Purveyor of Poetry & Porn
Damn, you're right Nicola...inconsistency is a big problem, especially here on Lush...
Why, I was just reading one story where the girl referred to her boyfriend's "cock" in one paragraph, his "dick" in the next, and his "meat pole" in yet another part of the story...
I mean which is it? Make your mind up already...btw, is "meat pole" supposed to be hyphenated?
Just asking...
Using PerfectIt to identify errors in a manuscript is a tool, but it also will pick up errors in spelling such as author versus authour, which might be used with in the same story or even the same dialog. Any computer check for errors should only be used to highlight "potential" errors, not for a quick and simple fix. The author (or authour) must still take responsibility for his words, capitalization and spelling.
I am aware my own writings contain errors, and despite having proof read them several times, still some slip by. But the true measure of an author should be, and will always be, in the eye of the reader.
When John F. Kennedy spoke, “And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”, he did not have a computer program to remind him it was an antimetabole and he should change it, or perhaps that he should add a comma after "ask". Yet those words are remembered by all that heard them and the generations that follow.
Nicola, you are totally correct, improper use of capitalization is an error, and we see it too often, and you are also correct that authors need to do better, myself included. But, I don't want a computer to change my story.
