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Questions? Comments? Words in general? I’d love to hear from you!

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Banishing typos so your story can take center stage. Ecclesiastes 9:17.

Has it ever been a question for you which of these

Has it ever been a question for you which of these worthy contestants you should use?

I find this particular issue crop up a lot in my proofreading, and with good reason: it's easy to use these words interchangeably.

🔎 The happy thing is that they're all valid forms of the words, whether with or without the "s" on the end. The unhappy thing is that using both forms interchangeably in the same text is inconsistent, and inconsistency is gross.

✅ Solution: pick which form of these words you prefer—all either with "s" or without—and stick with it throughout your writing!

How to choose?

✅ "Toward" (and corresponding words without the "s") is the preferred version in American English.

✅ "Towards," etc., is preferred in British English.

If you write in American English, it makes sense to choose those standard word spellings. (And it's what The Chicago Manual of Style recommends, for that reason. It's a good idea to stick with the standards for American book-publishing if your main reader base will be American.)

But the big deal is to be consistent, whatever you choose. Go thou forth and do that!

Let's hear it, folks: toward or towards? With or without an "s" for you?

Do you hop up and get back on the rails when you f

Do you hop up and get back on the rails when you fall off the tracks?

Fun fact: I thought of this caption while lying in bed early one morning having unintentionally slept fifteen minutes or so past my alarm. What was my impulse? "Well, I'm already late; may as well just throw in the towel and sleep a little longer."

Do you throw in the towel when you fail a little bit, thus making your failure complete?

How 'bout no. I speak from deep knowledge on the subject: it isn't helpful. 😂

Perseverance is better than strength. You don't have to possess great strength or wisdom to do what you should do; you just have to do it.

If you fall off the tracks, don't lie there in resigned defeat. Hop up before you let yourself consider it. (HA, I know. Way easier said than done.) Wallowing and allowing further failure is much easier, disgustingly so. Don't do it. Don't let that even be an option in your tool belt.

"Austere perseverance, harsh and continuous," wins the day. Self-discipline, not feelings.

(And, if you follow and abide in Christ, the strength you need comes from Him, which is a whole 'nother—even more important—thing. But we're still responsible to obey.)

So! Didja sleep past your alarm? Get up anyway.

Get started writing later than you wanted? Would it be easier to just surf the web now? Nah . . . don't do that. Write anyway.

Did you start the day in an inexplicably bad mood? Would it be easier to stay in the slough of irritation/despair/any other lovely sloughs that offer themselves for our abode?

Yeah. It would. But easier isn't usually better. Let's get back on the track, peeps.

How do you make yourself get up in the morn if you sleep past your alarm?

Why so many options? (Because English likes to be

Why so many options?

(Because English likes to be confusing, that’s why.)

Thankfully the answer to this isn’t all that difficult.

✅ Both “till” and “’til” are acceptable forms of the word. “Till” more so, but more on that in a minute.

🔎 Contrary to popular belief, “till” isn’t a mutant abbreviation of “until”; it’s actually been around longer and is a word in its own right, though it means basically the same thing. It doesn’t need an apostrophe since it’s a whole word by itself.

But, because “’til” is in fact a shortening of “until,” it needs an apostrophe.

🧐 “’Til” is less standardly accepted than “till,” and shunned in formal writing. But it can absolutely be used in fiction (especially dialogue) if you want to go for that certain effect “till” doesn’t give you.

The important thing is to pick one version and use it throughout whatever you write. Don’t ping-pong back and forth between them. Consistency is cool.

What do you use? Do you have a preference between the two?

Oh, and I forgot to mention here, but “’till” = nope. You should always have either two “l”s and no apostrophe or an apostrophe and one “l.”

This dude shall speak for itself.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃 𝒖𝒔, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏
𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔,
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆
𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆,
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒚
𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒆.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃 𝒖𝒔, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏
𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔
𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕
𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆;
𝑯𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒏 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆,
𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒆𝒇𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉,
𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏
𝑶𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒎.

𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒃 𝒖𝒔, 𝑳𝒐𝒓𝒅, 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒍𝒚,
𝑻𝒐 𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚;
𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅,
𝑾𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔.

𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒔;
𝑨𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆
𝑰𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉, 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆, 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆.

𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒔𝒌 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏,
𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝒊𝒔 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕.

~𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘚𝘪𝘳 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘴 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘬𝘦 (𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘴)

I bet we all agree these dudes are confusing. Yes?

I bet we all agree these dudes are confusing. Yes?

Much causing of sorrow and grief.

🔎 It’s actually not that complicated once we can get it into our heads that “its” isn’t a contraction, it’s a possessive pronoun.

That solves all your problems, right?

(Of course right.)

That means it doesn’t need an apostrophe even though our brains are screaming at us to put one in because it looks wrong without.

Alas, our brains’ instincts are sometimes wrong. It is right either way—with or without apostrophe—but depending on usage.

✅ “It’s” is a contraction that stands in for “it is.” Always, no exceptions. “It’s” = “it is.”

◾ “It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door.”

It is a dangerous business.

✅ “Its” is the possessive form of “it,” like “his” is for “him.” It means “belonging to it.” Like “His confusion knew no bounds. Her confusion knew no bounds. Its confusion knew no bounds.”

◾ “The ringwraith crept from door to door doing its dangerous business.”

Doing its dangerous business—as if doing his dangerous business, doing her dangerous business, doing our dangerous business.

Not doing it is dangerous business, which is what it would mean with an apostrophe. We don’t say “his’s” or “our’s,” and the same principle applies with “its.”

Does that make sense, and how do you remind yourself of the difference between these two?

Duh, I know. We know what words are. 😜 But is

Duh, I know. We know what words are.
😜

But isn't it incredible that something so small has the power to do so much? Cliché to say, but seriously, think about it for a second. We’re all being influenced (or influencing others) every day by piddly little scrawlings on a page. Just letters from an alphabet. Just words.

Just words.

But there’s no such thing as “just words.”

There’s always meaning attached. That’s a pretty cool fact, but also a heavy responsibility. Let’s make sure we’re always using our little words in a way that lifts up others and brings honor to the one true Word. The One who became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth.

Though words can influence and even change our thoughts, only the true Word can change our hearts in a way that’s truly transformative and lasting. A way that takes us apart and puts us back together with new desires and allegiances.

Let’s make sure most of all that we tell others about this Word, so they too can be rewritten from the inside out.

I have no question to close this post with. Oops.

Can anyone tell right off the difference between t

Can anyone tell right off the difference between these two words?

It’s a sneaky one. I think many of us don’t notice it until it’s compared with the other version because we’re used to reading British literature. 😂

🔎 Both forms of the word are correct depending on your perspective. That “e” after the “g” appears in the British English form of the word. American English prefers no “e” there.

✅ So, though it doesn’t greatly matter which form of the word you use, if you’re writing a book in American English, it’s better to stick with the American version. Consistency and all. Either way, make sure you always spell it the same.

Did you ever notice the difference between these words?

(I didn’t until earlier this year, when a proofreading customer asked about it. Neither of us had noticed it right away because we’re used to reading British stuff. :’D There's ALWAYS more to learn.)

What are some British vs. American English spelling differences that trip you up?

This is my mantra, people. At least, I want it to

This is my mantra, people.

At least, I want it to be. You’d have to ask the people I live with how well it comes through.

And I don’t mean I consider myself a wise one who goes around quietly spouting fountains of wisdom all day. Of course I don’t. You could ask my family about that too. 😂

But I mean it’s important, and I want it to be true of me. That I speak quietly things that are valuable or need to be said; that I don’t have a loud presence full of aggression in what I want to say. That I don't shout in anger or impatience, even if those things seem justified. That taking the steady, quiet way of consideration is my default.

(Even if being steady and calm often receives, in our culture, sneering, or condescending sympathy, or assumptions that you’re an innocent little lamb who doesn’t know the ways of the world. Or that you’re a pushover. That ain’t fun, but how does being brash help in the long run? And even if it were more efficient, is it right?)

