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Carolyn Mulford

Carolyn Mulford

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Monthly Archives: September 2024

How Editors Stay in Style

Carolyn Mulford Posted on September 30, 2024 by CarolynSeptember 30, 2024

If you’re an editor, you know the importance of the new 1192-page 18th edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. Since the University of Chicago Press published the first edition in 1906, other book publishers, many periodicals, and now electronic publications have accepted Chicago as the primary guide.

Even publishers who write their own style manuals, or settle for a pamphlet on which Chicago guidelines they don’t accept, study the latest edition to adjust editorial styles.

Without style manuals, we would rely on writers’ personal preferences and editors’ memories to be consistent on thousands of disputed questions. The two most common may be which  numbers to write out and whether to use the serial comma. Most newspaper style manuals, for example, digress from Chicago in writing out numbers up to 10 (versus through one hundred) and in omitting the comma before and in a series (e.g., apples, oranges and bananas) unless it’s required for clarity.

IMHO, whatever the style manual, clarity should supersede consistency.

 Chicago’s editors do extensive research and consultation on trends. The 18th, for example, reaffirms some old wavering choices (e.g., capitalizing the first word in a complete sentence following a colon) and identifies spelling preferences for new terms (e.g., omitting the hyphens in ebooks and esports).

Hyphenation is a major headache, and the manual devotes more than a dozen pages to multiple examples of pesky hyphens. Through several editions, I’ve referred to that advice more than any other.

Some changes reflect social attitudes, including preferred ways to refer to individuals or groups. In an earlier edition, editors recommended accepting they as a singular (standard centuries ago then abandoned in formal writing) but withdrew it because of protests. The 18th edition cautiously gives they as an option for referring to a person whose gender is unknown. Stay tuned.

Another change is capitalizing Indigenous, considered a parallel to Black and White. (Some style manuals favor lower case for all three.) In recent decades I‘ve seen editors move from Indian to Native American or the name of a particular tribe (e.g., Navajo) to American Indian.

 The 18th also updates production sections, including advice for self-publishers on such basics as choosing fonts and margins and such new problems as preparing notes for an audio book. AI receives attention (e.g., citing AI-generated images).

To read more information on changes in all sections, go to https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/help-tools/what-s-new.html. If you want to buy the 18th, shop around for the best price. The list price is $75, but you may find a better deal from the publisher or an online bookseller. If you plan to use the manual in an editorial office or don’t lift weights, consider the online edition.

—Carolyn Mulford

Posted in Basic Tools, Resources, Uncategorized, Writing

In Praise of “Said”

Carolyn Mulford Posted on September 1, 2024 by CarolynSeptember 1, 2024

When I began the transition from nonfiction to fiction, writing dialogue seemed easy. Then my critique readers pointed out my lack of skill in using tags, the words that identify the speaker. In general, tags precede (Mary said, “You’re late. Get going.”), lie within, (“You’re late,” Mary said. “Get going.”), or follow the dialogue (“You’re late. Get going,” Mary said.).

 Even if only two people are talking, readers need reminders of which one’s speaking after a few exchanges. The writer fails if the reader has to go back to figure out who’s saying what. Rule of thumb: When the reader pauses, the writer loses.

If the dialogue stands strong, the reader may need only a quick, direct ID. The top choice is the speaker’s name (or a stand-in for it) and said. At first I doubted this, thinking that verb too common and dull. Later I realized that much of the value of said comes from its being inobtrusive and neutral.

Guard against replacing “said” with a vocalization—e.g., shouted, screamed, muttered, murmured, hissed, growled—that doesn’t fit the situation just because you seek a synonym. I may run a search to catch an overuse of any of those words. In an entire novel, you may need to rewrite if anyone mutters or shouts more than five or six times. An exception would be using some manner of speaking, such as murmuring, to portray a character.

Writers often turn to asked and exclaimed for variety. Fine, but be careful. As an editor, I object to the redundancy of asked plus a question mark and exclaimed plus an exclamation point. For example, Mary asked, “What did he want?”

Another handy tag is the listener’s name in the dialogue, as in, “John, you know I’ll never agree to that.” Limit that ploy to two times in an exchange.

Tags often serve as much more than IDs. They can reveal character, show action, and emphasize setting. Instead of Mary said, tell the reader what Mary did or how, when, where, or why she did it. For example, Mary stood on tiptoe to peer over the stone wall. “The bedroom light’s on, but I don’t see anyone.”

