word choice is one of those things to which writers dedicate an absurdly massive amount of time in proportion to how much attention readers pay it.
because (and i exempt everyone who has ever been in maph from what i'm about to say) word choice isn't something most readers notice- unless it goes wrong. up to that point, they're indifferent, but reach that point and they'll sally forth guns blazing to be sure you, as a writer, are aware you've committed crimes against language.
so, hey, today this happened:
a crime against language! the result of an editorial change i would've accepted without question in any context other than that of people with intellectual disabilities and the special olympics.
sensei declared it "the literary equivalent of finding a severed toe in your soup."
i promptly pitched a well-mannered southern fit along the lines of um... please god, dear editor, no, and we returned to the original line of "true that" and walked away with a new NLB inside joke. end drama.
still. it's frightening, the power of one word. or even just two letters.
1 comment:
Oh thank goodness they changed it back...
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