by Bobbie Christmas
Q: When you edited my book you marked up many of my uses of “he or she” and “him or her.” I used that method to keep my pronouns correct and to show I could be referring to a parent of either sex. Did you want me to use “their” instead?
A: Please avoid the “the singular their,” although some informal circles now accept it. I pointed out the overuse of “he or she” and “him or her” because it can become repetitive, wordy, and wearisome to readers. To avoid it and stay both politically correct and grammatical, simply make the noun plural or otherwise recast the sentence.
Here are some examples:
First draft: If your child steps on a nail, take him or her to get a tetanus shot.
Acceptable revision: Children who step on nails should quickly get their tetanus shots.
Stronger revision: Children who step on nails should quickly get tetanus shots.
First draft: When your parent is ill, take time off work to take care of him or her.
Acceptable revision: When your parents are ill, take time off work to care for them.
First draft: If you love your child, you will do whatever you must for him or her.
Stronger revision: If you love your children, you will do whatever you must for them.
If all three of the first-draft sentences appeared in a manuscript, you can see why the uses of “he or she” and “him or her” would become repetitive, but the revised sentences would not stand out or appear wordy.
Q: I have started working on various elements of my nonfiction book, but I have no idea how to ensure that the information flows appropriately or if the book makes all the points I wish to make. I also don’t have much of a clue about how or where I could approach having elements of my work reviewed or indeed how or where to present my finished work for consideration to be published. I also don’t know what I don’t know.
I do hope you can give me some general feedback that will keep me straight.
A: My first piece of advice is to create an outline. I know that most of us hate outlines, so it can be as simple as a list of one or two main words that describe what you want to cover in each chapter. If it were a book on picking a puppy, the outline might start out something like this:
- Dog ownership: introduction
- Breed temperaments
- Home environment
- Pet stores
- County or no-kill shelters
- Adoption agencies
Once you’ve made that list, you can better see how you want the information to flow. By simply moving the items in the list around, you can organize the book and know where you want each bit of information to go. The outline keeps you on track as you write, as well.
As for getting the book reviewed, I strongly advise finding an expert in the field who will read it, question any facts you need to further examine, and maybe even write an introduction, because most publishers do want an expert in the field to endorse a book written by someone who is not yet a recognized expert. You will have performed a great deal of research, and surely some names in the field will pop up enough times to make you see who you might contact.
After you have written the book and found an expert to endorse the book, hire a professional manuscript editor (book doctor). Someone with my expertise should correct all errors and ensure the punctuation, capitalization, and abbreviations comply with Chicago style. A book doctor may also recommend any further improvements before you self-publish or seek a publisher.
Getting published, however, is a process too long to explain in a simple answer. Purchase and read a book on how to research and approach publishers. You will probably have to write a book proposal and may wish to do so even before you finish your book, because you can sell a nonfiction book based on a proposal and two or three well-polished chapters. I suggest following Michael Larsen’s book, How to Write a Book Proposal. It was vital in helping me sell a book and has helped many clients of mine too.
Editor’s Note: See the sidebar on the right to find out how you can get a FREE copy of The Great First Impression Book Proposal.
Q: I’ve been told to write out numerals in dialogue, but when I looked on the Internet to see how to write years in Chicago style, it said to leave them numerical. Which is it?
A: Chicago style does say to write out numerals in dialogue in most cases; however, the years can be left numerical. Here’s an example: “I will drive two hundred eighty-five miles in 2019 to visit my sister in Florida.”
Bobbie Christmas, book editor, author of Write In Style: Use Your Computer to Improve Your Writing, and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com.