Thursday, May 7, 2015

Cannibalism: Why Grammar matters...

Another important thing I've learned about being an author is this...

There's a difference between being a writer and being an author. As a writer, I can put anything I want down on paper--thoughts and emotions, story ideas, experiences--but being an author comes with a certain level of responsibility that people don't always think about when diving in.

Grammar is one of those very things.

Grammar matters, whether I want it to or not. If I want readers and the writing community to take me seriously, I have to start paying attention to pesky things like this. To be honest, I still can't tell you with 100% confidence that I remember what a proposition is. Do I know what a superlative is? Yes, but only because I looked it up. I've never claimed to be great in English or do exceptionally well in class many, many moons ago, but that doesn't change my passion for writing; it only means I need to take it all more seriously now. After all, bad grammar could lead to cannibalism and other inappropriate things if I don't.

They say English is the most difficult language to learn. That must be true given how difficult grammar is for many people who have been speaking it all their lives to get right. For me, being a writer by nature means I have ideas I want to put on paper, but that doesn't mean doing so in a "correct" fashion runs in my blood. If anything, for me grammar is a pain in the ass. It's just one more thing to think about when trying to craft the stories reeling through my mind and getting them down onto paper.

Grammarly - a great site for checking grammar, editing, analyzing story structure and word usage and finding synonyms, and more. You have cut, copy, and paste a section from your writing, or submit an entire piece and it will tell you where your mistakes are, what type of mistakes they are, why they're wrong, if there's any inkling of plagiarism (even if it's unbeknownst to you), and so much more that can make your writing/author life so much easier. If you really want to stay on your game, you can sign up for their weekly blog/newsletter and take quizzes to see where you need to improve your grammar.

So, the next time you write something or decide you want

Twitter: @LindseyRPogue

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