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By Marianne Goss When I started blogging on ChicagoNow five years ago, the managing editor offered me feedback: I use too much punctuation. Editor friends laughed at the comment, thinking he meant I should punctuate less often. What he meant, however, was that I use too many different punctuation marks. His comment amused me, too,…

By Paula Froke Spell-check can’t help you correctly select there, their or they’re. But the AP Stylebook can. Some of the most popular style tips we share on the AP Stylebook Twitter account are commonly confused words. Here’s a sampler of some of the distinctions we have shared to help ensure, not insure, you get it right:…

By James Harbeck English is not one language and never has been—even Old English had different dialects. Global English is a family of varieties, mostly mutually comprehensible but loaded with traps and surprises. And even when you can easily understand English from another part of the world, you will most likely recognize that it’s from…

By Hannah Garrison When a tricky editing project has put me out of my depth, the first thing I reach for is my trusty style guide. But that will only get me so far. As an environmental sciences editor, I’m confronted daily with this conundrum: when my grasp on the subject matter is limited, what do…

By Erin Brenner You’ve decided to become a freelance editor. Hooray! Now what? Can you just hang out your shingle and go? You could, but you might soon find yourself scrambling to prepare a client for working with you, taking too much time to do what should be quick tasks, or panicking because your computer…

By Karen Conlin First, take some deep breaths. I was just trying to get your attention. You’re a professional editor, or you intend to be. But if I say “past tense continuous subjunctive in the third,” what happens? Do you nod knowingly? Or do you shiver and glance around to see if anyone else is as…

By Jocelyn L. Bailey, PhD Freelancing can provide such a satisfying lifestyle. When your workload is balanced, you can make your own hours, pick-and-choose clients, and enjoy the freedom that comes with knowing you aren’t shackled to a cubicle for nine or ten hours a day. Freelancing also comes with its downsides, though: specifically, the…