Down the Road

Photographs and stories by Jim Grey

Tag: editing

  • Defending good grammar, sort of

    Defending good grammar, sort of

    When you write, do it only as well as the situation demands.

  • Recommended: Writing workshop

    A recommendation of a terrific writing workshop.

  • Why I have trouble editing my own photographs

    A school of thought says to delete all but your best photographs. Bah, I say.

  • How to blog more often

    What I’ve learned in ten years about how to blog frequently.

  • Defending good grammar, sort of

    This post first appeared three years ago today. WordPress.com included it among that day’s Freshly Pressed posts, which led to the most views ever in one day on this blog: 5,189. That was a tenth of all the views I got all that year! It was a turning point for my little blog, bringing me…

  • Seeking injunctive relief from the misuse of “amazing”

    I’m rerunning this 2011 post because it didn’t solve the problem the first time. Try, try again. IN THE COURT OF PEEVES, CROTCHETS, AND IRKS CAUSE NO.  _________________________ JIM GREYPetitioner v. ALL ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLE EVERYWHERERespondent PETITION FOR INJUNCTION PROHIBITING MISUSE OF THE WORD “AMAZING” The Petitioner alleges against the Respondent and states as follows: That…

  • The difference between quality and excellence

    It’s Down the Road’s fifth blogiversary! All month I’m reposting favorite stories from the blog’s early days. My long career in software development was briefly interrupted in the mid 1990s when I took a job editing technology books. My first project was editing a new edition of one of the publisher’s biggest sellers. I drew this…

  • Defending good grammar, sort of

    Blogger Penelope Trunk wrote last year in defense of poor grammar. And then recently she did it again. She claims that it’s better to judge people by their ideas, creativity, and enthusiasm than by how well they write. The implication is that as long as they can get their ideas across, the grammar (and, by extension, punctuation and…

  • Pride of workmanship, part 2

    I moved to Indianapolis many years ago to take a job editing technology books. My first project was editing a new edition of one of the publisher’s biggest sellers. I drew this plum assignment not for my l33t editorial skills, but for being the new guy. You see, the author had a reputation for running…