#Workshop - June 29th @ 9pm - Grammar Workshop

I have the Fairy wand and I absolutely love it! Works great for deep muscle massage too

I'm not sure how much more time we have but I do want to touch on one last thing: SPELLING!

So many times do I see misspelled words.

Accept, Except

accept = verb meaning to receive or to agree:
He accepted their praise graciously.

except = preposition meaning all but, other than:
Everyone went to the game except Alyson.


Its, It's

its = possessive adjective (possesive form of the
pronoun it):
The crab had an unusual growth on its shell.

it's = contraction for it is or it has (in a verb phrase):
It's still raining; it's been raining for three days. (Pronouns have apostrophes only when two words are being shortened into one.)



Affect, Effect

affect = verb meaning to influence:
Will lack of sleep affect your game?

effect = noun meaning result or consequence:
Will lack of sleep have an effect on your game?

effect = verb meaning to bring about, to accomplish:
Our efforts have effected a major change in university policy.


Their, There, They're

Their = possessive pronoun:
They got their books.

There = that place:
My house is over there.
(This is a place word, and so it contains the word here.)

They're = contraction for they are:
They're making dinner.
(Pronouns have apostrophes only when two words are being shortened into one.)


To, Too, Two

To = preposition, or first part of the infinitive form of a verb:
They went to the lake to swim.

Too = very, also:
I was too tired to continue. I was hungry, too.

Two = the number 2:
Two students scored below passing on the exam.



Your, You're

Your = possessive pronoun:
Your shoes are untied.

You're = contraction for you are:
You're walking around with your shoes untied.
(Pronouns have apostrophes only when two words are being shortened into one.)


And the last one I see commonly misspelled:

discreet or discrete?
If it’s easy to hide, it’s discreet. If it’s something that’s separate or distinct, it’s discrete. A lipstick-shaped vibrator is discreet, while another toy may have two motors that offer discrete vibrations.


The last one was taken from the Editing Guidelines off of Eden. It is a great place to get information about common review errors here on the site! less

I have the Fairy wand and I absolutely love it! Works great for deep muscle massage too

I'm not sure how much more time we have but I do want to touch on one last thing: SPELLING!

So many times do I see misspelled words.

Accept, Except

accept = verb meaning to receive or to agree:
He accepted their praise graciously.

except = preposition meaning all but, other than:
Everyone went to the game except Alyson.


Its, It's

its = possessive adjective (possesive form of the
pronoun it):
The crab had an unusual growth on its shell.

it's = contraction for it is or it has (in a verb phrase):
It's still raining; it's been raining for three days. (Pronouns have apostrophes only when two words are being shortened into one.)



Affect, Effect

affect = verb meaning to influence:
Will lack of sleep affect your game?

effect = noun meaning result or consequence:
Will lack of sleep have an effect on your game?

effect = verb meaning to bring about, to accomplish:
Our efforts have effected a major change in university policy.


Their, There, They're

Their = possessive pronoun:
They got their books.

There = that place:
My house is over there.
(This is a place word, and so it contains the word here.)

They're = contraction for they are:
They're making dinner.
(Pronouns have apostrophes only when two words are being shortened into one.)


To, Too, Two

To = preposition, or first part of the infinitive form of a verb:
They went to the lake to swim.

Too = very, also:
I was too tired to continue. I was hungry, too.

Two = the number 2:
Two students scored below passing on the exam.



Your, You're

Your = possessive pronoun:
Your shoes are untied.

You're = contraction for you are:
You're walking around with your shoes untied.
(Pronouns have apostrophes only when two words are being shortened into one.)


And the last one I see commonly misspelled:

discreet or discrete?
If it’s easy to hide, it’s discreet. If it’s something that’s separate or distinct, it’s discrete. A lipstick-shaped vibrator is discreet, while another toy may have two motors that offer discrete vibrations.


The last one was taken from the Editing Guidelines off of Eden. It is a great place to get information about common review errors here on the site! less

silicon or silicone?

If it’s the super-hygienic sex toy material that so many love, it’s silicone. If it’s the semi-conductive chemical element that is a major component of sand, it’s silicon. (Chances are, if seen in a review, it’s silicone.)

lay or lie?

You lay down a book, but lie down on the bed. You lay in bed for hours, while the book laid on the desktop.

sit
Noun: A period of sitting: "a sit in the shade".
Verb: Adopt or be in a position in which one's weight is supported by one's buttocks rather than one's feet and one's back is upright: "you'd better sit down

set
Noun: A group or collection of things that belong together or resemble one another or are usually found together: "a set of false teeth".
Verb: Put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position: "Dana set the mug of tea down". less

silicon or silicone?

If it’s the super-hygienic sex toy material that so many love, it’s silicone. If it’s the semi-conductive chemical element that is a major component of sand, it’s silicon. (Chances are, if seen in a review, it’s silicone.)

lay or lie?

