"When something can be read without effort, great effort has gone into its writing."
- Enrique Jardiel Poncela
As a beginning writer, I found that my biggest struggle was with the mechanics of writing well. Before becoming serious about getting my work published, I didn't worry about things like spelling errors or punctuation mistakes. I seldom thought twice about proper sentence structure or even manuscript format. Back then the only person who read my stuff was me, and I always knew what I meant to say; Even when what I wrote was something totally different.
However, the more serious I became, the more evident it was that I had fallen into some very bad habits. I quickly realized that if I wanted anyone at all to take my writing seriously, then I needed to get serious about the mechanics of writing.
- Enrique Jardiel Poncela
As a beginning writer, I found that my biggest struggle was with the mechanics of writing well. Before becoming serious about getting my work published, I didn't worry about things like spelling errors or punctuation mistakes. I seldom thought twice about proper sentence structure or even manuscript format. Back then the only person who read my stuff was me, and I always knew what I meant to say; Even when what I wrote was something totally different.
However, the more serious I became, the more evident it was that I had fallen into some very bad habits. I quickly realized that if I wanted anyone at all to take my writing seriously, then I needed to get serious about the mechanics of writing.
Now, everyone who has graduated high school has taken some form of grammar, basic writing or English class, and I am no exception. My problem was, it had been a good few years and I was desperately in need of a refresher course. With no real time or money to go back to school (not to mention absolutely no desire), I began to look for free and convenient help in improving my skills. I was happy to realize help was not only easy to find, but also readily available in a multitude of places.
The first and probably most helpful tool I found was an old copy of a school reference/text book one of my kids had lying around. It was called "Basic English Revisited". This book is to this day a permanent fixture on my desktop. It's not only packed with the rules and proper usages of words and punctuation marks, but it's also full of examples, frequently made mistakes and tips on writing. It’s organized into chapters that address specific aspects of the English language that allow for informative reading or easy reference.
Some months later at a garage sale, I came upon another book of this type titled "WRITERS INC.”. It is essentially the same type of book, most likely a school book, and it's organized in the same fashion and covers the same basic topics. It now resides in my reference library. These types of books now seem to turn up everywhere I look.
I have read both of these books cover to cover and turn to them often for reference whenever I am polishing a manuscript. Granted I am still prone to mistakes, but my work presents a great deal more professionally and is much easier to read than it ever did previously.
Now I am in no way advocating that anyone jump right on line and buy either of these books. That's not the point I'm trying to make here. (Although if you are currently looking for a simple, basic, quick English reference book you can't go wrong with either.) What I am trying to say is that mechanics are important. Finding help and working to improve these skills is easier than you might think.
One last item I would like to suggest, that is highly informative and in my opinion should be read by anyone hoping to write anything, is an article by William Strunk called "THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE". It's free and available in multiple locations on the web. Simply open your favorite search engine and do a search. Or you can check out this link to PROJECT GUTENBERG where the article is available for free download in a multitude of text and e-reader formats. It's an old article but one of the best at covering the basics.
If you want to be a serious writer, then you need to take the mechanics of writing well as seriously as you take the story you are writing. No one will enjoy the reading if they have to stop two or three times a paragraph to figure out what you intended to say - or write.
The first and probably most helpful tool I found was an old copy of a school reference/text book one of my kids had lying around. It was called "Basic English Revisited". This book is to this day a permanent fixture on my desktop. It's not only packed with the rules and proper usages of words and punctuation marks, but it's also full of examples, frequently made mistakes and tips on writing. It’s organized into chapters that address specific aspects of the English language that allow for informative reading or easy reference.
Some months later at a garage sale, I came upon another book of this type titled "WRITERS INC.”. It is essentially the same type of book, most likely a school book, and it's organized in the same fashion and covers the same basic topics. It now resides in my reference library. These types of books now seem to turn up everywhere I look.
I have read both of these books cover to cover and turn to them often for reference whenever I am polishing a manuscript. Granted I am still prone to mistakes, but my work presents a great deal more professionally and is much easier to read than it ever did previously.
Now I am in no way advocating that anyone jump right on line and buy either of these books. That's not the point I'm trying to make here. (Although if you are currently looking for a simple, basic, quick English reference book you can't go wrong with either.) What I am trying to say is that mechanics are important. Finding help and working to improve these skills is easier than you might think.
One last item I would like to suggest, that is highly informative and in my opinion should be read by anyone hoping to write anything, is an article by William Strunk called "THE ELEMENTS OF STYLE". It's free and available in multiple locations on the web. Simply open your favorite search engine and do a search. Or you can check out this link to PROJECT GUTENBERG where the article is available for free download in a multitude of text and e-reader formats. It's an old article but one of the best at covering the basics.
If you want to be a serious writer, then you need to take the mechanics of writing well as seriously as you take the story you are writing. No one will enjoy the reading if they have to stop two or three times a paragraph to figure out what you intended to say - or write.
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