Went back to some of my oldest drafts the other day and they almost poked my eyes out with that Classic Manuscript Format of theirs.* Brutal assault on my best instincts for appealing visual style.
I'm not a stickler, but I do appreciate some attention to protocol: mainly because it just grates having to wade through poorly formatted text: I spent my entire professional career tidying up documents for public consumption - and actually earned a lot of money and a decent index-linked final salary pension turning sloppiness into sense:
Oh, I understand. Almost all my working life as an indentured office servant for various execs involved cleaning up stuff for publication. Most fun experience: I worked for the VP in charge of Scholastic Coach Magazine, and we published coach workbooks featuring diagrammed plays by football and basketball greats, and it was my job to copy the plays and type the text. I once had to call Lou Carnesecca because I couldn't quite make out his handwriting...
...but as a submitter to online magazines I became very frustrated by what seemed a petty tyranny in many instances.
Also of course I get to kvetch here, on my own Substack, which is very satisfying...
Do pop into my own substack, please, it is free, fun, and I hope pleasant, mostly visual, and every time I go back to it I find another annoying little formatting error: I guess I am a teeny tiny bit OCDC but even minor errors just scream out at me.
I find more and more I'm compelled to use as much of the vernacular of my ancestors as possible, these days, being a Noo Yawk Jew living now in the alien culture of New England.
Hope I haven't already said this before, but Scotland is very dear to me. I was in a youth hostel on the Isle of Skye when Richard Nixon resigned and the warden invited me into her office to watch it live on TV.
I still have from there a little sprig of heather with a tiny bit of sheep's wool that got caught in it, a long time ago.
An also, I fink you should format the way ya wanna. And That Guy, Mr. Shunn, well, when he puts "he/him" after his name in the git go, I say, with as much veeeeeeheeeeemence as possible, "Oh, HELL, no." Now I lay me doon to sleep, I pray to Dog my soda keep. If I may day before I waste, I pray the cat's wet food to taste. Aw, man.
I am instate with hate regarbling Microsoft, period, altogedder now, forget WORD, it's a turd inna punch bowel.
One space after periods is vile. Putting periods, like tiny black golf orbs, outside quote marks is vile". People collie themself editors and not understanding apostrophes is VILE. I hereby vomit on their snarky gatekeeping, they are W anchors and Bug gerers and I Fart in their General Dye rection...
I've given up trying to get anything written that suits me. Formatting is so far down my list I never think about it.
I'm not a stickler, but I do appreciate some attention to protocol: mainly because it just grates having to wade through poorly formatted text: I spent my entire professional career tidying up documents for public consumption - and actually earned a lot of money and a decent index-linked final salary pension turning sloppiness into sense:
SORRY!
Oh, I understand. Almost all my working life as an indentured office servant for various execs involved cleaning up stuff for publication. Most fun experience: I worked for the VP in charge of Scholastic Coach Magazine, and we published coach workbooks featuring diagrammed plays by football and basketball greats, and it was my job to copy the plays and type the text. I once had to call Lou Carnesecca because I couldn't quite make out his handwriting...
...but as a submitter to online magazines I became very frustrated by what seemed a petty tyranny in many instances.
Also of course I get to kvetch here, on my own Substack, which is very satisfying...
Naturally, I agree.
Do pop into my own substack, please, it is free, fun, and I hope pleasant, mostly visual, and every time I go back to it I find another annoying little formatting error: I guess I am a teeny tiny bit OCDC but even minor errors just scream out at me.
I just checked the word kvetch because it is new to me: that is how bad my sad condition has become. I doubt there is a cure. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kvetch
I find more and more I'm compelled to use as much of the vernacular of my ancestors as possible, these days, being a Noo Yawk Jew living now in the alien culture of New England.
Hope I haven't already said this before, but Scotland is very dear to me. I was in a youth hostel on the Isle of Skye when Richard Nixon resigned and the warden invited me into her office to watch it live on TV.
I still have from there a little sprig of heather with a tiny bit of sheep's wool that got caught in it, a long time ago.
aww, sweet!
An also, I fink you should format the way ya wanna. And That Guy, Mr. Shunn, well, when he puts "he/him" after his name in the git go, I say, with as much veeeeeeheeeeemence as possible, "Oh, HELL, no." Now I lay me doon to sleep, I pray to Dog my soda keep. If I may day before I waste, I pray the cat's wet food to taste. Aw, man.
I am instate with hate regarbling Microsoft, period, altogedder now, forget WORD, it's a turd inna punch bowel.
One space after periods is vile. Putting periods, like tiny black golf orbs, outside quote marks is vile". People collie themself editors and not understanding apostrophes is VILE. I hereby vomit on their snarky gatekeeping, they are W anchors and Bug gerers and I Fart in their General Dye rection...