Urban Legends About Benches .. and Something on Proofreading!

It's all fun and games until people hear about the magic benches! For some, more fun than others!

I had written this on Valentine's Day but didn't have a chance to post it until today. Since I made it, Chelle has posted her own take on the "Bench Universe" as such, and it's a breezy caption that definitely has the charm I like to put into them. Could definitely see myself writing exactly what she had written.. Check it out in the right hand column under Dee-generate Bloggers.

For this caption, I liked that the bench was far off in the background. The story came to me while I was putting the picture into the caption setting. I had the first line in my head, and just decided to continue the meta paths I've been heading down. Not sure if it is because I've done all the "straight" or "standard" bench captions I could think of at this point in time, or just want to get odder and more obtuse with the format going forward. Luckily I won't run out of source photos anytime soon!

And how often are Urban Legends correct? Something always gets mixed up or fabricated as it spreads, just like the telephone game. That or someone with magical skills sort of let the cat out of the bag, sort of. They aren't lying .. what was said DID happen, just not the way they expected it!

And now on to our little "lesson" for today's post. I whipped this "column" up way back in 2008(!) for the Shop Talk section of the Haven that I believe I also might have started. Will update it a bit here, but the guidelines are pretty much still on the mark.

Some Guidelines on Proofreading

(1) Read it out loud

You will find more mistakes by reading the actual text out loud. Our minds work in mysterious ways. I am sure you've seen the email that has been resent time and time again where almost every word is spelled wrong, and vowels are missing. Even though it can be jarring to our eyes, we are still able to read it.

Another thing it does is make sure we don't double up on our words. I know this from doing it often. I have left a "the" at the end of a line of text. Then on the next line, I will repeat it. This happens to me more so when I am captioning across the bottom of a picture, as opposed to when the text runs along in a column. 'The','a' and 'an' are truly hard to see in proofing, as articles tend to be ignored.

Thirdly, you can see where punctuation goes in your sentences. The inflection your voice gives when reading out loud can be a good indicator of a need for a comma. It also can give you a clue as to whether the sentence is running long.

(2) Get a proofing buddy

I have a number of trusted friends that will look at a caption for me and point out spelling errors, poor word choice, something that doesn't flow well, or an interpretation I didn't expect them to have. The reason I wanted to BE a writing coach was among other things, the interaction and discussion of proofing captions, and how to improve our style.

Is there a person that you think writes really well? In the trading post, do you find yourself agreeing with another's comments consistently? Strike up a conversation and see where it leads. I will, if asked to do so, proofread a few captions for anyone that would like to take me up on it. There have been times when I've said "Damn, I wish Bren had proofread that caption I just posted last night.' She's felt the same way, which leads me to the next point.

(3) Take your time, do it right

We all want to get our ideas out as quick as possible. It is better if we take our time and check it later on for accuracy. Maybe an hour will do. Maybe it needs to be looked at in the morning to get a fresh perspective and a rested brain.

(4) Other thoughts that don't deserve there own heading

Font style and size: When you are proofreading, try to pick a font that is easy to read. Have you ever tried to read a ransom note? A caption with fancy script looks nice in the final arrangement, but is VERY hard to proofread. Is that an S or an F, or perhaps a Z? Spacing issues can be a factor too. Not all fonts kern well, and others look better in small sizes rather than a headline. (kerning is how letters fit in next to each other)

Printing a hard copy: If you don't mind spending ink, print out a copy to proofread. Looking at a monitor and looking at the written page are two different things. Holding it in your hand might be a way to see something you didn't notice when just looking at the screen.

Don't rely just on Microsoft Word: Microsoft is in the software business. They are not literary critics. Microsoft can only GUESS at what word you are thinking about using. Check out the "writing exercise" for an example.

From Petra (Damn, I MISS that girl!) "One proofreading trick I use from time to time is to read things backwards word by word, e.g. word by word backwards things read to is time to time." This will not help with grammar, but it will make some wrong words that are spelled correctly stick out like a soar thumb. (get it soar instead of sore, pretty funny right, right?) ... ehh my humor is lost on you people!"

 Here was the writing exercise I included to get people to have fun with the guidelines.

Create a caption that contains or refers a : Spell, Document, or Contract.

of some sort that works in an unexpected way due to an error of syntax, spelling, or other problem with wording.

example: You have a picture with a half naked girl around a bookshelf or two. You could set up the caption as being it's due to Steve not proofreading his job application when he applied for a job, now he works in a "pubic" library as Stephanie. Here's the one I posted as an example re: handwriting..

So, instead of a DIY Caption Challenge, i offer you this writing exercise. I'll post all the ones you submit to me (of COURSE you will submit to me! Kneel before DEE1) in a post around February 29 or so, near the Leap Year. You can also point out some proofreading tips and/or talk about the caption I made for Chelle. You can email me at : Dem@ent@ia.n@otme@you@gma@il.com .. just take out all the superfluous ampersands, and keep the one that SHOULD be there.