The 11th Secret to Writing Well

The 11^th secret to writing well is taking a break before revising your work. I always miss mistakes if I try to edit my work directly after writing it. Don’t trust your word processor to revise your paper for you. I have purposely typed sentences incorrectly to see if mistakes were caught, and they were not. Take a break, get some water, do a few jumping jacks, then return to your paper to edit it. This will give you a fresh outlook on your writing.

Since I have been in this course, I have started to notice good and bad grammar I wouldn’t have looked twice at before. Below are three mistakes I noticed this week.

Mistake #2: Subjects and Verbs that Don’t Agree

The box of envelopes are by the pins.

This sentence should read: The box of envelopes is by the pins.

I had written this sentence to a co-worker before reading this week’s material. I obviously forgot I was talking about the box (subject) which needs a singular verb. I was thinking “envelopes” was the subject. I will not do this again!

Mistake #7: Confusing Possessives and Contractions

Mistake #9: Misusing Commas

If your around could you please help guide the visitor to fred office?

This sentence should read: If you’re around, could you please help guide the visitor to Fred’s office?

This was an email I received from a co-worker. Like we read in our textbook, your and you’re may sound the same, but they are not interchangeable. You’re (you are) is a contraction and should be used in this sentence. This sentence also needs a comma after “around” to separate the clauses. Another possessive mistake was made in “freds office.” First of all, Fred’s name needs to be capitalized. It also needs an apostrophe to show possession of his office. Many errors were made in this sentence. I’m sure my co-worker typed it in a hurry, and it did not make them look professional.

We should be cautious in everything we communicate. Here is a picture of a sign outside of a business on 25^th street in Ogden. Real professional!