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Thanks bostonbarney! I actually admire editors and think you should be very proud that the head of the English Dept. asked you to edit. Takes a lot (or is it alot?? HA!) of skill and patience to do. That for someone
Okay, Chris, I guess I won't be too hard on myself. I mean, I did complete a 100,000-word novel. Gotta cut myself some slack. OH!! That reminds me. Another contradiction from Editor1 and Editor2: when I'd combine two words, such as ice & cold, 1 said it should be ice- cold. 2 said ice -cold. You know, w/ the space after the first word or before the second. DROVE ME NUTS!
Sooo, you've written some books?
As far as spaces, there should be no spaces except in certain cases, and I am too tired to explain the exception and too busy to search for it online. It has to do with having a list of hyphenated adjectives for one noun. So unless you have a list, if you have a hyphen, there should never be spaces on either side of the hyphen, so once you learn the one rule outlined above, you don't have to worry about space and hyphens.
Last edited by lovebrentwood; 02-28-2013 at 11:12 AM..
Gotcha. Unfortunately, there are approx 5 trillion hyphenated words in my book. And like you, I'm too tired to even think of one. I'll rack my brain & come back to post.
Okay, found two examples: She was low maintenance. He is down to earth.
Editor1 advises low -maintenance. Editor2 says low- maintenance.
E1 advises down -to -earth. E2 says down- to- earth.
Geez!! They both look wrong to me, but I went with Editor1.
My biggest fear is to get this book out there and people thinking I'm dumb because of these errors. They're not going to say, "Hmmm, that Mia, she is such a great author. Too bad she couldn't find the right editors." LOL!!!
Okay, found two examples: She was low maintenance. He is down to earth.
Editor1 advises low -maintenance. Editor2 says low- maintenance.
E1 advises down -to -earth. E2 says down- to- earth.
Geez!! They both look wrong to me, but I went with Editor1.
There are no spaces in hyphenated words. The hyphen replaces the space between the two previously-unhyphenated words. The function of the hyphen is to join two words together. It would therefore make no sense to distance the two words away from each other with spaces. With spaces, you may as well just leave out the hyphen.
It's low-maintenance, and down-to-earth.
Hyphenated words only get a space if the first word is at the end of the line, and the second word is the first word on the following line. In that case, the hyphen stays with the first word, like this:
In addition to luxurious internal features, the landscaping is surprisingly low-
maintenence. The back yard's centerpiece is a water feature designed by down-
to-earth landscape architect, Joe Jones.
My credentials: BS in Mass Communications - Print Journalism major, Creative Writing minor. I was a copy editor for a few years, and I've been a builder (gamer's word for descriptive writer) for text-based games.
Oh my gosh! So I was right, yet the editors advised me to change all those freakin words in my manuscript. And I paid them!! Great, just great. Wonder if I can get some of my $ back. Say, a dollar for each word I had to change and now have to change AGAIN. Hmm...
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It has to do with having a list of hyphenated adjectives for one noun. So unless you have a list, if you have a hyphen, there should never be spaces on either side of the hyphen, so once you learn the one rule outlined above, you don't have to worry about space and hyphens.
