Writing Tips for Speakers: Tip #4–Quote from the Source

Posted on April 30, 2019 by Foxworld

Quote collections are handy tools for speakers who like to spice their presentations with pithy comments by Winston Churchill, Confucius, Amelia Earhart, and other famous, not-so-famous, and even infamous figures. But avoid using quote compilations when you’re writing. If you absolutely must resort to one, do so advisedly and sparingly. Rarely if ever should you cite it in your notes.

There are three reasons why, unlike enhancing your presentation as a speaker, quote compilations can undermine you as a writer.

1. Many of them are inaccurate. Internet compilations are notorious for misquotes and misattributions. They can make a good starting point for you to look into the documentation you need for source notes–but you’ve got to take it further. Do a little research and you may find the same popular quote attributed to various different people and bearing only a resemblance to what was actually said.

2. You’ve got to document your sources with complete publishing information, and quote collections don’t provide such information. They show a quote and its purported author and, if the quote came from a book, possibly the book’s title. That’s fine when you’re speaking–but not when you’re writing.

Herein lies one of the marked differences between public speaking and writing. In speaking, it’s enough to say, “Was it not So-and-So who said, ‘Such and such,'” and move on from there. A quote in that context flies by in a moment, and your listeners are unlikely to vet it for accuracy. But in a book, you need more detailed source documentation, and it has to be reliable.

Source notes are far too big a topic to tackle here. It’s enough to say that Goodreads doesn’t meet the requirement. Neither do quotes taken from blogs and other informal online writing. You can quote a blogger’s own words, but don’t quote his or her quote of some famous person and then cite the blog as your source; the blogger may well have used one of the same unreliable collections you need to avoid, thus propagating the inaccuracies.

3. Finally, there’s the no-small-matter of credibility. A quote taken straight from its original source or, if necessary, from a trustworthy secondary source, and cited according the niceties of the Chicago Manual of Style, tells your readers that you’re well read. Quotes taken from Brainyquotes, on the other hand, can give a less favorable impression, and a publishing house editor may reject your manuscript based on inadequate documentation.

So What’s the Solution?

If you like to quote Mark Twain, read his writings. If Lincoln is your guy, read books about Lincoln or visit well-researched websites that provide his speeches and letters. As much as possible, go to the headwaters. And keep a notebook to record not only quotes you like but also where you got them from, so you can access their sources easily should you need their publishing information.

If you want to quote a saying of dubious origins, and if after doing your homework you simply can’t find anything definitive on its exact wording or its source, just say so. For example: “The wise words ‘If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything,’ popularly attributed to Alexander Hamilton, apply here.” That little qualifier, “popularly attributed to,” serves as your disclaimer. (By the way, this example is based on a discussion in Quote Investigator [https://quoteinvestigator.com/]. The site is a great online resource for exploring the origins and wordings of sayings.)

The underlying concern in all of the above is simply this: quotes in print need to be word-for-word accurate; their attributions need to be correct; and the notes for your citations need to be complete, trustworthy, and as close to the original source as you can get. In this less-than-perfect world, sometimes you have to go with secondhand sources, (e.g., “Madame Currie, as quoted in . . .”) Just make sure those secondary sources are credible and that you’ve done your homework and documented them properly. Quote collections normally should be no more than a springboard for researching a saying, not a source you cite in your endnotes.

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Writing Tips for Speakers: Tip #3–Handling Bible Quotes Properly

Posted on April 27, 2019 by Foxworld

Will you be regularly quoting and referencing the Bible in your book? These pointers will save easily avoidable busywork for you, your editor, and your proofreader–and if you’re self-publishing, they could save you a little money.

1. Decide whether you’ll use one primary Bible translation and, at your discretion, one or more secondary translations, or whether you’ll use a mix in which no one translation figures prominently. The norm is to select a primary translation, and that’s usually your best bet. But the second approach is certainly viable if it makes better sense for your book.

2. Unless you have an excellent reason not to, pick a popular modern version for your primary translation. The New International Version (NIV), New Living Translation (NLT), English Standard Version (ESV), New English Translation (NET), and even the New King James Version (NKJV) are all good choices. There are others as well. The point is to choose a trustworthy translation that your readers can easily read and understand.

3. With rare exceptions, avoid the King James Version (KJV) and other archaic Bibles for your primary translation. Most modern readers find them stuffy and hard to understand–and even you may not understand them as well as you think you do. The King James Version (KJV) is beautiful, but the English language has evolved over the last four centuries, and word meanings have changed, often significantly.

In the same vein, “specialty” Bible versions such as The Message (MSG), the Amplified Bible (AMP), and The Voice (Voice) make excellent secondary sources, but I recommend you not use one of them as your primary version. Keep it simple. Simple is good.

4. Beware of quoting both new and older editions of the NIV and AMP. These Bibles were updated recently enough to cause unintentional mixups. Online sources such as Bible Gateway and Bible Hub supply the new editions, but the older editions are still very much extant as print Bibles, and the differences matter. Use the newer editions; they’re what the Bibles’ publishers approve and what their permissions allow. To ensure currency and consistency, your best bet is to copy and paste from an online Bible.

If, in a particular instance, you have a good reason to prefer an older edition, you should identify it as such (see item 6 below).

5. When quoting from a secondary translation, identify it in the verse reference, thus: (John 3:16 NKJV).

Your editor will be checking all Scripture quotes for accuracy. Neglect on your part to clearly identify translations requires him or her to either query you or spend time searching for the right translation

ONE IMPORTANT EXCEPTION: There’s no need to identify your primary translation (assuming you’re using one) in citations. Instead, tell your editor which translation it is; it will then be noted as your primary translation on your book’s copyright page. Your primary-translation references should look like this: (John 3:16). This will be the norm for most of your verse references.

