How can we fix it to say what TR meant to say? “We’re here to celebrate the lives of two people who are extremely important to me.” That way the phrase “who are extremely important to me” modifies the noun “two people,” as opposed to it modifying the word “lives” in the original sentence.

It’s great to know that even Tony Robbins makes mistakes!

Sigrid Macdonald is a book coach, an editor, and the author of three books, including the newly released Be Your Own Editor, available on Lulu or on Amazon in paperback and on Kindle.

David just sent me a text from his cell phone.
I have to be there at 10 AM in the morning.
He was all alone by himself.
The rugged kayak lover grew up in a tiny little town.

Stop! There’s no need to repeat yourself. We know that a text message is not being sent from a toaster, and that 10 AM will always be morning. When you’re writing, it’s good to be creative and allow your juices to flow. Get everything down. But when you’re editing, streamline. Cut everything that’s unnecessary. It will make for a much cleaner sentence… And there is no need to add “please” to RSVP because SVP stands for s’il vous plaît, the French term for please.

Sigrid Macdonald is a book coach, an editor, and the author of three books, including the newly released Be Your Own Editor, available on Lulu or on Amazon in paperback, and on Kindle.

Here’s the line from “Macy’s Day Parade”: “When I was a kid, I thought I wanted all the things that I haven’t got.” Okay. What’s wrong with that sentence? The words “thought” and “wanted” are both in past tense, but the word “haven’t,” a contraction for “have not,” is in present tense. There are a couple of ways to fix this. First, we could say, “When I was a kid I thought, I wanted all the things that I had not (or hadn’t) got.” That keeps everything in past tense. Second, we could have someone from the present reflect back on the past, and rephrase the sentence like this: “When I was a kid, I thought, I want all the things that I haven’t got.” (Many people use italics for thoughts, instead of quotation marks.)

Who knew how educational Green Day could be?

Sigrid Macdonald, Author of Be Your Own Editor, now available on Amazon : http://beyourowneditor.com

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt seeks a K-12 editor for their Evanston, Illinois office. Note that this is an on-site position, not a telecommute.

The Motley Fool is searching for an editor with an obsessive streak to work in their Alexandria VA office. If you’re a grammar freak with no problems working with a Content Management System, give this one a try. Again, this is an onsite gig.

This NY Craigslist ad looks promising–the ad requests a content editor, which is a bit different than a typical editing gig as it requires specialized knowledge of content management systems and other specialized info. Got a knack for both copy editing AND gap analysis? This could be the gig for you.

The University of Maryland has a full-time editor gig open which includes work on web-based teaching materials. Chances are you’ll edit a combination of distance learning and traditional ed coursework.

Good luck!

Sometimes, the words all right and altogether look as though they are related and that they should both be spelled the same way. But this is not the case. All right is always spelled as two words; the one word version is incorrect. Altogether, on the other hand, may be spelled as one word or two, depending on the meaning. Here are some examples:

1. “Altogether, Greg was satisfied with his thesis.” In this instance, altogether is an adverb meaning wholly, completely or entirely.

2. “We were all together for Thanksgiving.” In this sentence, the phrase means everybody or everyone.

How can we tell when to use what? If you can omit the word all, and just say together, it should be spelled as two words. If you can’t omit all, you probably need to use altogether.

Sigrid Macdonald is a book coach, an editor, a writer for Freelance-Zone.com, and the author of three books, including Getting Hip, D’Amour Road, and Be Your Own Editor. Visit her at http://sigridmacdonald.blogspot.com/.

When do we use myself? When the word actually reflects back on us: “I feel the same way myself.” Use of this reflexive pronoun is becoming less popular, unless you want to emphasize a point. For example, “President Obama himself greeted us at the door.”

What about me and I? You can say, “Marianne and I are best friends; she tells me everything.” You don’t want to say, “Marianne and me are best friends; she tells I everything.” Most of the time you can figure that one out by reading it out loud.

Sigrid Macdonald is the author of three books, including Be Your Own Editor, available at Lulu.com. Check her out at http://sigridmacdonald.blogspot.com/.

I’ve been in the field since the last update, but rest assured, updates are indeed coming-including a brand new round of editor jobs. Thanks much for your patience!

Try to be as green as you can…print it in draft quality (black and white, not color), and use the other side for notes or scratch paper.