I can face it. It has been a lot of years since I took any courses in writing and the English language. I'm still forgetting the rule that you do not double space between sentences and that new paragraphs start with a line between and not indented five spaces. Grammar and writing police can have a field day with my blog and the number of errors. This is an area I can get better, and am looking into a community ed class, offered several times a year, on updating language arts skills. there's a retired or underemployed teacher that is on to something most likely needed.
One area I hope to improve is my word choice; be bolder in statements. A new food item was not very tasty; it was flavorful. I wasn't very thirsty after volleyball; I was parched. Even a non pedantic writer like me can appreciate the use of an expressive word instead of a lazy adjective. (Did you see what I did there?) The thesaurus will be my friend and I like this online version, thesaurus.com. This nifty site also shares a word of the day. today I learned kvell, a Slang term meaning to be extraordinarily pleased, especially to be bursting with pride, as over ones family. I'm not sure how it is used in a sentence. "I felt kvell after watching my daughter perform last night." or perhaps, "My heart was filled with kvell, seeing my wisp of a daughter trip the lights fantastic in her show choir debut." Maybe I'll take a pass on this word of the day.
There was a featured story on my commute to work yesterday about words and short phrases that should no longer be used in 2016. This was a CNN story titled Banish these Words in 2016, School Says. I am guilty of using "so" as a pointless word to start a sentence, and will strive to do better in 2016. Other phrases such as "price point" or "break the internet" will be easy to resist. As I do not want to send anyone's nerves to the brink of feeling like my fingernails are scraping down a chalkboard, a feeling invoked by one of the professors, I won't turn the question over to you readers by starting with the word "so." Instead, I humbly bequest of you to share any ideas, stories, or feedback on how to make my or other writers blog posts less prosaic and more imaginative.
Sooooooooo in love with so. I use tiny words. Think it has to do with a tiny mind.
ReplyDeleteHardly! I was into so until told I was a grammar plebe.
DeleteI am glad beginning a sentence with "So" is starting to irritate people. Even highly educated people are using it that way. Yesterday while driving, I saw a company van with their logo on the side of it. It had the word "homemade" in it, only it was spelled "homade." I got a kick out of that!
ReplyDeleteTrying to write better when rules change is hard, but spelling hmmm.
DeleteI am SO guilty of overusing SO, especially at the beginning of a sentence. I've been trying over the past year or so to stop using it altogether. So...how is that working for me? So glad you asked :)
ReplyDeleteSo not well! I see I am not alone in my use of so at the beginning of sentences. I can see now that it does sound a little silly, but then again, what is so wrong with that. Thanks for commenting.
DeleteI'm in love with so. It's the way I talk and quite frankly I write almost exactly the way I talk. I've been terrible with the English language (and spelling) all of my life. Maybe I should have been born someplace else. None the less, (see how I love starting my sentences with random non-essential beginnings like so) I do enjoy writing just how I talk and at least for now I'll continue with the horrible "so trend." I'm stubborn though.
ReplyDeleteI'm smiling at the response this post evoked. Apparently So reigns in the blogosphere. I guess I just don't want to show my age so trying to learn the new grammar, but I guess eliminating words because some prof said to, isn't necessarily improving my grammar knowledge.
DeleteSo I need a thesaurus to read your stories from now on, eh? :) Jokes aside, this sounds like a great writing goal, Sam!
ReplyDeleteI think you have a better command of English than I do for creative writing. One should always strive to improve and learn new things right?
DeleteTry "nonetheless" as the spelling. Oops, sorry to sound like the spelling police. Some grammar rules are broken by the best writers. However, we have no license to play fast and loose with spelling and punctuation. As am English teacher, I notice poor spelling on signs and punctuation errors on sign of large stores. Walmart, I am looking at you.
ReplyDeleteGuilty as charged. Spell check has got me lazy. A good old fashion Websters should still be a writers tool.
DeleteI'm embarrassed now Linda, knowing that you read my blog and are an English teacher. Yikes! I have been horrible with spelling and terrible with punctuation my entire life. I throw commas around like advertising flyers. I actually had an eight grade English teacher say to me as she was handing a graded story I'd written back to me, "When you become a famous writer make sure you have spell check on your computer."
DeleteTruthfully though, my sister struggled a lot with dyslexia in school and if you were to look at notes I've taken during a lecture or at church... I think I have some level of it as well.