I know, you’ve been thinking to yourself that it seems like I’ve been phoning it in this last week. You know, not actually showing up and putting forth my best effort, but just going through the motions. And, you’re not totally wrong, either. For the last week, I’ve been working…
Got Grammar Questions?
Well, here’s a great place to go–Daniel Scocco put together a fabulous post covering all the basics of English grammar. No, really. Go check it out.
MM: Misspellings
This one has to be a quickie, today, so I’m just going to give you a list of some commonly misspelled words to remind you what they should be. (American spellings, just in case.) Absence Accommodate Commitment Completely Definitely (My favorite memory-device for this word? It’s got “finite” right in…
Do We Need New Spelling?
There is an article in the current issue of Time Magazine that talks about spelling reform, and discusses the proposal that we offer official, variantions for spellings of some of the most commonly-misspelled words. The senior lecturer in criminology at Bucks New University in Buckinghamshire, England sees so many misspellings…
MM: Hearing Voices
Last week, we briefly discussed the different verb “persons,” but this is important in writing and warrants some extra attention. Because, you see, it comes down to “voice,” and voice is extraordinarily important in narrative. First Person, when the speaker uses “I”. That is, I, We, Me, Us So far…
Baby Talk
So, if people don’t learn grammar in school any more, and they’re not bothering to read the handy usage guides that are in the bookstores, how DO people manage to speak and write correctly? Mostly, it’s in the ear. It’s a fascinating phenomenon, how we humans learn language. Babies begin…
Mozy Rant
We take time away from this friendly little writing blog for a rant…. Have you heard of Mozy? It’s an online backup service for your computer, where you sign up, set up a schedule for backups and … that’s it. Your computer henceforth automatically runs backups to Mozy’s server so…
MM: Persons of Interest
So, the last two weeks, we’ve talked about verb tenses and moods. Today, we’ll talk about their person. In their simplest form… First Person: I, We A verb uses first person when the speaker is talking about himself. I love typing. We watched the race. I am going to go…
Purposeful Complexity
Kenneth over at Manage Your Writing spoke the other day about the importance of keeping things simple. He reminds us that, “Some research shows that when readers and listeners can’t understand your sentences, they think of you as less intelligent, not more.” I certainly agree with that. Unnecessarily complex sentence…
In the Beginning
I saw this at Brad‘s. So, there’s a project over at “Get Paid to Write Online,” asking people how they got started with their blogs. Well, my story comes in two parts. First, there was knitting. (Yes, you heard me. Knitting.) In fact, my very first introduction to blogs at…
What Makes a Writer?
Okay, so when you try to identify a “writer,” the first problem is the definition. What is a writer? Someone who makes their living by writing? A novelist? Newspaper journalist? Poet? Advertising Copywriter? Resume-writer? Or someone who writes because they love it, regardless of whether they get paid for it? Because,…
MM: Verbal Mood Swings
Last week, we spoke about verb tenses; today, let’s talk about their moods. Well, not their moods, exactly, but rather, our moods when using the verbs. Indicative Mood This is the most common, and is used to make a statement or ask a question. The dog played with the ball.…