You lay down a book, but lie down on the bed. You lay in bed for hours, while the book laid on the desktop.

sit
Noun: A period of sitting: "a sit in the shade".
Verb: Adopt or be in a position in which one's weight is supported by one's buttocks rather than one's feet and one's back is upright: "you'd better sit down

set
Noun: A group or collection of things that belong together or resemble one another or are usually found together: "a set of false teeth".
Verb: Put, lay, or stand (something) in a specified place or position: "Dana set the mug of tea down". less

If it's possible to talk about sentence length, I'd be glad to hear some tips. Many new reviewers will have short choppy sentences, and I know that I get into a review better when sentences flow nicely.


And I, on the other hand, tend to make my sentences *waaaay* too long, with more clauses than you can shake a stick at.

Any words on finding a good balance there? less

For a beginner? Most definitely. I'm assuming you don't have a clit of steel like I do. If that's the case, it's definitely mid-range in power I'd say. For a more advanced user, it's pretty weak and it does run down more quickly than, say, the Pocket Fairy Mini, which seems to last the longest of the three I own. less

I read this a few months ago and liked it a lot:

from Gary Provost, quoted in Roy Peter Clark’s (terrific) Writing Tools:

This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important. less

I love the Oxfcrd Comma as well. I could kill Vampire Weekend for that silly song even though I must say that I secretly love it. (The song is called "Oxford Comma and the refrain is something to the effect of "Who gives a f*** about an Oxford Comma," which is the same as a series comma). less

If it's possible to talk about sentence length, I'd be glad to hear some tips. Many new reviewers will have short choppy sentences, and I know that I get into a review better when sentences flow nicely.


And I, on the other hand, tend to make my sentences *waaaay* too long, with more clauses than you can shake a stick at.

Any words on finding a good balance there? less

If it's possible to talk about sentence length, I'd be glad to hear some tips. Many new reviewers will have short choppy sentences, and I know that I get into a review better when sentences flow nicely.


And I, on the other hand, tend to make my sentences *waaaay* too long, with more clauses than you can shake a stick at.

Any words on finding a good balance there? less

Run on Sentences and Fragments

Fragment Sentences

A complete sentence will have at least one subject and one verb. Sentences are considered fragments when they are missing either a subject or a verb. Consider the following two fragment sentences and their corrected versions:

No Subject: Went to the store to buy brownie mix.
Added Subject: My dad went to the store to buy brownie mix.

No Verb: Brownie mix at the store expensive.
Added Verb: Brownie mix at the store was expensive.

In addition to containing a subject and verb, a complete sentence will express a complete thought. Consider the following two sentences and their revised versions.

Incomplete: When he went to the checkout counter to pay for the brownie mix.
Complete: When he went to the checkout counter to pay for the brownie mix, he got distracted by a display of cake mixes.

Incomplete: The variety of yummy cake mixes.
Complete: The variety of yummy cake mixes convinced him that he’d rather bake a cake than brownies tonight.



Run-On Sentences (Run-Ons)

A run-on sentence occurs when two or more independent clauses are combined without correct punctuation. An independent clause is a complete, simple sentence, meaning that it contains a subject, a verb, and a complete thought. There are a few ways to correct run-on sentences. Consider the following run-on sentence and the following options for revising it.

Run-On: The grocery store was really packed with people there must have been a big sale today.

Correction 1: The grocery store was really packed with people. There must have been a big sale today.

Here, the error has been corrected by simply breaking the run-on sentence into two sentences.

Correction 2: The grocery store was really packed with people, so there must have been a big sale today.

In this case, the sentence has been corrected by adding a coordinating conjunction and a comma. This is a compound sentence.

Correction 3: Because the grocery store was really packed with people, there must have been a big sale.

In this example, the sentence has been corrected by adding a subordinating conjunction and a comma. This is a complex sentence.




Run-On Sentence Exercises

Some of the sentences below are run-ons. Play editor on the sentences. Could you tell these writers why the run-ons are incorrect? Also, how would you tell the writers to fix them?

We were really busy at the restaurant tonight. I waited tables straight through from 3:30 to 11:30 I never sat down for even one break.
My dog had to go to the vet today. She cried and cried when the clipped her toenails, but then she was fine when they gave her a shot!
The book we had to read for class was really long my teacher doesn’t seem to understand that we have other classes to read for too.


*If you click on any of the OWL links you will find exercises at the bottom of the pages* less

I know, I loved it. One of my biggest problems in writing is that my biggest influence is Thomas Jefferson. He's flipping brilliant, but *nobody* can stand to read his stuff straight through, and if you try to read it aloud you choke on it.

I realize that I write much differently when I'm writing in a quick-paced forum vs. when I'm writing an essay or journal article or even a review---but I sound kind of robotic and detached no matter what. less