It's not because I want to be some superbly wisdomic mentor figure racking up a hearing with all those around me (talk about pressuurrre), but because I want to represent Christ, who IS wisdom. Who became wisdom for us, because our wisdom is foolishness, and useless (1 Cor. 1:26–31, 2:1–5). It isn’t wisdom, most of the time. It’s human perspective and opinion. Christ’s wisdom is so opposite ours; it’s a dying, unattractive, keeping-silent type of wisdom that loses in order to win victories for others (Isaiah 53).

Our wisdom is usually self-preserving. It’s self-important and human-reasoning-based, whether or not we see it that way.

But the wisdom of the wise is nothing, just like the riches of the rich and the might of the mighty are nothing. Jesus Christ and His Father are everything (Col. 1:17; Rom. 11:36), and we’re wise only when we can boast in understanding and knowing Him (Jeremiah 9:23–24).

And then it’s not a boast; it’s a breathtaking privilege that should leave any human brashness behind.

How can we know Him, peoples? How can we get His wisdom and leave our own behind? How do we get to that place where we’re so empty of ourselves, there’s room for all of Christ?

...continued in comments...

Whoever hasn’t struggled with this one at some p

Whoever hasn’t struggled with this one at some point, raise your hand!

*does not raise hand*

This is a troublous pair. It gave me much grief until I heard a thing that's really helped me remember, and I shall endeavor now to ease your grief as well.

This is one of those tricks like with keeping straight "stalaGmite" (G because it comes from the Ground) and "stalaCtite" (C because it hangs from the Ceiling)—it might be simplistic and may or may not stick, but is worth a try. 😂

✅ "Affect" starts with A and is an Action.

✅ "Effect" starts with E and is an End Result.

◾ "Your tickling isn't going to affect me."

vs.

◾ "Your tickling isn't going to have any effect on me."

And so you remember the difference with the A for Action and E for End Result.

🔎 We could also just say, "affect" is usually a verb and "effect" usually a noun, which is true, and useful if distinguishing between nouns and verbs helps you.

There are some exceptions, like with different forms of the word—"affected" and "effected," for instance, are usually both verbs, not one a noun and one a verb. "Affected" means basically, "changed/influenced something," as in, "the weather affected her mood." "Effected" means basically, "brought about something," as in "the weather effected a change in her mood." Both verbs.

They can both also be used as adjectives: “affected” meaning “put-on, acted” (“his affected tone failed to convince them of his honesty”), and “effected” meaning “the thing that was brought into effect” (“much work was put into bringing about the effected change”).

And so, as always, exceptions to the rule.

But the A and E thing should help in distinguishing most cases.

Why does English have to be so confusing?

(Will we ever know?)

(Seriously doubt it.)

How do you deal with affect and effect, peoples?

G'day, humans! @amandasmithwriter tagged me to

G'day, humans!

@amandasmithwriter tagged me to do the bookish emotions challenge, so behold: here it is. (Thank you, Mandy!)

◾ Happiness: a book I love

The Hawk and the Dove trilogy by Penelope Wilcock (I first read it in one volume, so I think of it as one book). It is lovely.

◾ Embarrassment: a book everyone but me has read

I get embarrassed about many things, but this actually isn't one of them. 😅 I'm generally less excited about books with huge hype, unless I have some very specific and reliable reason to believe I need them. So hm. Uh . . . well, okay, lots of N. D. Wilson's books probably qualify here. A certain someone has been telling me to read them for years and I'm only just getting started. 😁

◾ Anticipation: a book I can’t wait to read

Does Idols of the Heart by Elyse Fitzpatrick count? It's nonfiction. I must read. It's been on my shelf waiting very patiently and I can't wait to get with it.

◾ Sadness: a book that made me cry

Les Misérables. And The Hawk and the Dove trilogy. Both made me weep till my eyelids were swollen.

