Good Writing Avoids Self-Consciousness, in My Opinion
Have you ever looked in the mirror and noticed that a tuft of hair is sticking straight up off your head, or a glob of spinach is caught in your teeth, or the price tag is still on your shirt, and you say to yourself, how long have I been walking around looking this ridiculous?
Admit it. Everyone is self-conscious. We think of everything in terms of how it affects us personally. Of all the people in the world, the one we think most highly of — or at least most often of — is me.
It’s no surprise, therefore, that self-consciousness is a problem for most writers.
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Myth Buster: Never Start a Sentence with Because
This grammar myth is, thankfully, less pervasive than some others I’ve addressed. Still, I regularly encounter folks who believe there is a general prohibition against starting a sentence with the word because. Others, who’ve never heard of this dubious rule, scratch their heads when they hear it because it seems so arbitrary.
It’s not, however. There is a reasonable explanation for the idea that a sentence beginning with because is anathema.
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What a Comma Splice Is and How to Fix It
I just read this sentence on a student paper:
“Everybody is different, throughout history, though, stereotypes have caused big problems.”
This is an example of a common problem among young writers: the comma splice. Let’s take a look at what a comma splice is and how to fix it.
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Myth Buster: Never Start a Sentence with “And” or “But”
I did a video post on this some time ago, but a reply to an article I recently shared …
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