05-29-2013, 10:18 AM
Number Five below is very important. Your brain will tend to remember what you meant, not read what you wrote. Amazingly, you will even fill in missing words in what you've written, but other people will not.
Take it paragraph by paragraph. In the old days, a paragraph was one complete thought that fit neatly between other paragraphs that contained complete thoughts. The first sentence generally contained an introductory thought, the middle sentences developed that thought, and the last sentence was the conclusion. Modern style says that long paragraphs are hard to read and boring. (I wonder if Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens knew that?) The "Now Rule" is to write two or three lines, then hit enter twice. A paragraph in modern writing may now be only one sentence. Not so in good writing, though.
And avoid sentence fragments such as we see in this color within this post, or starting a sentence with a conjunction (like this sentence did). Those things are allowed in informal writing like we have here--as it can tend to be more informal. A more formal paper such as you will submit to your professor may not even be read if it contains too many grammar errors.
We have been dumbed down nearly to the bone in the US educational system. If we descend much further, there will be no grammar or spelling rules left. I'm astonished at how quickly this process has accelerated over the last couple of decades. You can, and should, do better. Use specific, colorful words. The Thesaurus is your friend, but not your master.
Take it paragraph by paragraph. In the old days, a paragraph was one complete thought that fit neatly between other paragraphs that contained complete thoughts. The first sentence generally contained an introductory thought, the middle sentences developed that thought, and the last sentence was the conclusion. Modern style says that long paragraphs are hard to read and boring. (I wonder if Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens knew that?) The "Now Rule" is to write two or three lines, then hit enter twice. A paragraph in modern writing may now be only one sentence. Not so in good writing, though.
And avoid sentence fragments such as we see in this color within this post, or starting a sentence with a conjunction (like this sentence did). Those things are allowed in informal writing like we have here--as it can tend to be more informal. A more formal paper such as you will submit to your professor may not even be read if it contains too many grammar errors.
We have been dumbed down nearly to the bone in the US educational system. If we descend much further, there will be no grammar or spelling rules left. I'm astonished at how quickly this process has accelerated over the last couple of decades. You can, and should, do better. Use specific, colorful words. The Thesaurus is your friend, but not your master.
M. Demetrius Abicio
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
(David Wills)
Saepe veritas est dura.