◾ Surprised: a book I'm surprised I like

Hmm. Probably the How to Train Your Dragon books. But you have to read the whole series if you read any; if you just read the first few, yeah, they're pretty meh. 😂 They build as they go. (Also, I am Fishlegs. Book Fishlegs.)

◾ Fear: a book I am scared to read

Basically any book a friend adores and recommends to me and hopes I'll adore too. I abhor not delivering on anticipated glee.

Tagging @veritybwrites, @wildrosejournal, and @youwillmostsurelyfind. Anyone else who wants to join, consider yourself tagged!

What would you say is the greatest common emotion you've experienced throughout your reading career? (Or basically, "have you read more sad books or happy books," but that's boring.)

Okay humans, have you ever wondered whether or not

Okay humans, have you ever wondered whether or not it’s OK to write ok?

Or what about O.K., or o.k.?

So many options, yikes.

✅ The short answer is that “OK” and “okay” are both good and acceptable choices.

If you’re writing a book or some unified body of words, pick one or the other and stick with it for the sake of consistency.

🔎 The other forms have some accepted usage in various places and you can feel free to use them if you please, as long as you know they’re not the prevailing forms and will therefore (unfortunately) look wrong. So I say “don’t use them” as an absolute because it makes sense to stick with the standard versions, but you are of course free to use them if you want. Just make sure you’re consistent with whatever version you pick!

• Don’t use “ok/Ok.” (It just ain’t professional, or something like that. Acronyms are meant to be written in all caps.)

• Don’t use “O.K./o.k.” It used to be done with periods, but that’s fallen out of fashion, and current language usage usually counts as the right one. You don’t want to look like a punctuational dinosaur.

Apologies to all I told in the past it should definitely have periods, O.K. I was uneducated. I am duly ashamed. (I think you were the main one, @daeuslamb. I crave your pardon.)

I have since learned to thoroughly research the dozen different rule variations before stating something as fact, even if I *know* it’s the case. 🤨

What’s your preferred form of “okay,” people?

I use both in my written human discourse because they give different vibes and for some situations I like one better than the other, but if I were writing a book where wording needed to be consistent, I’d probably stick with “okay" since it fits in best visually with other words.

What's courage and where does it come from, y'all?

What's courage and where does it come from, y'all?

The etymology for "courage" gives the original root as "cor," which basically means "heart" (like in Richard Cœur de Lion, Richard the Lionheart, and cœurs de romaine, like you see on the romaine hearts package when making salad).

So we could say to have courage means to "take heart."

Where do we get that, though? How can we just "take heart"? Draw strength from ourselves, make our heart do what we need it to do?

There's this Bible verse, Psalm 119:32:

"I will run the course of Your commandments, For You shall enlarge my heart."

A while back I was taking an early morning walk. I brought my coat and gloves because, even though the day promised good weather, it was cold so early in the morning.

A bit over halfway through the walk, I took off my hood and gloves and unzipped my coat, and eventually took the coat off. The air wasn't much warmer than it was when I'd started, but because I'd been walking, obviously, I got warmer.

What does this have to do with anything?

I was thinking then about fear and courage, and—be warned, this might be a dumb analogy. It doesn't seem as cool now as it did when I was out there in brisk morning air and sunrise and clouds, considering life. But bear with me a minute. 😂

I had to hunker down in my coat and walk quickly to stay warm for the first part of my walk, and it was cozy and safe, but also cumbersome. When I took my coat off, I felt much lighter and could walk more freely.

But I couldn't have taken the coat off if I hadn't kept walking in the first place.

Fear is like that, methinks. It's heavy, cumbersome, wraps around; smothers me, at times. But I don't take it off, because it's still cold outside, and if I take it off, won't I freeze?

For some reason we hold on to fear like it's going to keep us safer; like it's actually a buffer between us and the outside cold. And yeah, caution and consideration, I'm SO on board with. I don't advocate going into the cold with no coat.

. . . continued in comments (I tried so hard to make it fit 😖) . . .

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