I had a post mostly thought out and partly written about the trials of womanhood. Then I realised that it added nothing substantial to the ongoing world conversation. Having your period isn’t always fun. There. I just re-wrote the entire post in one sentence. God bless the ability to edit.
I have a love-hate relationship with editing. There is a part of me who grew up with a grammar teacher and an attorney. That part of me is very exacting and precise when it comes to words. That part of me yells at the television when a character says that two entities have a “mutually symbiotic relationship” or some other sloppily-written line.
Then there’s the part of me who is just wanting to express herself and doesn’t think it’s a big deal to colour outside the lines. That part of me is generally frustrated by the editor inside my head. Because I will have to stop my train of thought mid story to double-check whether my character is going to lay or lie down. (That’s one of the grammar things that always throws me, what with ‘lay’ also being a past-tense for lie.)
I was raised to not believe in astrology but I was born in May and the May sign is the Gemini. So there are times when I wonder if there isn’t a germ of truth to the business about me being two people in one. Two people who are always getting in each other’s way. Warring siblings of mess and order stuck inside one person.
My mother in law has PhD in journalism and I hate to even write her an email because I know she probably wants to take that famous teacher red pen and mark it all up, LOL.
I am bad at editing myself, I don’t do it nearly enough AND I struggle with not ending sentences with prepositions.
I think this means that you should never read my blog. Your nead may explode, LOL 🙂
pipper,
It’s officially OK to end a sentence with a preposition and to split an infinitive.
Not sure if your MIL knows that, though. 🙂
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Kat,
How well I know that power struggle between writer and editor. I had it even before I began working in an editorial capacity. Now I just have more ammo against myself. Ugh!
Yes, I copyedit everything: church bulletins, blog posts, PowerPoint® slides, handouts, and more. I even “proofread” what I hear on NPR. (They drive me nuts sometimes.) It’s both a gift and a curse.
I think the last sentence of the post also speaks to the trials of womanhood and periods that drag on forever (subjectively speaking).
I hate it when people taunt me with “you should never read my blog” and then don’t tell me which blog I should not ever be reading.
AAACKK!!! How can I check it out to know if I really should avoid it if I don’t know what it is. 🙂
Andrea, like you I edit EVERYTHING. It makes being on Facebook with a bunch of non-native English-speakers interesting. Although they get more slack.
And yes, bridgett, I guess it kinda does.