Lay and lie. It's important to get it right, even though many editors don't know the difference. Lay means to put something down. Please lay that down. Lay her to rest. I laid out the map. The detective laid a charge. Lie means to repose, as in resting, sleeping or not moving. Lie down here. No, I'll lie here. I'm going to lie down. And of course lie also means to tell an untruth.
Here is the simple test. "Lay" always needs an object. You lay SOMETHING down. The hen lays an egg. You lay the table. There is always a thing being placed. "Lie" takes no object at all. You simply lie down yourself. The cat lies in the sun. The town lies on the river. Nobody is putting anything anywhere.
Now for the part that trips up even good writers: the past tense. The past tense of "lie" is "lay". That one fact is the whole reason the thing is such a muddle. Read these slowly:
- Today I lie down. Yesterday I lay down. In the past I have lain down.
- Today I lay the book on the desk. Yesterday I laid it there. I have laid it there every day.
So "Last night I lay awake worrying" is correct, even though it sounds odd to a modern ear. "Last night I laid awake" is wrong, unless you are confessing to something quite different.
Why bother, when so many editors get it wrong themselves? Because the readers who DO know will spot the slip at once, and they are exactly the readers whose good opinion you want. Getting the small things right is how a journalist earns trust for the big things.