not to omit punctuation that, if absent, completely changes the meaning of a sentence! My daughter loves this one…Enjoy! Yours in crisp, error-free writing, Jessica xx

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Okay, so no-one is perfect…I may be an editor and proofreader who spends her days correcting other people’s mistakes, but just like I see the same errors over and over—such as ‘loose’ instead of ‘lose’ and ‘your’ instead of ‘you’re’ (which I previously featured on this blog)—there are four words that consistently trip me up. They are: – Restaurant – […]

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Just as weights and measurements are not standardized throughout the world—in America we use pounds and miles, while in Canada, South Africa and Europe they use kilograms and kilometers—neither are the spelling of words in those countries the same. Here are some common examples: United States Canada/South Africa/Europe   -or vs. -our Behavior Behaviour Color Colour Flavor Flavour Harbor Harbour […]

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‘Your’ is a word that denotes possession, for example: “Class, please take out your workbooks.” ‘You’re’ is a contraction of the phrase ‘You are’. Since we are shortening ‘You are’ to ‘You’re’ we insert an apostrophe to show that some letters have been omitted. For example: “You’re not going to believe what I just heard!” In my editing and proofreading […]

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During my recent web redesign, while collecting all the elements for my web designer, I noticed that three books I edited all have ‘Remains’ in their titles: Remains – a novel by Mark W. Tiedemann What Remains (originally titled Immediate Family) – a novel by Bart Baker All That Remains – a poetry anthology by Peter Serchuk I hadn’t realized […]

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You know how some days you wake up feeling blah and you just want to crawl back into bed and shut out the world? Then other days you feel like the day ahead holds so much promise and potential! Today I’m feeling especially grateful for all the blessings in my life—let’s keep in mind those in Oklahoma who lost possessions, […]

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Just for a bit of fun, I thought I’d post my favorite limerick of all time here. Enjoy and have a great weekend! There once was a man from Dumbarton Who thought he could run like a Spartan On the forty-ninth lap His braces went “snap!” And his face went a red Scottish tartan Yours in crisp, error-free writing Jessica […]

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It’s amazing how often I come upon this error when proofreading book manuscripts! In fact even my husband gets this one wrong. I suppose the confusion comes about because of the “oo” sound in lose. It sounds like “oo” but is spelt as “o” so most people see “loose” and assume it must say “l-o-o-z-e.” What they don’t realize is […]

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Okay, so call me old-fashioned but when I read a book I prefer to hold the book in my hands vs. reading it on an electronic device. Of course when I edit and proofread I mostly do it on computers—usually in Word or Adobe—unless the client specifically prefers me to edit on a hard-copy version of their manuscript. When I […]