by Tammy Ditmore | Jan 8, 2013 | Editing, Language, Writing
#Hashtag. The American Dialect Society voted last week to dub #hashtag the Word of the Year for 2012. When I first heard that news, I winced. The word seems too trendy and tech-focused. I know a lot of people who have never used Twitter and never plan to use Twitter....
by Tammy Ditmore | Nov 10, 2012 | Editing, Language
Copy editing is a profession full of rules and guidelines. The first rule of editing? The rules don’t always apply. That no rules rule especially affects editors working with fiction. Colleen Barry in her “Ask Copy Curmudgeon” blog addresses this dilemma in her Friday...
by Tammy Ditmore | Sep 24, 2012 | Editing, Events, Language
I haven’t managed to produce a blog post in the past couple of months because I’ve been thinking too much about other writers’ works to think for myself. But as an editor, I just couldn’t pass up a chance to wish everyone a “Happy National Punctuation Day!” What? You...
by Tammy Ditmore | Apr 29, 2012 | Language, personal reflections, Speech
Twenty years ago today, I brought my firstborn home from the hospital. He was barely 24 hours old and not well-adjusted to his new environment. I was in pain from a difficult delivery and not well-adjusted to my new role in life. I expected to shut the doors on the...
by Tammy Ditmore | Apr 22, 2012 | Editing, Language, personal reflections
Words have power. So says the new brochure for eDitmore Editorial Services. I was reminded of that phrase Saturday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books because it is powerful to watch thousands of people browsing through hundreds of booths filled with words in...
by Tammy Ditmore | Aug 2, 2011 | Language, Speech
Like most Americans, I have been dismayed and disappointed by the tenor of rhetoric coming from Washington in recent months, particularly during the recent debt-ceiling debates. I have a hard time understanding why it seems so difficult to get anything done. But a...
