Author: Roslyn Carrington

Roslyn Carrington has been a freelance writer, editor and proofreader for over 11 years. She has published 14 novels and has ghost-written several memoirs and non-fiction works. She writes, edits and proofreads for a variety of publications and corporate clients.

I’m a Total Whore for the Oxford Comma

A comma before “and”? Call the police!

Also called the serial comma, it’s the comma at the end of a list that comes before the word “and” (and sometimes “or”). A comma before “and”? Good God, is the world coming to an end?

We’ve all been taught that putting a comma before “and” will make your hand fall off. My Common Entrance lessons teacher used to say, “You can’t put a comma before ‘and’ because ‘and’ is a comma.” I’ve even had clients call me up, gagging, “Miss! You put a comma before ‘and’!”

Which is why I can’t control a naughty giggle when I use one–which is often. Makes me feel like a rebel.

But the serial comma is very useful for clarifying items in a list. If the items in a list are clear, you don’t need it: “I bought new towels, sheets and pillowcases.” But when it gets confusing, when it is hard to know if the last two items are separate entities or go together, you use it. “The only people who came to my party were my brothers, Machel and Keith Rowley.” Sooo, are Machel and Keith my brothers? Maybe if I said “my brothers, Machel, and Keith Rowley” it would be clearer.

Anyhow you slice it, love ‘em or hate ‘em, be consistent. Use serial commas throughout your piece where applicable, or don’t use them at all.

That’s my two cents. What’s yours? Leave a comment.

Pubic Relations

The best way to proofread is in print. That way the eye isn’t fooled. Better yet, let me proofread for you!

You’d be shocked if you knew how frequently I have to deal with careless, sloppy work delivered by full-time, professional writers. Apart from the frustration I feel, there is a sense of disbelief . . . if you make your living writing, shouldn’t you at least take pride in your work, and do whatever it takes to make sure it reaches the editor with as few errors as possible?


Everyone makes mistakes, myself included. This is why even editors need to be edited. But at the very least, whether you are a professional or an amateur, or simply have a paper to hand in or a memo to send out, please, proofread your work.

And the best way to do this is to print it out and read it with a red-ink pen in your hand. Why? Because the computer screen is a liar. It causes your brain to fill in the blanks, to see what you expect to see, not what is really there.

Paper, however, is brutally honest. It shows up flaws like litmus. We grew up reading on paper, not screens, so our brains aren’t fooled. So if what you’re writing is important, please print it out and read it before you publish it. That way you won’t get caught writing about “pubic relations” when you meant to say “public relations”.

Join the conversation. Please leave a comment.

Let’s Put Our Proverbial Best Foot Forward

It’s time to beat up (or beat down) tired old clichés and throw them in the garbage where they belong.

… and never use the word ‘proverbial’ again.

“She was lit up like the proverbial Christmas tree.”

“He was the proverbial black sheep.”

The second you write ‘the proverbial’ in your copy, what you’re essentially saying to your reader is, “Hear what, the next thing to come out of my mouth (or keyboard) is gonna be a pack of crap. Why don’t you just zone out for a few sentences, or skip ahead?”

Nothing good comes after ‘the proverbial’; only some tired, beat-down old cliché. So why bother? There are only three good reasons for using a cliché:

  1. Characterisation – If you’re trying to show that your character is a stagnant, boring old fart, have him speak in clichés.
  2. Irony – Wink, wink, me so funny. I’m so cool, I can talk in clichés and get away with it.
  3. Deadlines – If you go to print in half an hour, and you have no other way to express what you want to say, go brave, my friend.

Either avoid clichés outright, or, if you’re imaginative enough, embrace it, marry it, and bring forth a bunch of weird and interesting babies. In other words, change up the cliché to make it new again, like a coat of paint on a dingy wall. Why not put your best tentacle forward? Or your best pseudopodia?

Until then, ditch the clichés. Before I put a proverbial bullet in my proverbial head.

What’s your view? Please leave me a comment.

This is a Brown Recluse Spider

Words that sound alike are easy to confuse. Think how smart you’ll look when you get them right!

A cute cartoon of a brown recluse spider, waving Hi.
Doesn’t look so reclusive to me!

So named because of its shy and retiring nature, and its penchant for hiding under toilet seats. If you are reclusive, it means you avoid social interaction.

But I heard on the news an official saying he was “reclusing” himself from certain proceedings. No, good sir, you are “recusing” yourself. This means you are voluntarily withdrawing from a matter because of circumstances which could impact upon your impartiality, like a judge presiding upon her child’s court case, or a surgeon operating on his wife.

So, recluse = that weird, sorta smelly fella living 3 houses down, who has no friends and never says good morning to anybody.

Recuse = doing the honourable thing, removing yourself on principle, a rarity in politics, but let’s not go there!

And by the way: 1) “recluse” is not a verb, and 2) a brown recluse spider probably can kill you, but most of the time it’ll just leave you wishing you were dead.

What’s the Difference Between a Fugu Fish and a Mapepire?

Lots of people confuse words that they think mean the same thing. Keep your dictionary handy so you don’t fall into this trap.

Easy. A fugu fish will kill you if you bite it, and a mapepire will kill you if it bites you.

