I can relate as I am not very educated when it comes to grammar specifically. But, I can say I have a very intuitive grasp of grammar or when something 'feels wrong' as I'm writing because of the giant pile of books I have read throughout my life. Also, google, lots of google.
Hey, FrodoKreuger, if people have commented on what you could do better... sounds like a personal problem to me. Or maybe it's just who you're working with?
TheWordSmith - not sure from your post if you recognised that the comment you quoted was a joke following up on people noting a rather awkward way I'd phrased my last comment. Sometimes you just have to giggle at yourself.
There are many people who are not confident about their grammar and English. But don't worry, you can solve this problem by learning more.
My grammar is shocking. I blame the inferior English language teachers at Australian schools. They taught the meaning behind stupid books rather than how to construct a sentence and the rules of the English language. By the time I hit University it was too late. So I hide my poor grammar in style and character voice.
So many books and so little time. Why not write one myself? "Well sir," this little voice in my head says, " you did not graduate from anything resembling a lit class so what makes you think you can craft anything?" "Well', I say, "I can't really say; other than it's a itch that wont go away." With that I started typing. Became so engrossed with the story in my head that the noon bell for lunch was a nanosecond distraction. The challenge was upon me to type as fast as my thoughts conjured up another scene while popping characters onto the current page. A couple of hours later I stopped typing and cycled back to the first line to read up to where I stopped. Could not figure out how all that writing could end up in several different docX (MSWord) folders. Remembered coming across an admonition concerning outlining, timelines, and character profiling - Steven King, I think. Those seven folders resembled a regular jigsaw puzzle with all the pieces the same color (not that bad but bad). OK Alger ( that's my last name) you need to find something that can keep things organized. Started looking across the forums resources and found this five star rated program called "Scrivener" You will be pleased to know - or maybe not - that I have stopped writing due to the self imposed obligation to walk through the two hour Scrivener tutorial time line That two hour timeline did ot factor in tea, head runs, and runny noses or the Superbowl. .
Read a style guide! I took an editing course and really all we did was read the Chicago Manual of Style. It was a tough read for sure, but it made me feel infinitely more confident in my grammar skill set.
Coursera's Crafting an Effective Writer Tools of the Trade is excellent. For those unfamiliar with Courseara, it's an ed tech company that partners with schools and universities worldwide. The courses are free. Crafting an Effective writer is offered by Mt. San Jacinto College. The class is designed to incorporate different learning styles, and it's interactive so you get feedback from other students and TAs. Just joined this forum today, so I'm a little late for people who are interested in starting it now . This session I'm in started last week and it's too late to join it. Here's the link. There may be a way to ask for info about future sessions. https://www.coursera.org/course/basicwriting
You can get so bogged down in the rules of grammar that you'll never end up writing anything of value. Grammar abides by the 80/20 rule quite nicely.
I do this too, Selbbin. I don't have the best education but I tried to teach myself over the years by reading books. However, I developed a lot of bad habits as I always figured grammar could be fixed in the last draft - . Stuff I still struggle with: the em dash, it's vs. its, : & ; and remembering the placement of commas especially around names. I have found a couple of good grammar books though. One is a vintage book that uses easy sentences and language anyone can understand. I always try to keep it with me in case I need to look something up. The trick is to not be intimidated and keep learning.
That's for sure peachalulu. Lately I have found myself going back through a just completed paragraph moving things around, and rewording. I should have kept writing that scene dancing in my head. When I unplugged from that paragraph this brain of mine had involuntarily diverted into another direction, not at all related to where I had been headed. Had to stop for a cup of tea.
