Whether it’s an annual business report, a novel, or an academic essay, the art of writing involves keeping purpose, tone, organization, and coherence in mind. There are also spelling errors to avoid, like there versus their, grammar issues like subject-verb agreement, and tricky punctuation questions. But once a writer is in their “flow,” they seldom …
Continue reading “The Writer, the Editors, and the Proofreader”
Writers, editors, and proofreaders need to know the ins and outs of this sometimes-forgotten dash, which adds variety to your punctuation—something that is always welcome. It can replace pairs of commas, parentheses, colons, and semicolons; but when is it correct to use? What is an em dash? In my post on en-dashes, I noted that …
Continue reading “Better Punctuation—Getting the Versatile Em Dash Right”
Polish your writing with this often-missed punctuation mark. Here’s my first post on punctuation, and I’m starting with a mechanical, nuts-and-bolts topic that is useful to writers and proofreaders. It’s also a topic that was a revelation to me—I’d never run across explicit teaching about dashes in my education or teaching until I did a …
Are you as confused as me by the distinction between “cumulative” vs. “coordinate” adjectives, and the tests used to classify them? Do you want to get your use of commas right?
How many homophones can you spot in this beauty of a sentence (inspired by a perusal of a long list is homophones): “Its a shame they can’t bye more knew close four there sun, butt their pour.“ (Ten.) Most writers keep their eyes peeled for them, and copy editors and proofreaders pore over texts to …
Language constantly evolves and, as it does, it creates controversy. Likewise, in some cases, certain speakers create new restrictive rules or apply existing language rules in an overly broad or restrictive manner. These people are often referred to as “purists” or “grammar mavens”, in the negative, pernickety sense. Their beliefs about correct language usage are …
Continue reading “Grammar Myths To Disquiet a Writer’s Soul”
