Tag Archives: grammar

Comma Kathy talks Common Comma Error

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Laura Orsini

Comma Kathy talks Common Comma Error: Conjunction ‘and’ Doesn’t Always Need One Early in my career as an independent business writer, I produced hundreds of newsletters. They provided reliable, predictable income – ideal for someone operating as a freelancer. At … Continue reading →

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Low-Cost Book Promotion: How I Engage People at Book Events

Posted on November 19, 2017 by Laura Orsini

Low-Cost Book Promotion: How I Engage People at Book Events by Kathleen Watson When my Grammar for People Who Hate Rules: Killer Tips from the Ruthless Editor came out in August 2016, I was not exactly a marketing novice; I … Continue reading →

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Stop Pushing Your Modifiers Around!

Posted on September 19, 2017 by Laura Orsini

Stop Pushing Your Modifiers Around! by Kathleen Watson Modifiers are supposed to add meaning or clarification. A misplaced modifier can do just the opposite. Consider these differing connotations of often: College students who meet often with their advisers make better … Continue reading →

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How to Be Better Than Perfect

Posted on August 28, 2017 by Laura Orsini

How to Be Better Than Perfect by Elizabeth Blake When I was younger and fresh from a high school literature courses, I took other people’s poor grammar seriously. I wanted to speak and write properly and expected other people to … Continue reading →

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One Word or Two? Use Care When Combining Words

Posted on August 19, 2017 by Laura Orsini

One Word or Two? Use Care When Combining Words by Kathleen Watson What’s wrong with the following headline: How to Setup a Marketing Campaign to Capture More Leads If you recognized Setup as incorrect (it should be Set Up), you … Continue reading →

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Straying from Conventional Grammar Can Help Tell a Story

Posted on July 21, 2017 by Laura Orsini

Straying from Conventional Grammar Can Help Tell a Story by Kathleen Watson Authors sometimes take license with grammar to create a mood, a scene, or a character. I usually don’t object to storytelling that deviates from standard usage, as long … Continue reading →

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Quotation Marks and Punctuation’s Ultimate Insiders: Periods and Commas

Posted on June 20, 2017 by Laura Orsini

Quotation Marks and Punctuation’s Ultimate Insiders: Periods and Commas By Kathleen Watson When you’re on a roll and the inspiration is flowing, you don’t want to stop to ponder punctuation. Seasoned writers get their thoughts and words captured first, postponing … Continue reading →

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Top Tips for Using Apostrophes with Letters, Words, and Numbers

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Laura Orsini

Top Tips for Using Apostrophes with Letters, Words, and Numbers by Kathleen Watson The apostrophe helps us form contractions (what’s new), shows us that something is missing (rock ‘n’ roll), and helps us create possessives and plurals. These examples will … Continue reading →

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AP Stumbles on Gender-Neutral Pronouns and Possessives

Posted on April 19, 2017 by Laura Orsini

AP Stumbles on Gender-Neutral Pronouns and Possessives by Kathleen Watson I had barely written my last post, in part about pronoun agreement, when the Associated Press announced it was changing its guidelines for noun/pronoun agreement when gender is an issue. … Continue reading →

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Grammar Accord: Be Sure Your Nouns and Pronouns Agree

Posted on March 19, 2017 by Laura Orsini

Grammar Accord: Be Sure Your Nouns and Pronouns Agree by Kathleen Watson If you remember early grammar lessons, you’ll recall that a noun is a person, place or thing: man | village | car The man drove to a nearby … Continue reading →

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