The Little Engine Tag

Thanks Rachel for tagging me and running a fantastic blog. If you’re following me but not following her, something’s very wrong.

Here’s how this tag works:

• 6 questions are set in stone
• 2 questions at the end change
• Each answer must be 2 sentences long

Now I attempt not to break the “rules”.

What’s one of your biggest pet peeves?

People who try to tell me what to do. You’re not my mom. And I’m currently unemployed, so I definitely don’t work for you.

What is your favorite song at the moment?

There’s Nothing Wrong by Eleven Past One or Figure Me Out by The Summer Set. It depends on my mood. There is nothing wrong with either song.

Who is your favorite blogger?

Rachel Poli. She’s the best. Would I lie to you? No. Go read her blog. Now. Yes, I’m telling you what to do.

What’s the nicest thing you’ve seen someone do recently?

Anyone who opens and/or holds a door. I don’t get out enough to see people do nice things though.

What’s something you regret doing?

Nothing. At least nothing serious or major. Sometimes I say I regret not starting my blog earlier. But that’s life. Things happen when they do for a reason.

If you could take only three items with you to a deserted island, what would they be, and why?

A book, a journal, and a pen. That’s all I need. Minimalist is me.

What is the most stressful thing in your life right now?

Finding a job. Being a broke university student with no work experience is a fantastic position to be in. You know you’re stressed when you’re losing sleep.

If you could meet any celebrity tomorrow, who would it be?

The members of Simple Plan. Someone, somewhere make that happen. Please.

I’m going to do that thing where I tag anyone and everyone who wants to participate.

Here are my questions:

What are you currently working on?

Which fictional character in your opinion is most like you?

Did I do it? Did I manage to follow rules for once in my life?

That being said I need to do more tags. They’re fun to write, and I hope they’re fun to read.

Happy National Grammar Day + 5 Pet Peeves

Happy National Grammar Day!

Are you ready for these five pet peeves?

• People abusing a word.
• People misusing a word.
• People who confuse two similar words.
• People who don’t proofread their work.
• People who don’t apply corrections to their work.

Conclusion: People peeve me.

You know what would fix that?

If we celebrated language year round.

If more people picked up a book or pencil once every blue moon.

If everyone tried to use good grammar and attempted to write well all the time.

Then people wouldn’t peeve me. Well, they’d peeve me less. Of course, writers and bloggers and readers aren’t just regular people. No no, they’re amazing human beings.

Name one writer who doesn’t apply corrections to his or her work? I don’t count.

Go ahead call me a hypocrite.

8 Writer’s Pet Peeves

I have more than eight, but for the sake of time—yours and mine—I’ll just mention a few.

I may sound peeved when discussing my pet peeves, but I’m a pleasant person to be around after I’ve written. I promise.

1. Phone calls when I’m writing. That’s Satan’s work right there.
2. Waiting on people. If we agreed to meet at 10:30, don’t show up at 10:55. I could’ve written hundreds of words in that time.
3. Not writing. More like not being able to write. There’s a reason I haven’t learned to drive yet.
4. Pen marks on everything. I’m sorry, mom.
5. Smudges. Possibly the bane of my existence.
6. Inconsistencies. The world is better off without them.
7. Bad pens. I’m picky. What more can I say? Using the wrong pen is dreadful.
8. Non-writers. More like people who hate writing and love announcing their hatred to the world.

Tell me your biggest pet peeve so we can complain together.

People (Touching Technology) Pet Peeves

These are my pet peeves pertaining to technology. Now that I think about it, technology isn’t what peeves me. People peeve me. Hence the strange title.

My three main ones at the moment are:

• People touching my computer screen.
• People touching my Surface keyboard.
• People touching my Apple iPhone.

Anyone touching anything of mine without explicit permission from me needs to be taught a lesson.

Also, I want to start doing more list posts. Let’s see how well I follow through with my promise. I would tell you to start expecting awesome posts this summer, but expectations can lead to disappointment.

Current Pet Peeve

So many things peeve me. Humans—non-writers in particular—have a tendency to test my patience, which is non-existent as you can tell.

While my pet peeves are a never-ending list, my current one is as follows:

When people say one school (university, college, etc.) is more prestigious than another. I’m annoyed anytime anyone claims one school is better or more well-known based upon very biased opinions.

Editors and agents won’t care where I went for post-secondary. On the other hand, the industry does care if writers can write. By write, I mean write well. Like really well.

Everyone needs to stop telling me to go to a specific school solely because the institution has seemingly established a name for itself.

Rant over. Anger absolved…slightly.

Biggest Pet Peeve In The World

Of all the pet peeves and annoying things people do in this world, this is the top one on my list:

Anyone looking over my shoulder when I am working on anything.

It bothers me so much.

You can do whatever you want, say whatever you feel, but please don’t stand behind me and look over my shoulder while I’m writing.

Pretentious Pet Peeves

I have a billion pet peeves but five four pretentious ones. The last one not so much. It’s a legitimate pet peeve if you ask me.

• Slower than normal internet (waiting ten seconds for a page to load is too looong)
• No WiFi connection (especially when I need…uh, when I want it most)
• Computer crashes/freezes (caused in part by my opening too many tabs)
• Fast battery draining (get it together phones, iPod shuffles, and tablets of the world)
• Blatant spelling errors (resulting from laziness, carelessness, and did I mention laziness?)

My Pet Peeves As An Editor

I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I’ve had to edit rough drafts of everything from essays to short stories. What’s worse, I cannot believe how many times I have received a document via email or seen a draft on my desk that’s in serious need of work…to put it nicely. For the record, these are some of the few things that frustrate me as an editor. Is it so hard to follow a few simple rules?

If the papers are dirty, messy, stained, crumpled, etc.

This shows you don’t care and hello, it’s quite disrespectful. I’ll care enough to edit if you care enough to clean up your act and your papers while you’re at it.

If the handwriting is impossible to read.

The easier it is for me to read what you’ve written, the more accurate and valid my feedback will be. Also, unless you really want to test my patience (which you don’t), print neatly instead of making the handwriting too fancy or messy to make for an easy read-through. I’m more likely to spend additional time and effort on something I understand over something that looks rushed. Take extra time to write legibly and I promise I’ll take extra care to edit your work.

If your entire essay is squished together using tiny font, small margins, and narrow spacing.

I prefer bigger font, better use of the page, and double-spacing, especially when I am editing. Feel free to change everything back to your preferences after the editing stage or for the final draft. However, as an editor, I need room to write in corrections, add in suggestions, and fill in feedback. Don’t make me struggle to find space. Don’t make me cram my ideas on your page. At best, you’ll have to squint to read what I wrote. At worst, I’ll forgo extra feedback-giving if I don’t have enough room to do so.

While I’m no expert on editing, I’ve done it more times than necessary to know editors are great as long as writers cooperate. That’s easy enough to remember right? Say it with me. Editors are great as long as writers cooperate. The more you cooperate, the better your editor will be. Additionally, it doesn’t hurt to ask your editor how he or she prefers to edit either. Asking cannot hurt you; it will only help you.