Today's writing tip--the top three grammar mistakes I see people make! So look closely and see if you do any of these.
#1 Commas, Commas, Commas!
This is one of the worst problems I had with Appaloosy. Even now when you read it you can see a little bit of an overusage.
If, perchance, you tend to use a lot of, commas, it, kindof, makes things break up, and hard to read. Can you see? Know your comma rules and stick to them.
#2 Capitalization and Consistency
Make sure you have all of your capitalization in the right places! It seems obvious, but sometimes it's easy to forget and it will, trust me, make you look at least a little stupid.
And once you decide that a word is going to be capitalized, like
Appaloosy or
Indian, then make sure every time that it appears it is capitalized.
#3 Quotations
If people (or animals) are going to talk in your story, you better make sure that they are easy to understand. Remember that each time someone else begins to speak you need to give them a paragraph break. And for goodness sakes, don't let all the grammar rules slip for them, even if they are supposed to be uneducated, etc.
Some things can change in dialogue that are easy to tell what they are, like 'em for them, ain't and other words that are slipped into every day language. But don't make every aren't aint and every Hey 'ey! or your characters might not even seem real.
I've critiqued a lot of amateur manuscripts so far, and these are probably the worst and most common mistakes that I've noticed, so make sure to keep a look out for them in your writing! (but P.S. I am still an amateur too--just an amateur with a little more practice.=)
I hope this helps. Look out for next Wednesday, I'm going to explain the top three ways writers
Bore readers.
Mattie
