Quick Tip Tuesday: Your or You're

Two more terms that get mixed up quite a bit in manuscripts so offering a little clarification:


Your is a possessive term:

He is your boyfriend.

Your car is wicked cool.


You're is a contraction of you are:

You are going to the library.  /   You're going to the library

Let me know when you are at the party.  Let me know when you're at the party.

Quick Tip Tuesday: STOP YELLING!!

Overuse of exclamation points makes it read as if your characters are yelling All! The! Time!

A good rule of thumb is to seek and destroy the vast majority of exclamation marks (a good 90%), using them only when absolutely necessary to enhance the moment.  Instead, see if you can use stronger verbs/descriptives to paint the tone of the moment to really draw the reader in visually and with sensory details.

Quick Tip Tuesday: Mom versus mom

A confusion I see a lot of in manuscripts is the capitalization--or not--of Mom/Dad/Mother/Father.

The general rule is that if you can use a proper name to replace the word, then it should be capitalized.

A) “Hey, Mom,” he yelled.
or
B) “Hey, mom,” he yelled.


Try: “Hey, Susan,” he yelled.

So, in this case, A is correct--capitalized.


A) Jenny took her Dad to the grocery store.
or
B) Jenny took her dad to the grocery store.


Try:  Jenny took her Frank to the grocery store.

LOL, nope, that doesn’t sound right at all. In this case, B is correct--not capitalized.


So, for a quick reference whether to capitalize or not, simply read the sentence out loud using a proper name in place of the parental term of choice.

Quick Tip Tuesday: A litTILe but big issue

Amazing how one little word is a main correction in every seven out of ten manuscripts I edit.

Till...til...'til.  Which is right?

As usual, it all depends on what you are trying to say...

He slid the ten dollar bill into the til and took out a five to hand back for change.

Till -- a store's cash register.

He slid the ten dollar bill into the till and took out a five to hand back for change.


Til we meet again.
I ain't givin' you no money til you show me the goods.

Till we meet again.
I ain't givin' you no money till you show me the goods.

'Til -- is the short form of Until...the apostrophe goes in place of the missing letter.

Until we meet again.
'Til we meet again.
I ain't givin' you no money 'til you show me the goods.

Til is technically not a word -- mostly used in abbreviated reference of "Today I Learned"


Hope this helps and you can say, "TIL how to use till and 'til the right way." 😁