check this out!

Where this = everything.

This is what I now do, check every single little thing out to make sure it is correct.

Last year when I bought my AP Stylebook, I sort of thought the whole thing was silly. After all, the Stylebook is composed of arbitrary conventions that AP has decided its writers should use.

I started looking up words and phrases (Is it Capital Hill or Capitol Hill?) when I had to for my editing class on quizzes. But I quickly developed an editor's eye and began looking up suspicious words at all times. I found myself pulling out the Stylebook for research papers, memos, and even activities I design for my Spanish students.

It's not just the Stylebook; whereas before I found minor conventions to be, well, minor, I have begun to realize their importance. I find myself having the need to check things out where I would have passed over small details before.

In the letter of interest I just e-mailed to a prospective employer, I found myself googling the company name to find out if it is Proworld, ProWorld, or Pro World (the second is correct). It's not that I would have refused to do this before, but it probably wouldn't have even occurred to me. Look, I just looked up how to spell occurred in the dictionary. And this is my personal blog, and I never would have cared before.

My desire to know (not just the big stuff, but the devil of the details too now) is growing exponentially. This class is good for me.