I’m tired of using writing prompts and memes as examples for my “Writing Glitch” posts. I want something that’s part of an actual story, written the way actual stories are written. On the other hand, using short passages from published works seems unwise. So I’m asking for volunteers. If you’re a fiction writer, would you be willing to share a small (up to a couple of pages) sample of your writing for me to glean snippets from?
(If you want me to copyedit/proofread more than a few paragraphs, by the way, you can request the free sample edits you’re entitled to as a follower of my blog.)
About Thomas Weaver
For several years, I’ve been putting my uncanny knack for grammar and punctuation, along with an eclectic mental collection of facts, to good use as a Wielder of the Red Pen of Doom (editor).
I'm physically disabled, and I currently live with my smugly good-looking twin Paul, who writes military science fiction and refuses to talk about his military service because he can’t. Sometimes Paul and I collaborate on stories, and sometimes I just edit whatever he writes. It's worked out rather well so far.
My list of non-writing-related jobs from the past includes librarian, art model, high school teacher, science lab gofer… Although I have no spouse or offspring to tell you about, I do have several cats. I currently spend my time blogging, reading, editing, and fending off cats who like my desk better than my twin’s.
North of Andover 
After I get back from vacation, on the 25th, I’ll send you a sample of my WiP. It is a back burner project, but it is a few pages long.
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You’re welcome to plunder my blog which is pretty raw writing 🙂
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Oh, good idea!! Feel free to use my blog too!
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Well, I’ve got 143 pieces you can have a trawl through. Bound to be some glitches in there somewhere. Or I’ve got a few old WiP you can have a look at. Feel free to hit me up.
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Scary, scary proposition!
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Sources will be anonymous (unless the writer chooses otherwise), though, which should make it less scary.
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You’re free to use any of my Flash Fiction on my blog (there’s a category for it at the top of the page). Many are nothing more than glorified first drafts that I’ve hastily blogged; sure to be plenty of errors within them.
Big fan of your snippets! I always look forward to seeing them pop up on my reader 🙂
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Could you throw me an editorial bone and do a writing glitch that addresses this sentence?
“He suspected the project wasn’t approved by the Marine Corps chain of command.”
In the context of fiction writing, I’m curious about the possessive form of Marine Corps (I’m seeing examples of both Marine Corps’ and Marine Corps’s being used), as well as when/if chain of command ever gets hyphens. I’ve been trying to find a CMoS reference to help me, but have been left with only blistered fingers and teary eyes.
This may be simple, but for whatever reason I’m losing my mind with this sentence. Perhaps too much caffeine and not enough sleep. Thanks in advance.
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In the past, the rule was to leave off the s after the apostrophe if the noun itself already ended in s, but that practice has fallen out of favor (because most people couldn’t remember the rule, I suppose), so now the rule is to ALWAYS add aposotrophe-s to form a possessive, even when (as in the case of “Marine Corps”) the s is unpronounced. (Mercenary Proofreader HATES this rule, by the way, but who are we to argue with CMS? *sigh*)
“He suspected the project wasn’t approved by the Marine Corps’s chain of command.”
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Thanks for the breakdown, Thomas. Did you find this under the possessives section in CMS?
That looks crazy, because to the average reader Corps’s looks like corpses. Like you said though, CMS is the bible and we are just unwashed heathens.
Thanks again.
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Yep. Possessives, the general rule (and also Exceptions to the general rule) — 7.15 through 7.21, I think.
CMS does say that some people still don’t write the s after the apostrophe if the word already has an s, whether it’s singular or plural… so I’m not WRONG to prefer that, just old-fashioned.
Historically, heathens bathed a lot more often than Christians. Just FYI. 🙂
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All right, I’m tracking now. Thanks for pointing that out to me. Sometimes my eyes read the rule, but my broken brain doesn’t manage to APPLY the rule to what I’m looking at. I’m getting a little better each day.
I read an article just a few days ago about how Vikings were actually very clean and well groomed folk. This was based on archaeologists finding hair brushes, tweezers, and other grooming items alongside Viking remains. I’m wondering if this was the inspiration for what you were saying about heathens?
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