Welcome

July 12, 2013 (Except that I didn't post it then. I revised it on 2/20/18 and posted it, but then started another revision and left it in limbo. Today, 3/1/18 I'll post it again.)

Welcome to WORDS WELL USED, my blog for comments on writing errors in the books I read.

I'll complain whenever the author or the author's copy editor were not as careful as ne ought to have been.  I'll praise in the rare instances when the copy editor's work is flawless, or, as I believe may happen even more often, when the author holds nerself to such a high standard that, before submitting the manuscript for publication, ne catches what I would have caught, had ne asked me to read it.

I've decided the first post should be one of praise.  See Binocular Vision. (Well, maybe later, because on 2/20/18 I started the Extinction Series.)

I read with my ears. That is, I hear the words as I read them. This may explain why I notice when a writer uses a word that is not quite right.  Often these errors arise from either (1) the wordly wise problem, or (2) the bad habit of not using _____. (That is, leaving a blank space instead of a word you know is wrong:  if you include a word, you'll forget to fix it but if you include a _____, you won't think you're done until you put in the right word -- at least in theory)..

I call such things stoppers.  Other stoppers are ordinary typographical errors, awkward phrasing, inconsistent parallels, etc.

I am also a stickler for facts. Things that strike me as possibly untrue grab my attention and will make their way onto this blog.  As a lawyer, particularly at Fish & Neave (now in 2013 part of Ropes & Gray), I learned from such excellent writers as Eric C. Woglom, David J. Lee, Kenneth B. Herman, Robert C. Morgan and Jesse J. Jenner, that you NEVER write something you are not 100% sure of.  The credibility of counsel can affect a judge's decisions even more than that of the witnesses.  Worse (for the non-credible), it can do so in the early stages, when the roles of bad guy and good guy have not yet been assigned in the judge's mind.  Even writers of fiction need to worry about their credibility, with this judgmental reader if not the general public or History (capital H).  But I think History will share my views.

Draft begun 10/12/2012, rev 11/16/12,
rev and intended to post 7/12/13,
posted then further rev begun 2/20/18,
rev and posted 3/1/18