depends what your definition of is, is

[musesfool]

I was just gonna run out to Dunkin Donuts for a doughnut and coffee, but then I spoke to fleurdeleo and now we're going to the diner for lunch. Mmm...diner... That's one of my favorite things about this neighborhood--there are five diners all in (short) walking distance, and I think all of them are open 24/7

Comments

[marag]

Oh lord, even *I* make that mistake and it's my *job* to know that. I don't know why, but I have some kind of idiotic mental block against remembering how to properly capitalize story titles. Ugh.

[musesfool]

Yeah, I know I sometimes screw up with in and on, but the verb thing has stuck with me since it once required a whole lot of budget shuffling to reprint those materials. *g*

[ranalore]

Dude, so guilty of that. I blame a) bad habits picked up from reading too much bad fanfic and b) slapping the title on late at night once too often and then posting without re-checking. I'm in the process of retraining myself so it's instinct to capitalize all variations of "to be."

[musesfool]

Yeah, I think it's easy to become confused or just not really pay attention, because I see a lot of people leaving their "is"es uncapped and I know they're pretty up on most other rules.

[rosekay]

I was just archiving yuletide stuff on my journal, committed said pretentious wankery, and then ran across this ahaha. I'm sure I've sinned when attempting to follow the rules too. Useful note. :)

[musesfool]

Well, I totally have stories titles that have only an initial cap or aren't capped at all, and I do it sometimes because it just looks better to me, or it feels right for that story, but when attempting to be "correct" I think it's best to actually *be* correct, you know? And also, there's the whole thing about knowing the rules in order to know how/when/why to break them.

[rosekay]

Yeah, the halfway always ends up looking a little weird. I used to edit for a school political mag, and that was always my weak spot, but we had this convenient layout where all the titles were usually all capsed that let me skate by for years.

With fanfic, I don't pay as much attention (to my own stuff or other people's) because the titles seem very incidental in a lot of cases. Does that make sense? There are the usual cliches (guilty here!), some interesting ones that catch the eye, and a lot of really kickass fic logged under "bodyswitch 3." It's all very fluid and I don't associate the work with the name as much as I do in other media.

Thanks for this though! It's a good reminder.

[musesfool]

the titles seem very incidental in a lot of cases. Does that make sense? There are the usual cliches (guilty here!), some interesting ones that catch the eye, and a lot of really kickass fic logged under "bodyswitch 3."

*wails and gnashes teeth*

After all the anxiety I have about titling, you tell me this?

*g*

[kattahj]

Thank you for this! I have a hell of a time trying to figure out what's supposed to be capitalized or not in titles. (In Swedish you capitalize the first word, and names, and... that's pretty much it.) At least now I know the rule for small verbs. *adds to memories*

[musesfool]

You're welcome. And yeah, in other languages it's different - I believe in French you only capitalize the first word and names, as well. But in English, in standard title capitalization, even being verbs get capped.

[contrariwise]

I believe in French you only capitalize the first word and names

It's the same in Russian, if I recall correctly... So War and Peace is Voina i mir...

*sleepy commenting = many ellipses*

[wingstar]

Holy cow, I did not know that. *feels guilty* Well, at least I do now, haha. Thanks for the heads up? :D?

[musesfool]

Heh. Look at it this way, you've learned something today, so now you can go have a nice liedown.