Editorial Notes = clarifying information, additional insight, annotations

Hiya Reader,

As a nerdy middle schooler, I asked my parents for the Oxford English Dictionary as a holiday present one year. Not the single volume, simple dictionary my father gifted, but this one, the multi-volume definitive history of the language:

I wanted the improbable set largely due to my fascination with etymology, i.e., the entries detailing word origins and their shifts in meaning over time. I told you I was nerdy — don't look so surprised!

A few weeks ago, I mentioned this interest in etymology to my writer's group, and one of our members told me about this excellent online tool (thanks, Ella!) which neither costs multiple thousands nor takes up shelf space.

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Example of the Week

Sometimes this is a good example—or a great one. Sometimes this is a bad example—or just a funny blooper. Sometimes a combination. You never know.

Years ago, my son mowed the lawn for our across-the-street neighbors. One of their sons brought a package of Chinese candies; on the bag were the labels "Store in seal up cool dryness place" and "tastes fragrantly and sweet." Both phrases are a permanent part of our family lingo.

It's straightforward enough to parse the general sense of what the candy manufacturer was intending to convey, right? Yet, the exact meaning is not what one would reasonably describe as crystal clear.

Always aim for clarity.

Actionable Tip of the Week

A trick to add to your self-editing toolbox right now!

You know those moments in your draft where you've sort of...gestured at something? The scene you summarized in a sentence because you weren't sure what actually happened. The image you mentioned once but didn't develop. The character's reaction you skipped because you'd figure it out later. These skeletal spots are everywhere in early drafts, and they're easy to ignore. But here's a way to fill them in without overthinking: mark them, freewrite them separately, paste them in, then read the whole thing to see what actually belongs.

Try this fill-in-the-blanks approach!

Open your draft and read through with a pen in hand (or use the highlighter in your word processor). Don't stop to fix anything. Just mark the spots where something's missing, skeletal. A scene that needs grounding. A character's reaction you rushed past. An image you mentioned but didn't develop. Put a note in the margin: "what does the room look like?" or "why does this upset her?" or "expand the argument."

Now comes the important part: don't reread those sections. Instead, open a fresh document and freewrite each missing piece cold. Set a timer for five minutes per gap and just write without looking back at your draft. If your note says "describe the kitchen," write about a kitchen. If it says "her reaction to the news," write a reaction. Fast and messy, no editing, no worrying about whether it fits.

You might write three sentences or three paragraphs. The freewrite might go in an unexpected direction or introduce details you hadn't planned. Either way, let it happen.

When all your freewrites are done, paste them directly into your draft exactly where the margin notes indicate. Don't adjust them to fit. Don't smooth the transitions. Just drop them in.

Now read the entire manuscript through from beginning to end without stopping.

The draft will feel lumpy and weird. Some additions will be too long, bloating scenes that need to move quickly. Some will repeat information you've already included. Some will clash in tone or voice with the surrounding text. But some will reveal something you didn't know was there.

That kitchen description you freewrote might be three paragraphs when the scene only needs one image, but buried in those paragraphs is the perfect detail. The character reaction you wrote might go on too long, but it shows you an emotional layer you'd skipped. An expansion you were sure you needed might turn out to be completely unnecessary once you see it on the page.

By freewriting the gaps separately and pasting them in wholesale, you've broken your draft open. You can now see which skeletal moments actually need flesh and which work better as bone. You can see where a single sentence does the job of a paragraph, or where a paragraph needs to become a page.

Maybe you won't keep that full three-paragraph kitchen description, but you can nevertheless see what your story needs in that moment—and what it doesn't.

This works for all kinds of writing, not just narrative styles.

Reader Question of the Week

Sharla wrote: I feel silly asking this, but I always mix up its and it's. Can you explain the difference once and for all?

Sharla! This isn't a silly question. You'd be surprised (and likely comforted) but how often this mistake happens, even in final, edited writing. Possessive apostrophes are everywhere in English, but its decided to be rebellious.

Here's the trick: it's is always short for "it is" or "it has." That apostrophe shows where letters got smooshed out. Its (no apostrophe) shows possession, like "his" or "hers."

The confusion is understandable because we normally use apostrophes for possession (the dog's bone), but pronouns break this rule. We don't write "hi's" or "her's," and we don't write "it's" for possession either.

Quick test: If you can replace the word with "it is" or "it has," use it's. If not, use its.

• "It's raining" = It is raining ✅
• "The cat licked its paw" = The cat licked it is paw ❌

Blame the pronouns — they've had this no-apostrophe policy for centuries and they're not backing down now.

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Link of the Week

I love museums of almost any type for pretty much exactly the amount of time I'm willing to sit in the stands at a baseball game (which, by the way, I also love): two hours. After that, it's like an invisible switch in my head takes my eyes to "glaze over status."

Courtesy of The Art Newspaper, here's an arguable-by-definition list of the most exciting museums opening this year across the globe. If you're like me, maybe wait for the lines to die down before booking that flight? Otherwise, the two hour interest might dissipate while you're still in line.

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Thanks for reading!

~Helene, your writing sherpa

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