TK
April 5th, 2009
Cory Doctorow gives up this handy piece of advice about writing. You don’t stop to check facts, or you will get distracted.
Instead, do what journalists do: type “TK” where your fact should go, as in “The Brooklyn bridge, all TK feet of it, sailed into the air like a kite.”
Why? What does TK stand for? Nothing.
“TK” appears in very few English words (the one I get tripped up on is “Atkins”) so a quick search through your document for “TK” will tell you whether you have any fact-checking to do afterwards. And your editor and copyeditor will recognize it if you miss it and bring it to your attention.