Scrubbing out those cleanup vs. clean up errors

Many writers misuse clean up and cleanup. Time to sweep away those errors!

Cleanup is a noun that means making something clean. Metaphorically, it also is used to indicate that someone has made a lot of money or that a complete job was done. For example: After the party, only a few of the so-called volunteers actually helped with the cleanup.

Clean up is a verb that shows someone in the act of cleaning. By extension, it also can be used to show that someone is making a lot of money. For example: I volunteered to clean up the hall after the big bash.

Now that you know the difference, you writing should be all spick–and–span from here on out!

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My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of writers both new and published. I also offer a variety of self-publishing services. During the past decade, I’ve helped more than 300 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of the 7 Minutes a Day… writing guidebooks, four nonfiction hiking guidebook series, and the literary novel Windmill. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.