The Great Typo Hunt
OMG, I love this book: The Great Typo Hunt: Two Friends Changing the World, One Correction at a Time, by Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson. As I already mentioned in my last post, punctuation turns me on. I’m crazy about grammar and copyediting and proofreading and the like. LOVE it.
Also, I love travel.
So this book about two guys who set out on a road trip to fix typos across the country is my kind of book. And it’s told in a hilarious way, so even if you aren’t a copyediting freak like me, you’ll laugh.
One thing I liked about the book was when Jeff realized that most people are unaware there are different styles. Most people think rules are rules, that the God of English wrote them in stone hundreds of years ago and we must all be obedient.
Nah. The fun is in the differing styles, in the interpretation of the rules against the author’s own style, voice, and meaning. Copyediting can be quite a creative pursuit!
They have a blog about the Typo Hunt, and if you’re into this stuff, the Blog of Unnecessary Quotation Marks is hilarious.
Since we’re on the subject of funny misconceptions, last weekend I met some people at a potluck dinner at the RV Resort. I told someone I wrote erotica, and the person next to me said, “You must make a ton of money, writing!”
The person across from me said, “I’ve never known an erotica writer. I would love to know an erotica writer. That would be fun.”
And the best was the woman who said: “Oh! So romance authors hire you to write their sex scenes? How does that work?”
Hah! Love it.
Have you found any funny typos lately? Any amusing misconceptions about the writing business?
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Natasha Fondren is a writer traveling the U.S. in a camper with her four cats. She is currently enjoying the lizards and desert heat in Arizona.
I saw those guys on the ABC World News. I love that kind of stuff. I see typos everywhere.
So romance authors don’t hire you to write their sex scenes? (That’s really weird)
Fascinating stuff!
I totally didn’t see that question. I couldn’t have made it up if I tried, LOL. It’s fantastic. I have to figure out how to use that. I mean, is that like how actresses have “butt doubles”? LOLOL!
Too funny. I helped a friend write a sex scene without having to be graphic. I was just giving her a clue on how to write it, and she asked if she could use it. I told her to go ahead. She’s a fast learner, and I’m sure she’ll do the next one better by herself.
I’ll keep that book in mind for when I have more time.
Oh cool! What’s funny, Edie, is that I’ve always joked that I’m the only erotica author who hasn’t written a sex scene. My stuff was like kinky romance, rather than erotica. Even though I’ve pushed myself to write more erotically, I still feel like a beginner at them.
It sounds absolutely fascinating, or absolutely narcosis inducing. I can’t decide which.
It definitely has a humorous bent. They meet all sorts of characters, asking if they can alter and correct signs, LOL. The reactions to the requests are often funny.
I don’t fix typos. I’m the guy who makes them. Can’t even find my own.
If you really did write sex scenes for Romance writers maybe you could branch out and I could hire you to write sex scenes for a eunuch.
Hah, Eric! I could do that. Maybe.
It’s hard to see one’s own typos. Way easier to spot them in someone else’s work.
Oh that’s funny about hiring you to write the sex scenes. Maybe I should consider that.
I heard an interview with the typo guys on NRP this past Saturday. I’d heard of their blog (and efforts) and I think it’s awesome they have a book from it.
It could be a totally new business venture! LOL!
I love this! I have been tempted myself to go correct typos!
Sylvia
Me too, Sylvia!
I always type “from” as “form.” Which, of course, never gets picked up by spellcheck!
Argh! That would drive me nuts, Barrie!
[...] want to celebrate, but I don’t know how to. I can point to my recent post, The Great Typo Hunt. Or a post a couple years back about Gertrude Stein: Passionate about [...]