Grammar? Punctuation? Don't be silly - rules were made to be broke.
Recently, after having read one of my newspaper columns a co-worker asked me how I learned to write so good. While I’m not sure that how to write good is something that can be teached, I thought it might be a good idea to offer a few pointers for anyone who has a desire to improve his writing skills.…
Article comments
26 - Guppusmaximus
Cathy,
"I Booked(it)"...means that he or she ran,*Duh*(Probably from the police)LOL, J.K.
Great Article,Jim... ILMFAO but DILLIGAFF cuz dis writin shizznat is fo da birdz.
27 - Duane
P'shaw Jim (#18). your post had an very intensive affect on me. Its one of my very most favorite subjects, although I'm not a grammatical expert by no means. Your post is comprised of several common writing mistakes which I'm constantly very amazed at. its very good to see some body whose very aware of the very detrimentil affects of writing very bad. I am re-ensured by that. That attention to word usage forms the nuculus of writing proper is clear to you and I as well as the other's commenting here. And you and me share the wish that people that write in the pubic forum made less errors in there writing. Some things I read these days are simply beyond the pail. Ironic, isn't it? Your post althrough it is a parity insures that at least a few people e.g. those that read the post, will loose there "I could care less' attitude and write more better English the way God intended it to be.
I don't want to come on like a grammer Nazi or something. I admit I can, sometimes write, things that are unperfect. I may have made even a error or two in this very comment.
OTOH there is this conception known as poetic license: heres an example from The Doors:
"Now, I'm gonna love you
Till the heavens stop the rain
I'm gonna love you
Till the stars fall from the sky for you and I."
But thats a whole nother very amazing subject.
28 - Andy Marsh
Holee mackral! this are gettin to be too much fun! All theze amazin righters rigthen all this kewl stuff on here is provin yer point to no end Jim!
You really hit the thum with the hammer on this won Mr Win!
29 - Mark Saleski
has anybody written a book in "IM-speach" yet?
30 - Mary K. Williams
Ur sucha funny1 mark. gr8 comentz like thez make me PMP cuz laffing 2 hrd
ROFLMAO!
31 - Mark Saleski
scary.
32 - Matthew T. Sussman
Mark: ^_^
33 - Mark Saleski
that's just wrong.
34 - gonzo marx
ok...now i'm getting this strange feeling that this entire Thread is some kind of poke at my own, bizzarre stylings of prose
mebbe i'm just paranoid
mebbe
Excelsior?
35 - Matthew T. Sussman
Gonzo, did you happen to catch South Park last night, the one with Al Gore?
His catch phrase made me think of you.
36 - gonzo marx
no Suss...i don't watch that much TV
what was it?
Excelsior?
37 - Matthew T. Sussman
Indeed -- he said it at least twice. Made me smile. Matt and Trey wrote that episode good.
P.S. - Watch out for Manbearpig.
38 - T. Lucas
dic-shun-arrys like this don't help, either.
click link to see definition of KNOWLEDGABLE
(you know, for the two whole people who are probably bothering to look anything up online . . .)
39 - DrPat
OMG, I just fielded an email from a MANAGER notifying us that a "Janitoial Day Porter" has been hired to "be on sight dayly from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon." The sender also urges us, "If you have any areas of concern regarding janitoral issues", to get in touch.
I wouldn't have reacted (such errors being commonplace and expected now), but I had just finished reading the comments here...
40 - Gordon Hauptfleisch
TL#38--Revivionist spelling, yet! How revisionary!
41 - Jim Wynne
True story: I had a manager once who became concerned at what he perceived as the sloppiness of letters and memos authored by his people. He sent out a memo of his own on the subject, and ended it by saying, "Please be aware that what you write and how you write it reflects on our department--please be carfule!"
42 - Guppusmaximus
"....from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon."
Yeah, like you might confuse that with 1:00p.m. to 3:00p.m. in the morning....lol.
43 - Greg
I absolutely loved reading this article. Well done.
44 - Jim Wynne
Thanks, Greg.
45 - Anonymous
I read up to: "My advice is to use the apostrophe indiscriminately, just as everyone else seems to do. If a word ends in "s" and you're not sure whether to use an apostrophe or not, go ahead and throw one in."
No, no, no! If you do that you confuse the educated people that actually know where to use an apostrophe, and where not to!
Really, to be a good writer, one should know one's language; especially the grammar/punctuation. "Why?" you may ask. Because one little piece of punctuation - such as a comma - can completely change the meaning of what you're talking about, it can change the way the words in one sentence are related to words in another sentence.
My advice: read "Eats shoots and leaves" by Lynne Truss. I learnt a lot from that book, and it's quite funny.
46 - virginia woolf
you do write so good. well job.
47 - mr bean
You shoudnt poke fun at all them people who's English isnt so good as your's. You think your better or somthing? I mean, realy, you might of had less problems in you're lifes and didn't get no bad grades so your lucky. Alot of people arent so privliged. Linguistic elitism never done nobody no good.
48 - Lizzen
Hilarious, but I am seriously in pain here. I feel as though I'm being stabbed in the "Grammar Center" of my brain whenever I come across a "we seen" or "we was" and the like. I think my "Punctuation Center" is under attack as well.
By the way, though witty and informative in its own way, "Eats Shoots and Leaves" only instructs on BRITISH grammar and punctuation. Yes, there ARE differences between American and British punctuation and spelling and so on. I honestly think the book may have done more harm than good on this side of the pond.
Who, oh who will save us from our certain destruction? Is there an English savior on the horizon?
Oh, right. We have those. They're called "teachers." Perhaps we should pay them better.
49 - Ivory
I just want to say although your article is probably well written, some people may not choose to read it because of your improper use of good in the title. It should be well.
50 - Jim Wynne
Ivory,
"good" was was used ironically.
51 - Sigh...
I completely disagree with this. And YMCA is an acronym.
But it's lovely that the writer only used grammatical errors ironically.
52 - duane
Jim's right, as usual. YMCA is an abbreviation. Acronyms are something more specialized. NASA is an acronym because you pronounce it as a word. YMCA would be an acronym if people said "im-kuh" or "wime-kah" or something like that.
53 - hmm...
witty.
"How to Write Good"
How To Write Well.
I TOTALLY GET IT!
54 - Bridgette
Wow, this article is really good. It was funny, and completly true. This writer is truely amazing.
55 - Rebecca
any1 want to way in on the use of at -- like where you at?
56 - laura
hi. actually, it's a grammar rule that you can follow 'anyone', 'someone', and 'everyone' with a plural pronoun or a singular pronoun. another thing, i kind of disagree with you about your comment that writers should not think so hard. a written piece of work should always be intelligent, otherwise, why read it? good writers use grammar or the lack of grammar, words, and punctuations to drive home a point.
another thing, i think it's 'how to write well' not really 'good'. well is an adverb while good is an adjective.
57 - Jim Wynne
Laura,
Are you familiar with the concepts of sarcasm and irony?
Regards,
Jim
58 - SchoolBoy
Thanks for this!
I'm doing a satirical essay and this will definitely help.
59 - cj
I expeshaly like 2b reading this arctical. everebody did a good job.
60 - Tim J
Cootos on the articul. I aint got no URL to post. Had a nayber name a Earl oncst. That was durn funny! I kin rite OK; I jus caint cypher. Ef ya caint cypher, yer gonna hav problims. Ennyway, Yule probly win won of them there Wurlitzer prizes ur sompin fer this articul. I was wandering around Google looking for ways to get started in the writing biz and ran across your website. I had a good laugh. If you know anyone looking to break in a rookie, let me know.