Editing for the Tooth Fairy

by Rachael Phillips

My grandson hunched over a piece of wrinkled paper, thinking faster, I knew, than his small fingers could write. “Are you making up a story, Joey?”

He threw me a jack-o’-lantern grin. “Nah. Writing a letter.”

An upstanding member of the Nosy Grandmas of America, I had to know. “To whom?”

“The Tooth Fairy. She’s late.” He shook his head at such inefficiency. “But I better edit this again before I put it under my pillow.”

Words to warm a writer grandma’s heart. Perhaps some of my poor grandchildren have inherited the big ears that run in my family. Maybe I have passed on my poor map reading so that someday, they will end up in Cleveland, when the interview was in Chicago (hey, they both start with C).

But Joey’s Tooth Fairy correspondence gives me hope my descendants will make this world a better place because of wisdom they learned from Grandma, namely:

• Most sentences don’t end with semicolons, no matter how local newspapers read.

• Restaurants whose menus offer hamburger’s and french fry’s should be closed by the Grammar Board of Health.

• “Laying down” often involves losing cash, whereas “lying down” involves a nice, soft sofa or bed and a brief vacation in Dreamland. The wiser choice is obvious.

• Slapping a, comma, in random, places, does not necessarily, a good, sentence make.

• “UR gr8” may impress some Tooth Fairies. Some may even like “Your great.” But if we aspire to higher quality and possibly bigger bucks, grammatical fairies prefer “You are great.”

Finally, spelling and grammar checks are our friends, but they can be sneaky. The best final check is one—no, two, according to Joey—done by exacting humans. And not that I’m prejudiced or anything, but he’s the smartest eight-year-old in the world.

How about you? Any writer wisdom you hope to pass on to your family? Any perfect child/grandchild stories? Pictures?   

Are You Stylin'?

Is your writing in style? Which one? There are several, you know. Or, didn’t you know? I’m not talking about font or letter style—I’m talking about grammatical and punctuation style. Yep. Crazy, isn’t it?

I thought there was only one way to punctuate. That’s what my primary and secondary teachers taught me—there was the right way and the wrong way. Right?

Wrong.

It wasn’t until I submitted a book proposal to a contest and received several judges conflicting comments that I realized this wasn’t true. One editor said I used too many commas. The other one said my grammar and punctuation were spot on and gave me a score of five out of five.

How can that be? How can the same work be both right and wrong?

Here’s how. There are many different writing styles and guides. Here are a few:

• ACS Style Guide
• The Chicago Manual of style
• Turabian
• The Elements of Style
• The Elements of Typographic Style
• ISO 690
• MHRA Style Guide
• MLA Handbook
• MLA Style Manual
• The New York Times Manual
• The Associated Press Stylebook
• The Oxford Guide to Style/New Hart’s Rules
• The Publication Manual of the APA

These style guides each contain different sets of rules. Different publishing houses may use different style guides. Some are used by magazines and newspapers; others by universities. Most guides have new and old editions. The current CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) was updated in 2003 to include computer technology and internet information. This manual is the 15th edition and is said to be the biggest update in 20 years. My critique partner, Lisa Harman, says that styles are like different versions of WORD. There are upgrades, but some publishers prefer to keep their older versions—many times because they’re paid for.

So which style should you choose?

Ask. Most publishing houses have a preference and share style sheets with their writers. Sometimes you can find their preference in their guidelines. The style guides enable a standard of uniformity in writing regardless of how many different authors write for the publisher.

Preferred styles relate to things like grammar usage, whether to use ‘ise’ or ‘ize’ at the end of words, whether numbers should be spelled out, or digits used, etc. The New York Times Manual gives some whimsical entries, such as one for how to spell shh.

Here’s another example. Which one is correct?

Her worn Bible sits on the nightstand. I pick it up, run my fingers over its leather cover, and open it.

Her worn Bible sits on the nightstand. I pick it up, run my fingers over its leather cover and open it.

Both are correct. Whether you put the comma after the word cover depends on the style and edition you’re writing for.

But what if you don’t know who is going to be the lucky publisher of your WIP?

Which style do you use? Pick one and be consistent. I choose the Chicago Manual of Style because it’s the one I’m most comfortable with. I figure if I can successfully and consistently demonstrate that I can write within the parameters of the CMS rules, than a publisher will have the confidence in my ability to switch to their style if it’s different. Wouldn’t most of us do that for the sake of getting published?

Dr. Dennis Hensley, the director of the professional writing major at Taylor University, says, “When in doubt, reference my book, Teach Yourself Grammar and Style in 24 Hours.”

Don’t let style inhibit your writing. Just know that there’s a difference and the next time you read a novel, magazine, or newspaper stop and notice the style differences in punctuation. How are they different? And as you gather information about publishers, ask what their preferred style is.

The most important thing, though, is to keep writing because if you’re not writing, you’re not stylin’ at all.

Does Grammar Leave You Comma-tose?

Recently after realizing how far I’d strayed from being “comma-tically” correct, I sent my manuscript for a grammar edit. There are many rules about commas however due to space constraints I’m limited to sharing five.

RULE # 1: Use a comma to separate a prepositional phrase if it makes the sentence easier to read or clarifies the meaning. Technically, you could omit the comma in my above opening sentence and it would still be correct, except for the nonexistent word “comma-tically.”


Since I was in a time crunch I’m eternally grateful to Sarah for performing that editing feat, however, I thought it was time I brushed up on my grammar and hopefully some reader will benefit.

RULE # 2: Place a comma before and after a conjunctive adverb that falls amidst other words in the sentence. “However” is the conjunctive adverb which affects the entire clause not just one verb.


Those who love commas know where to put them, but those who don’t would like to make a few suggestions.

RULE #3: A comma separates two independent clauses joined by a coordinating or correlating conjunction. Don’t let the big words confuse you. They mean the two clauses are conjoined at the “but.”


English teachers, grammar police, and left-brain fanatics love the order that commas bring to a sentence. Agents looking for professionally prepared manuscripts, editors wanting the next best seller, and your Grandpa seeking a delicious lunch also think commas are important. (It sounds weird, but stay with me.)

RULE # 4: Commas separate items in a series of three or more words, phrases, or clauses.


If you still don’t believe commas are important, compare the examples below. I’m positive Grandpa has a definite opinion about comma placement and you would, too, in this instance.

Let’s eat Grandpa
Let’s eat, Grandpa

RULE # 5: A comma offsets a noun in a direct address.

It is plain to see the mild-mannered and ordinary comma can save lives. Given this truth, we should all be grateful for grammar, grammar police, and the fact that we don’t have to verbalize commas when we speak or we’d all be covered in spit.

What are the comma frustrations you face?