My gosh! I cannot believe August is half over, schools are beginning their annual classes, and summer activities are making way for Autumn's glory.
Late July/early August have been busy for me in the editing realm. I was fortunate to edit 3 novellas and a full length novel. I've found my second love! (The first, of course, is writing my stories.) I mentioned that I wanted to give authors tips for writing. Each month I will touch on a different aspect of our crazy literary world. For September (yes, I know it is only August) I want to focus on that dreaded word...G R A M M A R! As I reflect on my years of grammar and composition in junior high and high school, one thing stands out above all others...sentence diagramming. If you do not know the components of your sentence and their specific use, it's impossible to construct a string of words that make sense. My wish is for it to be taught in our schools again, because currently it isn't a part of any high school curriculum unless you are home-schooled. Here is a little information about the different words we use and why we use them NOUN... Nouns are words that describe persons, places, and/or things. PRONOUN...I, he, she, we, they, them, him, her, it...pronouns are used instead of person/place/thing. ADJECTIVE...words that lend credibility to nouns and pronouns (colors, shapes, any word that is a descriptive) VERB...words that express an action, occurrence, or state of being. ADVERBS...helper verbs...words that lend credibility to verbs..they often show time, manner, place or degree...and most usually end in "ly." CONJUNCTIONS...a word that joins together sentences, clauses, phrases, or words. COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS...for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so SUBORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS...(only examples because they are many!) after, although, because, before, if, since, than, unless CORRELATIVE CONJUNCTIONS...either/or, neither/nor, both/and, not only/but also, whether/or PREPOSITIONS...a word or group of words that is used with a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase to show direction, location, or time, or to introduce an object. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE...a modifying phrase, one that begins with a preposition and ends in a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase (eg....He is going to the store. In this sentence, "to the store" is the prepositional phrase.) So, do I have you totally confused?? Our English language is simple, once you know how it is put together. Proper Queen's English is a nightmare and one that I'm glad I don't have to use daily. TRY TO AVOID BEGINNING SENTENCES WITH THE WORDS AND OR BUT. Think about this for a moment. Those are connecting words... that can be used in the prior sentence to link thoughts. New sentences begin new thoughts. I wish I could sit beside each of you and tear apart a sentence and show you how to diagram it. For me, it is how my thoughts become words, become sentences, become paragraphs, and finally become stories. As always, at any point in time, if you have questions or would like to communicate with me, feel free to do so through Facebook or Email. Until next month, I wish you happy writing.
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