  Another function is to clarify what the reader can’t determine from the words on the page. If the character says, “I’d never do that,” is he being sarcastic or earnest or deceitful? Sometimes the most efficient way to convey that is through the scorned adverb, e.g., said hotly.

Partly to avoid adverbs, we lean on a dozen or so handy verbs, such as smile, grin, laugh, giggle, and chortle. When is the last time you chortled? In my drafts, I search for a surplus of such verbs and phrases, including nod, shrug, raise an eyebrow, glance, study, stare, turn away, lean back/forward. Know thyself and search accordingly.

Tags become critical in the difficult scenes with several speakers. Such scenes present multiple technical challenges: differentiating the speakers, establishing their physical positions in relation to each other, and focusing on plot amidst multiple reactions. Sometimes writers block out crowded scenes the way a stage director would before writing them.

A common place for such scenes is around a table. Readers soon tune out if the characters do nothing but sip, stir, chew, bite, and gobble. Work to come up with multipurpose tags that emphasize character or advance plot. For example, John cut his pancake into precise one-inch squares. “The medical examiner didn’t find any breakfast in the stomach.”

 If you get stuck, fall back on said, at least in the first draft. Most of the time that short, efficient word does the job.

 —Carolyn Mulford

Posted in Basic Tools, Writing

Latest Postings


I Am a River

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 19, 2025 by CarolynApril 19, 2025

Each week I lunch with a group of friends and discuss a topic. Last time the coordinator posed this question: What is the shape of your life? The answers included a rectangle, a vase, a cloud, and an octagon. Usually I wing it, but this time I wrote my response. The Shape of My Life I am a river, Birthed in a puddle, Nourished by rain, Pushed to overflow And grow broader And deeper.   Springs and creeks fed my flow. Widening waters gathered force, Thrusting me against unyielding barriers And cascading me over rocky falls.   Other streams joined … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

Where to Find My Books

Carolyn Mulford Posted on April 1, 2025 by CarolynApril 1, 2025

While only one of my books, Show Me the Sinister Snowman, continues to be published in print and electronic editions, several of my novels are available from online sellers. Most of the copies are used, but columbiabooksonline.com, my supportive local bookstore, has a small stock of new Show Me hardbacks and paperbacks. I also have a few copies of all my novels except The Feedsack Dress, my historical children’s book, and Show Me the Murder, the first in my mystery series featuring a former spy returning   home and solving crimes with old friends. Fortunately e-editions still exist. Barnes and Noble … Continue reading →

Posted in Mysteries, The Feedsack Dress, Uncategorized

Looking Forward 60 Years Ago

Carolyn Mulford Posted on February 28, 2025 by CarolynFebruary 28, 2025

Reminders of my attempts to start my writing career arrived last Christmas. A friend, Joyce Campbell, sent me letters I had written to her while we were serving as Peace Corps Volunteers (teaching English) in Ethiopia from September 1962 to July 1964 and in the months after we returned home (Chattanooga, Tennessee, for her and Kirksville, Missouri, for me) after traveling through Europe. On December 21, 1964, I wrote, “Has anything turned up for you yet? People don’t seem terribly impressed with Peace Corps experience for job qualifications it seems to me. I’m going down to the University Placement Bureau … Continue reading →

Posted in Writing

Mid-Continent Earthquakes, Past and Future

Carolyn Mulford Posted on December 16, 2024 by CarolynDecember 16, 2024

About 2:30 a.m. December 16, 1811, an earthquake threw people in New Madrid, Missouri Territory, out of bed and crumbled brick houses and cabin chimneys, forced the Mississippi River to run backward and change course, disturbed sleep along most of the East Coast, and toppled dishes from shelves in the White House. That marked the beginning of some of the most powerful, prolonged quakes the United States has experienced. These weren’t the first in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, which is centered near where Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky come together. Geologists and other scientists have found indications that powerful … Continue reading →

Posted in Historicals, News, Thunder Beneath My Feet

The Turkey That Bullied Me

Carolyn Mulford Posted on November 26, 2024 by CarolynNovember 26, 2024

I grew up with animals as friends, the first being our dog Roamer. He and I wandered around the yard, the barnyard, and the garden. Roamer barked at squirrels and chased rabbits from our vegetables. He made me ponder one of life’s great puzzles: Is it okay to sympathize with Peter Rabbit in the story but condemn him when your own carrots are at risk? Roamer knew not to chase our chickens or cows or pigs, and he joined me in playing with an orphaned lamb and the kittens whose parents kept the barn free of mice. What he didn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized

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