CONVERSELY, if you’re not using a primary translation, then every verse reference should include the translation ID.

6. When using the NIV or AMP, normally you should use the most recent edition (see item 4 above). However, occasionally the older edition may supply a wording you strongly prefer. When quoting from an older NIV or AMP, treat it as a secondary translation. Your verse reference should include

  • the copyright year for the NIV: (John 3:16 NIV 1984)
  • the correct abbreviation for the AMP classic edition: (John 3:16 AMPC)

7. There are several ways you can provide a verse reference in running text. The most common one is to show the entire reference at the end of a quote. For example:

Paul the apostle wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

Note that the closing quote mark goes before the parenthesis, and the period goes at the very end.

You can also include the reference in the syntax of the sentence:

Romans 8:1 tells us that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Always give the full spelling of the Bible book when you take this approach. And if you need to identify the translation, do so in parentheses either at the end of the quote or directly after the verse reference:

Romans 8:1 tells us that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (NET).

or

Romans 8:1 (NET) tells us that “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”


If you show several verses from a single Bible chapter in a short space, show complete information for your first reference, and cite only the verse number thereafter:

Paul the apostle wrote, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1 NET). Why? Paul tells us it is because “the law of the life-giving Spirit in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death” (v. 2).

But how did this happen? What was the means by which we attained this incredible freedom? Paul continues, “For God achieved what the law could not do because it was weakened through the flesh. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and concerning sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law may be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (vv. 3‒4).

Note that when using this method, you should use v. for a single verse (e.g., v. 10) and vv. for more than one verse (vv. 12‒15).

* * *

The above tips are by no means exhaustive. I haven’t addressed block quotes, for instance. But my goal is to stay brief and give you info that I think will serve you most immediately. Your editor will help you with the rest. If you’d like a thorough discussion, check out “Quoting the Bible,” pages 330‒36, in Robert Hudson’s superb resource, The Christian Writer’s Manual of Style, fourth edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016). Bob’s manual is the standard stylebook in Christian publishing, and I recommend it highly.



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Writing Tips for Speakers: Tip #2–Keep Your Pronouns Clear

Posted on April 23, 2019 by Foxworld

Merriam-Webster defines a pronoun as “a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns refer to either a noun that has already been mentioned or to a noun that does not need to be named specifically.”*

That says it well enough. Pronouns are grouped in various categories, but they all boil down to two kinds: those whose meaning is inherently clear, and those that can create confusion unless they’re handled carefully.

I and you are examples of instantly understandable pronouns. When I say I in this sentence, you know I mean myself. No need to explain. Ditto you; you understand I’m talking to. . . well, to you. In both cases, my meaning is clear.

Other pronouns, however, require careful handling; otherwise, they can easily slip outside their context and confuse readers. These are pronouns such as he, she, they, it, and those that, as the above definition puts it, “refer to . . . a noun that has already been mentioned.” In other words, they are standing in for another noun, called an antecedent.

Learn that word, antecedent. It’s a useful one, because as a writer, you’re dealing constantly with pronouns and antecedents. For example:

Adam was hungry, so he made a sandwich.

He is the pronoun, and Adam is the antecedent. Clear enough.

Where It Gets Confusing

But what about this:

Adam was hungry, and since Peter was too, he made a sandwich for each of them.

Who made the sandwich, Adam or Peter? Grammatically, Peter did. A pronoun refers to the noun most nearly preceding it that agrees with it in kind and number (i.e., male, female, or neuter; singular or plural). That’s the rule, and Peter is therefore the antecedent.

BUT. But, but, but . . . what if it was actually Adam who made the sandwich? Is that what you meant to say? If so, you’ve got to make your meaning plain, because what may be crystal-clear in your mind isn’t necessarily so to your reader.

The solution is simple: use the noun, not the pronoun.

Adam was hungry, and since Peter was too, Adam made a sandwich for each of them.

For that matter, even if Peter is your intended sandwich artist and your antecedent-pronoun combination is just as it should be, I as a reader still find the pronoun he ambiguous in this context. It’s just how my mind works. Rule or no rule, I tend to read in Adam as the antecedent. Kind of. I’m not really sure, you see. With a little rewriting, you can ease my puzzlement.

Clarity’s the Goal

One more time: a pronoun takes as its antecedent the nearest preceding noun or noun phrase that matches it in number and kind. That’s the rule.

But let’s not cast that rule in cement. In practice it gets broken often, with no harm done. (I’ve doubtless broken it a number of times writing this post.) Context often allows a pronoun to retain its meaning clearly even when another noun follows the antecedent. So look at the rule as more of a guideline: extremely helpful, but don’t let it hang you up. Your goal isn’t to abide by inflexible orthodoxy; it’s to ensure that your readers always know who or what each pronoun refers to.

I’ve given you one example above of how the connection between a pronoun and its antecedent can get blurred. I could give you twenty more examples and we’d just be getting started. But there’s no need. Just keep these few pointers in mind:

  • Keep a close eye on your antecedent. Don’t let it get lost behind other nouns. That happens easily, and when it does, the meaning of a pronoun can become vague or, worse yet, changed to a different meaning you never intended. So stay alert.
  • When the meaning of a pronoun is unclear, the easiest, most commonsense solution is not to use the pronoun but to restate its antecedent–or to make sure you clearly supplied the antecedent in the first place.
  • Think like your reader. If you were in his or her place, would you easily understand what you just wrote? If not, how can you fix the problem?
  • Did I say “Stay alert”? I’ll say it again: Stay alert. Practice awareness. Don’t assume your meaning will be as transparent to your readers as it is to you. Vet your pronouns.

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* Merriam-Webster online, s.v. “pronoun,” accessed April 23, 2019, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pronoun#note-1.

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