There’s a difference between poison and venom that few people pay any mind to. You hear that someone was “bitten by a poisonous spider”. There was even one unfortunate newscaster who announced that someone was “stung by a poisonous snake”. (A new species, I presume.)

Remember: poison is ingested, (or inhaled, or even soaks through the skin). But most of the time, you have to eat it for it to affect you. Some creatures have evolved a toxin that dissuades predators from eating them, like the poison dart frog. There are also poisonous mushrooms (not to be confused with ‘shrooms that could make you very, very happy).

Venom is produced by some creatures, like spiders, snakes and wasps, as a weapon. They can inject it into your system using their stinger or fangs. Venom probably isn’t something you’re likely to eat.

Got it? And next time you venture outdoors, beware of those stinging snakes!

What’s Your Currency?

Why do your readers come to you? Why you and not someone else? Because you give them what they’re looking for.

Currency is just a means of barter. It doesn’t have to be money. You can trade beads for blankets. A sack of peas for a sack of potatoes. As a writer, you also have to know what your currency is.

First, what are you offering? Why are people reading you?

  • You’re funny. They’re looking for a laugh.
  • You’re knowledgeable. You know something we plebes don’t, and are willing to share the information.
  • You’re exciting. You can get our pulse thumping.
  • You’re trying to convince us of something, to rally us to war.
  • You disagree with us and want to change our mind.
  • You have files to buss and we just dying to hear the scandal.

Now, what do you want from us?

  • Money. Ain’t nothing wrong with that!
  • You want to change the world.
  • You want to rule the world.
  • You want our approval.
  • You like to make people laugh.
  • You’re collecting Likes. Ain’t nothing wrong with that, either. Go ahead, Like this post. No, seriously…Like. This. Post. Comment, if you feel like it.

Whatever your currency is, whatever you’re giving so you can get something in return, doesn’t really matter. (Except for the Comments. COMMENT ON THIS POST!)

What matters is that you are clear on your objectives, and make the clear to our reader. Otherwise, we’re both gonna be disappointed.

Who The Hell Do You Think You’re Talking To?

Do u write lik ths? If you do, keep it for your buddies, not for a business message.

When I was working at NGC, I was responsible for creating and managing a tertiary education programme in which gave university students a crash course in the gas business. It was a comprehensive, top-of-the line programme, a great introduction for anyone who wanted to get into the business after school.

One of my most memorable applications, via email, read like: “cn u pls register me thnx”

Excuse me, bruh, but who the hell do you think you’re talking to? You’re applying to enter a top notch programme at one of the country’s prestige institutions…but you can’t find the time to write a coherent sentence?
When we write, we need to remember our audience. “Textspeak” is great for your friends, but if I get a message like this in a corporate environment I will assume that 1) you are not adequately versed in the English language, in which case I will not engage you, or 2) You don’t give enough of a rat’s ass to spend 2 minutes writing in complete sentences. In which case I will not engage you.

This guy got in; he was lucky I’d had a good breakfast and was in a good mood. But when you write, remember who you’re talking to and frame your language to suit.

Kthnxsbye.

An Ocean of Opportunity

It doesn’t matter if you’re in the science field or not. You can find a job in deep sea exploration.

Jacques Cousteau said, “Once the sea casts its spell on you, you are held in its net of wonder forever.”

There are so many careers in deep sea exploration!

Deep sea exploration provides so many employment opportunities, and not just for those involved directly in the sciences. The final episode of Deep Sea Wonders of the Caribbean talks about some of them.

I’m almost jealous of the next generation. There are so many new things to learn, and so many ways to make an impact that students looking for the ideal career will have no end of choices.

see video 4

Grenada and the Jenny that Kicks

The Caribbean is sometimes called the Ring of Fire. Volcanoes to the left of us; volcanoes to the right of us…

Volcanoes are weird! Sub-sea volcanoes are even weirder.

There are 21 active volcanoes in the Lesser Antilles. That’s an awful lot of volcanoes! In Episode four of Deep Sea Wonders of the Caribbean, we explored one of the most famous, a subsea volcano called Kick ‘Em Jenny. This girl is so powerful that boats and planes steer clear of her, for fear of being brought down by her activity. She also has a kid brother called Kick ‘Em Jack.

Of course, subsea volcanoes are such a chemical-rich environment that sea creatures thrive among them . . . until the next eruption!

see video 3
see video 5

Hot Sun Above, Cold Seeps Below

The temperatures of the deep sea are scarily inconsistent, ranging from boiling to freezing. And there are creatures at home in either.

Bubbling hot seeps and snowy cold ones. Wow.

Working on the Deep Sea Wonders of the Caribbean was not only exciting, it was educational. It was crazy to learn about the hot hydrothermal vents lying deep below, as well as cold methane seeps so frosty they looked like mountains of snow. And both of them are habitats for the weirdest accumulation of sea creatures. My favourites are the octopuses, who are eerily intelligent.

Kudos also to video project leader, Dr. Judith Gobin, and Dr. Diva Ammon, both scientists from T&T, for being the first two female scientists on board the EV Nautilus! Enjoy Episode Three.

See video 2
see video 4