Susanna J. Sturgis   Martha's Vineyard writer and editor
writer editor born-again horse girl

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Sturgis's Laws

May 09, 2007

These have been popping into my head over the years, usually while editing, talking about editing, or avoiding editing. Some of them are more about editing than others. Some don't seem to be about editing at all. Appearances are deceiving. Everything is about editing. Editing is about everything. Everything is about everything. Homo sum: humani nil a me alienum puto: I'm a human being; nothing human is alien to me. Some editing, and some editors, are pretty weird, but alien? Never!

Some editors are overfond of rules. That's why these are laws. Feel free to ignore, violate, or forget them at will -- but if you're editing anything I wrote, you better have a pretty good reason.

Sturgis's Law #1:
If you stare at any sentence long enough, it will look wrong.

Sturgis's Law #2
Given enough time to fill, even the most intelligent commentator will wind up making stupid statements.

Sturgis's Law #3
A good sentence is more than the sum of its parts.

Sturgis's Law #4
"The check's in the mail," "I gave at the office," "All this manuscript needs is a light edit": Caveat Editor.

Sturgis's Law #5
Hyphens are responsible for at least 90 percent of all trips to the dictionary. Commas are responsible for at least 90 percent of all trips to the style guide.

Sturgis's Law #6
Your writing will teach you what you need to know.

Sturgis's Law #7
It's hard to see the whole when you're up too close, and easy to see unity when you're too far away.

Sturgis's Law #8
People tend to define problems in a way that makes them part of the solution.

Sturgis's Law #9
Guidelines are not godlines.

Sturgis's Law #10
"Consistent hyphenation" is an oxymoron.


And last but not least:

Typos are Coyote's footprints in your manuscript.

It's not a law because "law" and "Coyote" are pretty much mutually exclusive. As usual, Coyote showed up before the numbering started.

 

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