11th Secret for Writing Well

As much as we all love writing for therapeutic purposes (or, I don't know, is that just me?) we must always keep in mind that if there's a chance our writing is going to be seen, we ought to make sure it's clean. I've learned over the years that there is a time and a place for writing for me, and generally, that time is late at night, and that place is in my journal, on a blank word document, or sometimes in scribbles all over blank pieces of scratch paper that I crumple up and throw away when I've slashed my point thoroughly across it. That place is not online, not on social media, not in an email to a professor, and certainly not in an essay. When other people are going to read your work, you're no longer writing for yourself. You're writing for your audience. This is my 11th tip.

Now, of course, writing is a beautiful, magical thing, and it can be highly enjoyed. Just because you're writing for someone else's eyes doesn't mean that you aren't allowed to enjoy it. It just means that you need to be careful with what you say and how you say it. Be aware of your audience--understand their level of comprehension, their expectations, their standards, and their complexities. And if you're going to break the rules (like I just did by putting an 'and' at the beginning of a sentence) make sure you break them right. Be purposeful with your phrasing; never let a stray word go unchecked. Know who you're writing for, and write accordingly. 

I have three beautiful examples from this week of times that this rule wasn't followed... 

1) On an Old Navy t-shirt, bold, blue letters spelled out the words "Lets Go!" Let's work on getting that apostrophe in there next time, Old Navy...

2) Several years ago I applied a wall de-cal to my wall in the bedroom of my childhood home. Although I never noticed it when I was younger, when I went back to visit this weekend, I cringed. It read, "Make everyday your masterpiece." After noticing it this weekend, I started to see it other places! This grammatical error is everywhere! Just to make it clear, "everyday" as one single word, is always an adjective. I could use it to say, "my everyday routine involves brushing my teeth," or, "this was more than your average everyday football game." In all other instances, the two words should be separated by a space so that day is the subject and every is the adjective. 

3) I don't know if it's taboo to bring this up but I have one professor currently who has posted a few things on canvas with accidental grammatical errors. This one, however, is a little less obvious. She said, "Not only will this class help you to get an A grade this semester, it will help you in all of your other classes and in your career life." There are a few things that I would rephrase in that sentence, but the main thing I'll point out is this: whenever one uses the phrase, "not only" to start a sentence, the second half of the sentence must use "but also" or at least "also" to finish that thought. To clarify, she should have written, "Not only will this class help you to get an A grade this semester, but it will also help you in all of your other classes..." This is a small and simple mistake that's very easy to make, but I see it often and I think it's something we can all work on sharpening up! 

Cheers to you all, and happy grammar-ing (please don't dock me for that one...)!