grammar girl is an online expert on grammar who gives free instructions and advice.
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Sunday, May 18, 2014
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Thursday, May 8, 2014
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Would a roller coaster be fun if it stayed on the same exact level the whole fucking time? All good rides and good writing has ups and downs, changes of speed.
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Writers should always try to surprise but not offend. This is far more difficult to do than it is to state.
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Whatever seems new is what to review.
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When nobody's outsides are the same, why do we expect their insides to be the same? Why do we expect their thinking to be? Why do we expect their emotions to be?
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If you can't standardize the students or standardize the teachers, why do you think we can standardize the curriculum?
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One of the words for a trick or a scam is "a con." The source of that is the word "confidence." This is why most writers say "this is true" when they really mean "I believe this."
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Stating ideas with total confidence straddles the line between a rhetorical device and a mental illness.
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Whenever anyone tells me that the world is my oyster I inform them that I have a shellfish allergy.
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To be a successful mechanic you need fine motor skills. #wordplay
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Your task is to change minds, not to speak your mind.
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"What is easy to read is easy to believe"
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On my first day of kindergarten, I showed up with an eye patch. That proved I was unlucky. In first grade, I read 902 books. That proved I was an idiot.
Later on, I realized that there was no cure for being unlucky, but there was a cure for being an idiot. It turns out that I was wrong about one of those things.
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When I was born I had needs, but I did not make demands. Life was kind to me, even though I didn't earn it. I realized I had a debt, but I couldn't find the person to pay back. This is why I am a people-pleaser.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Writers should always try to surprise but not offend. This is far more difficult to do than it is to state.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whatever seems new is what to review.
------------------------------------------------------------------
When nobody's outsides are the same, why do we expect their insides to be the same? Why do we expect their thinking to be? Why do we expect their emotions to be?
---------------------------------------------------------------------
If you can't standardize the students or standardize the teachers, why do you think we can standardize the curriculum?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One of the words for a trick or a scam is "a con." The source of that is the word "confidence." This is why most writers say "this is true" when they really mean "I believe this."
---------------------------------------------
Stating ideas with total confidence straddles the line between a rhetorical device and a mental illness.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whenever anyone tells me that the world is my oyster I inform them that I have a shellfish allergy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To be a successful mechanic you need fine motor skills. #wordplay
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your task is to change minds, not to speak your mind.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
"What is easy to read is easy to believe"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
On my first day of kindergarten, I showed up with an eye patch. That proved I was unlucky. In first grade, I read 902 books. That proved I was an idiot.
Later on, I realized that there was no cure for being unlucky, but there was a cure for being an idiot. It turns out that I was wrong about one of those things.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When I was born I had needs, but I did not make demands. Life was kind to me, even though I didn't earn it. I realized I had a debt, but I couldn't find the person to pay back. This is why I am a people-pleaser.
Suprise your readers, but don't offend them.
A good writer must try to surprise and not offend. This is impossible to learn how to do in general. This skill only works one by one by one.
This is pretty similar to the concept of "go from a to c."
This is pretty similar to the concept of "go from a to c."
Goals For Writing- My paraphrase
A writer wants to write something that seems
CLEAR to the audience
TRUE to the audience
NEW to the audience
Sometimes additional goals are added. Sometimes the goals have different priorities.
Other goals are to write something
HELPFUL to the audience
IMPRESSIVE to the audience
When writing for a course, I suggest this:
Write something
that follows instructions from the teacher
that follows advice from the textbook
that appears to be the result of a lot of hard work
CLEAR to the audience
TRUE to the audience
NEW to the audience
Sometimes additional goals are added. Sometimes the goals have different priorities.
Other goals are to write something
HELPFUL to the audience
IMPRESSIVE to the audience
When writing for a course, I suggest this:
Write something
that follows instructions from the teacher
that follows advice from the textbook
that appears to be the result of a lot of hard work
A Question I Can't Answer- Instruction Manuals
Why did the world give up on writing instruction manuals?
-Ever tried to read one for a device that you have very little understanding of?
-How long would it have to be to cover every question that one might ask?
-How would you phrase each question? What vocab should you use? How much detail would be
necessary?
My guess?
My experience?
Writing instructions is very hard.
My observations:
Frequently asked questions, crowd-sourced answers, and technical support have replaced them.
-Ever tried to read one for a device that you have very little understanding of?
-How long would it have to be to cover every question that one might ask?
-How would you phrase each question? What vocab should you use? How much detail would be
necessary?
My guess?
My experience?
Writing instructions is very hard.
My observations:
Frequently asked questions, crowd-sourced answers, and technical support have replaced them.
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