Let’s Talk Grammar

Please bear with me.
I know this isn’t everyone’s favorite topic.

My last formal grammar lesson was in seventh grade with Mrs. S. She marked my education in two ways. 1. She told my twelve-year-old self I could not read Agatha Christie yet because I could not possibly understand it. (Insert Rude Gesture here.) And 2. I was not “sophisticated” enough as a writer to use fragments. Today, I fragment all over just to Rude Gesture her. (The poor woman has passed by now, but perhaps my disobedience to her teaching is a loving memory of her existence. BTW, I’ve read at least seventy-four of Ms. Christie’s books.)

My point—Grammar is hard and not something highlighted in high school or college without a creative writing course. And even then…Personally, I haven’t taken any formal courses, but I assume they point out what’s wrong, but not teach the why. My journey into writing had many stumbling blocks on grammar. Commas are still hard after eight years of study. I also fall into the homophone trap way two too frequently.

Thank goodness someone out there realized we are all crap at grammar. (Sorry to throw you all in the boat with me. Maybe you are a pro. How much do you charge for lessons?)

There are many grammar apps out there for writers to grab and use to their heart’s delight. I’ll be honest. Even for this little blog, I use three different grammar checks. Seriously, three. I start with Word’s Editor (they just changed the name), ProWriting Aid, and then Grammarly. They find about 98% of my errors when used together.

The next three blogs will be about grammar apps. (Well, not Word’s. That’d be like doing a post on Internet Explorer as a useful browser. Shudder.)

     Stay tuned for ProWriting Aid, Grammarly, and Hemmingway.