Four Ways to Improve Your Grammar and Punctuation
Let’s face it; grammar and punctuation are hard. Especially in the English language, it’s a vast and ever-changing pool of rules, regulations, and personal taste that can enhance your text or completely sink it.
Just as grueling a truth: We can’t do without them. We may hate it, but – just like your protagonist hates teaming up with the antagonist (even if the reader loves it) – we need it and we have to roll with it. Punctuation is mortar for a wordsmith and grammar is the clay in the bricks. If you want to build a successful and enjoyable story (fiction or non), you have to master these two incredibly vital, incredibly annoying elements.
“How,” you ask? Well, here are some of the easiest and most steadfast tips for getting a hold on it.
- Reading. Now trust me - this really is the best way. Seeing it in practice engrains the proper usage in your head. It’ll help you develop an eye for it and catch those errors everywhere. Eventually – over the course of two books or two hundred – you’ll begin noticing errors by just feeling that something is off. You may not know the technical reason, but that certain comma in that place has such a faulty tone about it that you can’t help but change it to an em dash. Or a sentence will just sound slightly off and you won’t be able to leave it until you’ve achieved that perfect click of corrected perfection.
- Writing. After seeing it in practice, putting it into practice yourself will solidify the entire process in your mind. It’s one thing to watch someone else ride a bike – and it’s helpful – but climbing onto one yourself and trying out the petals ensures you’ll never forget how to ride it. It’ll also show you which rules are hard and fast, and which are fashionable deviations. Bonus: Portions of grammar and punctuation are simply stylistic; so apply the hard and fast rules and then play with the stylistic portions to suit your own writing. Do you like the way a certain author lengthens their sentences? The way another uses commas? Neither are wrong, just a preference. Try out their methods and see which you prefer. You’ll probably fluctuate through a variety of styles while doing so and it’ll strengthen your writing voice.
- Getting Feedback. After placing your newfound knowledge on the page, having others look over it to catch mistakes will help to guide you even further in the right direction. As much as you may disliked it, having that one reviewer who points out every single error will help burn those mistakes into your head and you’ll never make those specific errors again – maybe just to spite them. And remember, as you’re downing that entire pint of Rocky Road: Grammar and punctuation are rather technical things, so don’t beat yourself up about making mistakes. Really, it’s just a misplaced generic symbol.
- Freelance studying. Certainly attending courses specializing in grammar and punctuation would be helpful, but maybe you don’t have the time or the funds to devote to that. Instead, as you’re writing, if you come across a comma you’re not quite sure about or a phrasing that’s not quite right, stop and Google your very specific question. “Does a comma come before or after a quote?” “Is [insert phrase] grammatically correct?” Usually a few results will come up with detailed answers, not only solving your problem but also explaining the rules behind this solution, which you can remember for next time. This is an invaluable step.
So whether you want to improve your use of grammar and punctuation for your own satisfaction or to get that one reviewer to shut up, the end result is master these two important bits of knowledge. It’s a long process, but these four tips will give you the most effective, most efficient, and least costly college course you can find.
I hope you find this helpful! Feel free to check out my website: Ember Ink Wordsmithing
Happy writing!