Ann McCarthy
has over two decades of experience providing editing support to writers at all levels—whole document editing for completeness and clarity, line and copy editing to ensure correctness and accuracy,
and proofreading.
Her varied interests and background make her an ideal editor for personal memoirs, genealogy, education/curriculum development, historical pieces, and writing focused on arts and crafts. She
has special capabilities in editing for non-native speakers, particularly for academic writing (theses, manuscripts, scholarly articles, manuscripts and presentations).
Ann holds certification from the University of California-Berkley in the professional sequence in editing program and is a member of the Editorial Freelancers Organization and the American Copy Editors Society.
Approach & Capabilites
Ann has one goal: to make your message clear, easy to access, and to let you shine through. In editing and proofreading, she ensures that the information you present is clear, concise, accurate, appropriate for the field, and maintains the writer's voice and approach to the material.
Ann's areas of expertise include:
- Academic/Educational Editing (all levels)
- Editing manuscripts of non-native speakers
- Personal history and memoirs
- Legal Writing
- Newsletters
While editing, Ann makes use of and regularly refers to the most appropriate style guide, including AP, Chicago, MLA, and APA.
Rules of Thumb
It’s or Its?
If you can substitute “it is” in the sentence, use it’s (the contraction).
"The dog followed it is master home" does not work, so "The dog followed its master home" is correct.
"It is going to rain today" is correct, so you can use "It's going to rain today."
By the way: there is no its'. Never.
That last comma
In a series, you will sometimes see a comma before the "and" (apples, oranges, peaches, and pears) and sometimes not (parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme).
Which is right? They both are.
Whether you use the comma depends upon the style guide you follow. Even if you're not following a style guide, the important thing is to be consistent.
By the way: the additional comma is known as the "Oxford comma."
Contractions
English teachers tell students "Never use absolutes, especially in formal writing," and "Never use I (me, my)." That's probably good advice generally, but whether you use contractions has a lot more
to do with the relationship you have (or are trying to have) with your reader.
Contractions signal a somewhat less formal relationship, often accompanied by generally looser grammar and less formal vocabulary, much like I'm doing here.
By the way: Know your audience. Also, the consistency rule applies here, too.
American versus British
It is often said that Americans and the British are separated by a common language. We probably know about boots and bonnets (trunks and hoods) on cars, spanners (wrenches) and crisps and chips
(chips and fries). A lesser known difference is in the verb number attached to organizations and otheer collective nouns (that is, are they plural?). In America, an organization is one element:
"Microsoft is updating its Windows software," while in England, "Manchester United are playing in Germany this Sunday."
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