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Okay humans, don’t you love it when there are tw

Okay humans, don’t you love it when there are two spellings of a word and absolutely no obvious reason as to why they might be different?

Yep, me too.

🔎 The short answer here is that “further” and “farther” are both acceptable, and can be used interchangeably whenever you’re talking about distance. Either one goes. Have at it.

(Only “further,” however, is used for non-distance-specific purposes, such as “he made plans to further his career,” or “furthermore, these examples are absolutely pathetic.”)

BUT, if you want to have some consistent framework for when to use one or the other, there is a general rule of thumb that can help.

✅ Use “farther” when talking about literal, measurable distances.

“Mr. Dude scanned the block, wiped his forehead, and groaned. He’d have to walk farther down the street than his sluggish self preferred in order to reach the ice cream shop.”

✅ Use “further” when talking about figurative distances.

“His dismay plumbed yet further depths when he realized, upon arrival, that they were sold out of Grey Poupon ice cream.”

(Yes, I have literally seen Grey Poupon ice cream for sale.)

Sometimes it’s hard to decide when a distance is literal and when it’s figurative, though, and in such a case, you can’t go wrong with just picking either version and using it. They’ve been used interchangeably for centuries.

(Obviously that makes something right, yes? Okay no, but with language, historical usage often determines acceptable usage.)

How do you decide when to use further or farther, people? What other words with similar meanings confuse you?

I’m going to the Rockies, people, and I won’t

I’m going to the Rockies, people, and I won’t be on the internet. Have a blast without me, and if I don’t answer comments or DMs for a bit, that’s why!

What's an ideal vacation spot for you? Cool, warm; mountains, beaches; country, city; alone or with peoples?

Doing stuff or just lounging around? 😂

Okay folks, this is one of those where we might th

Okay folks, this is one of those where we might think it's obvious, but it must not be. Words confuse, especially when they sound the same. Better set the peeking to closer inspection.

✅ A "sneak peek" is when someone gets a secretive little peeking preview of something to come. A peek is to peek; like peeking between one's fingers.

❌ A "sneak peak" is what Frodo and Sam were attempting up Mount Doom. A peak is a point; a mountain.

Don’t tell your readers they get to sneak up mountains. Let them peek instead of peak.

Have these guys ever given you the slip? What are some other commonly confused words that sneak by you?

Yep, I bet we’re all logophiles here. (Also ya

Yep, I bet we’re all logophiles here.

(Also yay, I managed a post that wasn’t a mile long!)

Throw your favorite words at me, people! I want to hear them. (And why they’re your faves, if you have reasons. But some words are gorgeous just because.)

Oxford commas, y’all. (So named for the Oxford U

Oxford commas, y’all. (So named for the Oxford University Press, in whose style manual they’ve been standard for a long time.) Also known as serial commas, not because they can’t stop being commas but because they’re used when listing a series of things in a sentence.

🔎 It looks like this: “red, white, and blue.”

◾ That comma before the “and” is an Oxford/serial comma. When listing the series of colors, you put a comma before the “and” for optimal clarity.

◾ No-serial-comma proponents would say to do “red, white and blue.” This is often practiced by journalists, as it saves space and is therefore better for narrow news columns.

So, both sides have their proponents. This is a stylistic preference, not a black-and-white rule. Either version is right, depending on who you ask.

I’m personally a staunch proponent of using the serial comma. It’s logical and maintains consistent clarity. Yes, many sentences would still be clear without it, but in the rare instance one wouldn’t, you’d have to add that comma and end up being inconsistent because you don’t usually use it.

Like here:

“His book was inspired by his siblings, Big Bird and Lowly Worm.”

Obvious nonsense of that aside, its intended meaning is unclear. It makes it sound like his siblings *are* Big Bird and Lowly Worm, rather than that each of those separate entities inspired his book.

“His book was inspired by his siblings, Big Bird, and Lowly Worm.”

🔎 For what it’s worth, using the serial comma is recommended by The Chicago Manual of Style, which is the standard style guide for American book-publishing. So if you write books (especially fiction) rather than news articles or something in that realm, the Oxford comma is generally expected/preferred.

✅ The main thing is consistency. It isn’t cool to be both using and not using serial commas with inconsistent abandon, so decide which practice you prefer and stick with it!

Do you have a preference, people?

If you’re a no-Oxford-comma person, tell me why you prefer that!

Folks, everything authors have to pay for in order

Folks, everything authors have to pay for in order to ready their manuscripts for publication can be overwhelming. (As I'm sure you know even better than I do.) And it’s especially evident the more words you have to prepare.

In light of that, I want to make it a smidgen easier on those who have really, really long manuscripts.

If your word count is 100K or over, congrats: you now qualify for a discount. (If you're a first-time client as well, that means you get this discount *on top of* the 20% first-time client discount! Three cheers for double discounts!)

It isn't much in the grand scheme of things, too true. But that's still a little bit of money you can save or use for something else.

What's the longest manuscript you've ever written, approximate word count?

(Seriously, I want to hear this. I'm wondering if anyone following me beats my sister Kate @katethecolorstylist, who, while not having a writing account here, is nonetheless most definitely a writer, and she's written looong and beautiful books, even longer than this sentence.)

It can be finished, in-progress, archived, whatever; just what's the longest thing you've ever written?

Because I love this quote and I love old poetry (e

Because I love this quote and I love old poetry (even though that's not actually poetry; it's an excerpt from a sermon by a poet clergyman).

But seriously, way too true. We get used to people talking about the importance of community and not being a lone wolf and all that, and then it becomes cliché. I have to remind myself.

It goes right along with the Bible verse on the second slide.

Why do I isolate myself?

Because it's easier, I think is the most likely answer. 😂 In my case at least. Easier than relationships; easier than relying on others who you don't know will be faithful; easier to just do stuff myself and mind my own business, because at least then I know it'll be done right.

I'm sure there are dozens of reasons why people who isolate themselves do, but hey. Rages against all wise judgement.

I shall continue learning.

I wanted to thank y'all though—y'all, any of you, all of you—for having a good sense of what community is here, and living it. I haven't grown up with much community experience, especially with fellow followers of Christ. It's something I adore the idea of but have yet to see or be a part of in any consistent, long-term reality. In physical, present life, I mean. This Instagram community is cool, but we need it around us in the tangible parts of our lives as well as the virtual. I don't consider this any less real than my "regular" life, but we need physical community too, right?

So anyway. Thanks for supporting each other and being enthusiastic about each other; for being on board with random and weird DMs; for talking to people you've never met before when they comment or DM you; all the cool things y'all do that welcome people and give them a sense of belonging.

It's cool, and I'm done rambling and saying "cool" now.

What are your favorite things about the communities you're part of, whether they're virtual or physical or both?

Let's make sure we're doing those things with the people around us in our present lives as well as our virtual.

Having satisfied clients is nice.

Many thanks to @stephanieadaniels for being a stellar customer and a pleasure to work with! You can find a complete testimonial she gave in my highlights and on my website.

https://precisionproofreads.com/testimonials/

You can also check out her account and see what she's up to! The book I proofread, "The Uncertainty of Fire," is her debut, and was just recently self-published. It's historical fiction set around the Great Chicago Fire, and a pretty cool story.

(Also, we must set up a plea for Instagram to make italicization in captions possible. Book titles are supposed to be italicized, not in quotation marks. 😫)

What are three of the most important qualities for you as a writer to find in a proofreader?

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