Me fail English? That’s unpossible!
While randomly searching for comma splices I ran across the Guide to Grammar and Writing at Capital Community College. I’m an extremely concise technical writer, however, I’m also a self-taught high school dropout (see, a comma splice). Because of this I tend to write using my own personal set of rules that I’ve put together while reading technical manuals and other documentation sets.
I’ve finally gotten over my mental block of how text should look and have decided to start studying English again. Although I pride myself on my spelling I know I have a lot to relearn about grammar and syntax. I use technical grammar and syntax rules in everything I write and I’ve known for years that there are some places where that’s just not appropriate. Examples would be numbers (twenty-three students vs. 23 students), lists (one, two and three vs. one, two, and three), and other miscellaneous things that the average reader wouldn’t pick up on but many of my friends have commented on.
I’m also guilty of intentionally using inappropriate grammar for dramatic effect. Comma splices are my most used infraction. Inappropriate conjunctions. Verbless sentences? Ahem…
So, anyone who knows my writing style will start to see a change in my posts. I’ll be making an active attempt to immediately apply appropriate changes to my everyday journal entries and forum posts. Wish me luck.
