A Note from Julie, the Greenhouse Curator:

My six-foot-tall ponytail palm gets dusty inside the house.

 

It has long, narrow leaves with sharp edges. Trying to wipe each leaf by hand would be slow, painful, and a little ridiculous.

 

So when we had a nice morning rain this past week, I lugged the plant outside and let the rain do the work.

Sometimes our proofreading or editing processes get dusty, too.

 

We handle the same annoyances over and over because each one feels too small to fix at the source. A project arrives with one missing detail, so we track it down. The instructions are almost clear, so we make our best judgment and move forward. The timeline is vague, so we build in extra padding and hope it works.

One little fix here or there may not feel like much. But when the same kind of “dust” keeps settling on every project, it may be time to stop wiping individual leaves and look for a better rinse.

 

A better inquiry form can rinse away:

A stronger onboarding email can rinse away:

A boundary statement can rinse away:

This week, look for the “dust” in your workflow. What tiny problems keep showing up in slightly different forms? What simple email, policy, or checklist could rinse away more than one annoyance at once? 💦

I’m accepting applications now for up to five Leaflet readers to join The Propagarium in July before I open it more widely in August.
 

The Propagarium is the new membership space I’m building at The Proofreader Greenhouse with practical resources, live training with recordings, and support from other proofreaders and editors.
 

Want a quick peek inside? Click here to watch a short video tour.
 

Members will also get access to July’s live training, How to Plan a Workweek That Actually Works.

The five Leaflet readers invited to join in July will receive 30% off their first payment. Applying doesn’t commit you to joining or paying.
 

Click here to apply for July access to The Propagarium. 🪴

It’s easy to understand why this mistake happens. In everyday speech, many people don’t clearly pronounce the “t” in the middle of “seated,” so the word sounds more like “seeded.”

A deep-seated problem is firmly established and hard to change. One way to remember it is to picture someone sitting in a large, overstuffed chair. Once they sink deep into the seat, getting out requires extra effort. 🪑

Catch of the Week screenshots come from my transcript proofreading. I can't change what a person said, but I can make sure words are spelled correctly and punctuation marks are in the right spots. If you're interested in learning more about transcript proofreading, I wrote an article about it here.

Remember the mandevilla plant on my back deck? It’s been growing like crazy in this hot, humid weather. When I watered it yesterday, I noticed these two tendrils wrapped around each other. It's a good reminder that growth doesn’t have to happen alone. 🪴

Let's keep growing together!

What did you think of today's email? I'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or feedback. Email julie@theproofreadergreenhouse.com

 

If this newsletter was forwarded to you or you found a link to it online, why not get The Leaflet delivered straight to your inbox? ✨ Subscribe now ✨ for grammar tips, tricky word pairs, client strategies, and helpful online tools.