CMS is a wealth of information for every novelist. It's probably one of the most expensive reference books I own. Filled with treasures I don't know how to mine.
I understand how it's laid out, and it's very cleverly done. Kudos to the developers of this tool.
What I can't understand is how to determine the question I need to know before I go in search of the answer.
For example, 5.187 deals with something called Subordinating Conjunctions. If I didn't know what a subordinating conjunction was (and I didn't) how would I know I needed to know?
Maybe I'll have to wait for an editor to tell me what my questions should be. Like maybe someday mine will say, "Peg, you've really got to get a handle on your illative conjunctions." Then I would either look for it in my CMS, or make a doctor's appointment.
I've decided that editors are the engineers of the writing world.
"Why use a modifier to set straight a not-quite-right noun when the right noun is available?"
~WILLIAM SAFIRE
CR: Black Water Rising by Attica Locke.
It's all better with friends.
