Six Things Every Writer Should Know

I have been working on and refining a brief handout on the most common writing errors see. Here is the latest version:

Six Things Every Writer Should Know

By James W. Kershner

1. Good writing is simple. Short, simple, clear sentences written in active voice are almost always better than long, complicated sentences.
2. Possessive pronouns, such as its, mine, yours, his, hers, theirs, and ours, do not have apostrophes; contractions do. Its is a possessive pronoun, meaning belonging to it; it’s is a contraction for it is. Their is a possessive pronoun meaning belonging to them; they’re is a contraction for they are. Your is a possessive pronoun meaning belonging to you. You’re is a contraction for you are.
3. Contrary to popular belief, commas do not signal a pause in a sentence. They have specific grammatical functions that can be learned. These include separating items in a series, separating two independent clauses joined by a coordinating conjunction, setting off words of direct address, setting off independent clauses from introductory phrases or clauses, and certain conventional uses.
4. Pronouns must agree with their antecedents (the words they stand for). Therefore the sentence. Each student must do their own work is incorrect. The plural pronoun their needs a plural antecedent, such as students. The correct version is: All students must do their own work.
5. The phrases a lot and all right are two-word phrases. Neither should be written as one word.
6. When a comma or period appears next to a closing quotation mark, the comma or period always goes inside the quote. In other words, the comma or period always goes before the closing quotation mark. For example:
   “I love you,” he said.   or
   I like the song “Yesterday,” don’t you?   or 
   He said, “Always put the period or comma inside the quotation marks.”

 

 

Nov. 30 evening check-in:

Writing: Yes I wrote this entry

Running: Yes, I ran on the treadmill this morning

Meditation: Yes, I did sitting meditation after my conference call with the tele-sangha of long-time practitioners.