Hey all,
This class has opened my eyes to a lot of my writing mistakes. I found myself typing sentences, then completely erasing the whole sentence and writing it differently. I have been catching myself doing this to help sentences flow better. I am learning to break old habits to say the least.
Something that I am still trying to wrap my head around from the Associated Press Stylebook is hyphens. I personally shy away from using hyphens. I will go out of my way to completely rewrite a sentence than attempt to use a hyphen correctly. They say the fewer hyphens the better, and I am all for that. However, it is important to know when to use hyphens correctly if the occasion ever does arise. When it comes to numbers, we are supposed to use hyphens to separate ratios and fractions. Also, when it comes to larger numbers like "sixty-eight" a hyphen is used to join the word ending in "y."
A mistake that I noticed this week was from a small poster while I was shopping in the store. The poster was advertising lessons for a concealed weapon permit. It said "Wednesday night at 8:00 p.m." The word "night" does not need to be there because it clearly states at 8:00 p.m. and sounds redundant. Also, the ":00" does not need to be there.
I also tend to struggle with hyphens. There seems to be so many rules on hyphens that it is hard to keep them all straight. It's good to know that "the fewer the hyphens the better." Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. This class is changing how I approach writing, even on social media platforms. I also struggle with hyphens. I know I have missed points on quizzes and the test because I erroneously used or omitted a hyphen.
ReplyDeleteI am totally with you. It has changed my approach to writing completely. The note you made about the time was interesting to me as well. But the more that I read it out loud and when I saw it in front of me, it totally made sense.
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