wild beauty
“More flowers?” Calliope was concerned readers would begin to mistake Born Free Newsletter for Better Homes and Gardens… or a Jung Seed catalogue. She liked variety… a fork here, a yogurt top there… maybe a freshly baked and delicately iced scone photographed with the skill of Martha Stewart’s staff. It’d be fine if readers mistook BFN for Martha Stewart Living…
“Tis the season?” Thalia quipped. “In January we’ll be longing for petal pics.”
“C’mon, c’mon… let’s wrap this up. We’re meeting with our editor in… ,” Urania looked at her watch, “… 46 minutes. Grammar question… Should Typist have typed forty-six instead of 46? There’s a rule about that, isn’t there?”
“Say oui to whatever the editor brings! Noosha will tell us… and as we make our corrections we’ll form new habits.” Thalia performed an acceptable cartwheel. “If she tells us the entire manuscript is dreck — I shall be happy to begin again. Joy is in the process. Isn’t it lovely to have somebody who cares about our work as much as we do?”
Calliope opened her eyes as wide as dinner plate dahlias.
The anticipation felt delicious enough to eat.
Based on my experience with editors, as a tech writer, the Main Rule seems to be: Pick a style, any style, BUT THEN FOLLOW IT. CONSISTENTLY. Spell out numbers ten or below, spell out numbers one hundred or below, fine, but once we pick a style for the project documents, THEM’S THE RULES. (Except two spaces after a period. None of my editors liked that.)