Everyone needs an editor

“I have spent a good many years since―too many, I think―being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that's all.” Stephen King

One of these days I'll know when it's most appropriate to write "which" or "that."

By the time I'm sixty, maybe I'll know when "as" should be used in place of "like."

Before I die I will, perhaps, use the semi-colon with confidence.

Until then, I'll put my trust in editors and you, dear readers, who gently correct what I write. This fact is perhaps why I enjoy this TED talk so much. Mary Norris is the nit-picking copy editor at The New Yorker and her job is as impressive as it is intimidating.

In fact, I would be far more intimidated knowing Ms. Norris than I would Warren Buffet. Her skills are clearly in a league of their own.

If you appreciate the written word, spend nine minutes listening to this fascinating talk.

I don't know about you, but I was glad to hear that "everyone in the vicinity held their breath" made it into print!