Corrigenda and Amendments

Led you astray there, didn't I?  Corrigenda.  Lovely word.  Had to use it.  Compelled, I was, to include it.  It means 'correction of an error  -  especially a typographical error".  Cool.

Amendment, we know, is a change that has come about since the last issue or instruction that needs to be incoprorated into the current set of instructions or thinking.


These words are not interchangeable.


There are lots of words that have similar meanings that are not interchangeable.  I have recently seen 'refute' used when 'deny' would have been more appropriate.


Care.


Care must also be taken in some singular/plural situations.  'Phenomena' and 'phenomenon' spring to mind as does 'dice' and 'die' ("the die is cast').  In this case 'cast' means 'thrown' and not produced from a mould by pouring in a liquid.  That is another thing, words that are the same but have different meanings.  'Spring' is a fine example.


Elephant traps.


The English language is full of them


I am, I will admit to myself, very good with words.  I have studied them all my life.  I wrote 'The Hags of Teeb' as a play on words and could have added many more (but did not wish to overload the story!).
Nevertheless, beside me are well-thumbed copis of the 'Oxford Concise Dictionary' and 'Roget's Thesaurus of Words and Sayings' because even I can fall into the odd elephant trap on occasion.


It is also easy to make errors when thinking of something else while writing.  Recently I responded to a comment on one of 'Facebook' photograph albums.  I wrote "A place where we would all like to live." based on a comment about Pulau (Island) Redang, off the East coast of Malaysia; arose from the computer, thought about it and hurriedly sat down again to change 'would' to 'should'.  Naughty me!!


I have remarked before that we all make errors.  Perfection is beyond even the most scrupulous of editors.  A friend of mine is superb at proof-reading and suggesting changes but, sadly, his interest lies elsewhere than in Science Fiction.  He will also tell you that he will make mistakes from time to time.  Errors of omission rather than fact.


Do not feel guilty about not getting it quite right.  It has been said that it is the errors in a painted masterpiece that make it what it is.  If a painting desired to be perfect they would have taken a photograph instead.


Treat your writing the same way.  Fiction is fiction.  You do not require to maintain factual precision.  It is the odd small error that give your work texture, feel.  Add that to your descriptions, and the imagery that you conjure up using words, and be content.


Now.  What was it I wanted to say at the start?


Oh, yes.


Amendment.


Recently I said, in another 'Blog', that 'A Cross-Stitch in Time' was available to read free on:
www.davidleyman.com


The publisher has removed all the science fiction stories, except 'Silicon Ballet' from the web site.  This includes 'A Cross-Stitch in Time'.  Only the 'humour' stories remain on the page for free reading.
The promotion, I am told, is over.


Sorry.


Everyone has a boss somewhere!