Have you read 50 Shades of Grey? I have not. I have no interest. Why? It’s simple: I resent the success of something that is not well written. Of course, I assume it’s not well-written. A friend sent me a link to this post on The Red Pen of Doom blog to validate my assumption. — Read More
Category: Grammar
Vintage photos of writers writing
I just saw this slideshow on Huffington Post and had to share my favorites. Captions by me. Dorothy Parker “Hmm, I really don’t remember writing this last night. Whelp, it’s pretty good.” Mark Twain Philip Roth William Faulkner Edith Wharton There are a total of 13 photos in the Huffington Post slideshow. Check it out.
Happy National Punctuation Day!
Actually, it was yesterday, so Happy Belated National Punctuation Day! I am a lover of punctuation. Punctuation can change the entire rhythm of a sentence. It can change the entire meaning. You’ve probably seen this example: A teacher asked her class to punctuate this sentence: Woman without her man is nothing. Half came up with — Read More
10 most misused English words
I am guilty of misusing a few of these (don’t tell anyone). From Listverse: 10. REFUTE “Refute” means to “disprove with evidence” and yet it’s commonly used, even by professional writers, to mean “rebut” which carries a similar meaning but isn’t quite so strong, as it can also mean “argue against.” 9. INSTANT Nowadays, it’s — Read More
What makes “good” dialogue?
My writing friend: This kid in my class said my dialogue isn’t realistic. Me: What’s that supposed to mean? My writing friend: No idea. Me: It shouldn’t be realistic. My writing friend: Huh? Me: If it was realistic, it would be, like, awful to read. My writing friend: Ya… Well… I guess… But– Nevermind. Right, — Read More
Grammar gripe: LOL BRB WTF WUT?
“OMG,” “LOL” and the symbol for “heart” have all been added to the Oxford English Dictionary Online. It’s true. You can read about it here. Sadly, I’m not surprised at all. I blame text messaging for the trend of conversing more and more in shorthand. We have “smart” phones now. We are Tweeting and Facebooking — Read More
Grammar Gripe: Apostrophes
It’s heartbreaking for me to realize that very few people know the difference between “your” and “you’re”; and, some of those who do know the difference cannot be bothered with that one pesky tick mark our elementary school teachers told us was necessary when combining two words. Suddenly, “you’re” is becoming “youre.” I blame text — Read More