Updated Words.... New words... Really?

Okay.  This has been bothering me for some time now and as a retired editor, I decided I had to finally say something. Keep in mind I'm only expressing my opinion on the subject matter, so Please, no torches.

I'm an avid reader. I admit, in the last couple years I haven't been reading as much since other things have made claims on my time. (They say when you retire you'll have more time to do the things you love. Know any more jokes?) There have been a few subtle changes in grammar that apparently no one has seen fit to question, at least no one I've heard from.

When we learned basic grammar in school, we learned about the tenses of words: present, past, future, etc.  I can remember being given a list of words for homework and having to write those words in all their forms. It was fun and challenging. It gave us a start to putting words together and making sense of them. I know. We're talking in sentences before we even go off to school. But learning about sentences and the parts of speech that go into the making of them help us to understand how language is used, created, or just exists. Watching the slow deterioration of language makes me wonder what is being taught now, if anything. There are aspects of language that are no longer deemed important, what with the advent of social media, texting, spelling and sentence structure is going the way of the dodo.

So getting to the heart of the matter. At first I figured, typo, a writing error that wasn't caught. Typos can happen in the printing process, then it's kind of too late to do anything about them. Nobody's perfect. Or it could be a mistake on the part of the writer where something isn't caught and continues to linger in future books. The bad part is when those errors (I'd like to believe that's how they started out) become the norm.

Lighted?  Shined?  Drug???  Are they for real?  ex.: Mary lighted the candles on the birthday cake. It doesn't even sound right, more like a child that has yet to learn about grammar. What happened to ... Mary lit the candles...

Or how about, John shined the flashlight around the room. Shined is meant for shoes, not sources of light. While the right way to say the same might be, John shone the flashlight around the room. I admit it's a bit awkward even though it's the proper form. It might be better as John directed the flashlight beam into the corner of the room.

And the worst of the three. Harry drugged the body away from the door. Drugged??? Did Harry cause the body to take on a chemical stupor? Sounds ridiculous. In this case Harry dragged the body away from the door. It's dead weight figuratively and literally and dragging is about the only way to move it. Granted, these are mild compared to one other item I was made aware of.

Some powers that be might be more concerned with finding ways to remain relevant in a world gone tech crazy. Not only are they accepting senseless forms of words, but they also accept new words that are inconsiderate to say the least as well as downright insulting. Recently, a new word was accepted by a particular dictionary as acceptable. It's one that is aimed at a specific group of people. I won't mention the word here, it's that nasty.  Is this what we are degenerating into with the push to make changes in our language? I know words change in meaning and other words are created to better explain the world around us, but there's such a thing as taking it too far.

As members of a vocation that uses one of the greatest forms of communication, it's up to authors and editors, more than anyone else in the industry, to make sure we present the language, both written and spoken,  at its best.

Electronic vs. Print: The Best of Both Worlds

                                                                                 

For quite a few years now, electronic books have found and pretty much settled into their niche in the reading world. When they first came out the big publishing houses said it wouldn't last. It was the beginning of a war between print and downloads.

Like anything else, the idea of electronic books needed time to grow out of its infancy and become an entity worthy of providing competition. The technology was there... It was a matter of learning how to use it to best advantage. That grew by leaps and bounds. Electronic publishers began to pop up on the internet. Some, unfortunately, saw it as a way to make a quick buck then disappear, sometimes to reappear under another name. These antics made it hard for the honest ones to earn credibility, but earn it they did.

Today, electronic publishing is a thriving industry and sooner or later, all hopeful writers gravitate to them to find a start. Not so long ago, there were lots of big house publishers that a hopeful writer could submit to. With so many merges having taken place over the years, that number is down to five major houses. To add to that problem, they won't look at a manuscript unless it's agented. In a way you can't blame them. In turn, agents are becoming harder to get. You can't make a name for yourself as an author if you don't have an agent. And you can't get a agent if you don't have a name.  By the time you do make a name and all those great sales (we should all be so lucky) you don't really need an agent.  But I digress.

Electronic publishers, or e-pubs as they're affectionately called, proved to the industry that they're here to stay. Since their infancy they've proved to the big houses that there's room for both print and electronic books. So what are the pros and cons?

On average it takes up to a year to see a book on a website, (unless you're going independent publishing which takes a lot less time). It goes through all the same phases as print but in a much shorter time. Like print, more and more of the responsibility of getting your name known, of doing all the promotion, is falling to the author. If an author chooses to go independent, or "indie" then they have more work to do but they can reap more benefits.

 Through the years, the big houses have admitted that electronic books are here to stay and have acquired their own e-pubs. As the saying goes, "If you can't beat them, join them." And that's exactly what they've done. The compromise also pretty much put to rest the debate of e-books putting print out of business. That will never happen.

Now, there's the reader's point of view, print vs. download. 

Older readers are more apt to stay with print. We love the feel of a book in our hands, the heft of it when it's a big book, (like War and Peace or Gabaldon's Outlander series. (Love all that detail)). We love to peruse the bindings on a shelf to decide what we're in the mood to read. When you visit someone you know likes to read, what's the first thing you do?  Check out their library of course.  It's a definite compliment to them.

What happens when you have limited space? You might try to find some way to squeeze in more book shelves or stack books on any available flat surface. Either you start donating older books to places that might appreciate them, libraries, rest homes, rehab centers, etc. or you don't buy any more.  If you're a bookaholic, not buying books is like trying to stop drinking or smoking. It's very difficult and nearly impossible.

So I compromised.  I've been reading some books and automatically putting them aside for the local library. I know I won't read them again. I have a lot of history books dealing mainly with the Tudor and Plantagenet dynasties. Some are straight history, others are historical fiction and they all make good reference books. Then there are books that belong to a series, like Gabaldon's Outlander series. It doesn't make sense to have that partly in print, partly electronic, so I stay with the print.

Books I want strictly for the pleasure of reading, are electronic. For years I didn't go anywhere without a book in my bag. Now I can take a hundred books with me and pick one out depending on my mood. There's no added weight, no unnecessary space taken up. And... The e-reader has its own bookmark. No dog-eared pages, no strange bookmarks (like a fried egg) one librarian wrote about. Just don't forget to charge up the reader as needed.

Everyone who reads has their own preferences, e-books or prints.  And as long as both industries are willing to compromise, we have the best of both worlds. Who says we have to make a choice?