Letters to Kel: PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH WHILE YOU'RE PREACHING

You know what really ticks me off?

Writing books or articles on writing where the authors make mistakes.

Honestly, how can I consider using their advice on solving my writing problems when they can't handle the simple things, like sticking with the subject, keeping verb tense consistent, keeping plurals consistent, and using proper grammar? Or what's worse -- because it's so visible -- being inconsistent with punctuation.

Who do we blame? The author, who made the original mistakes? Or can we pass it off on the copy editor or the typesetter, who thought there were errors and went in and made changes without permission, without checking with someone -- and then didn't make changes consistently throughout? The biggest ones (and they drive me NUTS!) come from this new fashion of putting punctuation OUTSIDE of quote marks. (I don't care if Jeopardy does it that way, it's still WRONG and SLOPPY!) Honestly, where did that come from? Sure, they use it in some countries in Europe, and my publisher in Australia insists on periods and commas being outside quote marks when I'm referring to titles of books and records and things like that, but seriously? Putting exclamation points and question marks outside of quote marks when it's DIALOGUE? And the copy editor let it go through.

Or an author says, "try and figure out ..." Excuse me, there is no "try and" there is only "try to." If you "try and do" something, then there are TWO verbs in that sentence. What are you trying, and what are you doing? NO, you are trying TO do something. Honestly, what is wrong with these people, that they think they can teach me to make my writing better when they're making mistakes that only beginners can get away with -- and hopefully, ideally, not for long?

Or people putting apostrophes in front of the s when they make something plural? Excuse me, but the last time I checked, an apostrophe-s combination meant POSSESSIVE, not plural. NO!! A thousand times (not time's) NO!

Or how about this? "The car full of balloons were flying around the corner." What is flying around the corner? The car, not the balloons. Do I have to diagram the sentence for you, so you know what is acting, and what word the verb is applied to? "The car (full of balloons) WAS flying around the corner." And yet I see gaffs like this in articles from writing teachers.

It's no wonder the books I edit come to me so full of stupid mistakes -- the examples the public sees every day teach them the wrong way to do it. Come on, writers -- we're the guardians of language. Do your job!