JS Tip 614: Read

From the Writing Workshops: Sorting Out Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation

Grammar. Spelling. Punctuation. 

Frustrating. 

It’s been frustrating since the eighth grade (usually scribbled in red across our 500-word essays: “-10, run-on sentence,” “-5, spelling,” “-10, comma splice.”) 

But every time Miss Landers taught us a rule, she taught us the sixteen exceptions to that rule. Wait a minute. How do we keep all this straight? How do we get all this right?  

We have one suggestion: 

Read. 

Read. 

But it matters what you read. Read published material. Proofread. Edited. Corrected. 

You’ll see the printed words on the page and develop a visual memory for the correct grammar. The correct spelling. The correct punctuation. 

For example—

It’s and its. “It’s” is always—always, always—a contraction for “it is” or “it has.” Never indicating possession. Nope. Never.

Your and you’re. “You’re” is always—always, always—a contraction for “you are.” Never indicating possession. Again, nope. Again, never.

“I” before “e” except after “c.” Baloney. That’s a weird rule. And an unscientific one. What? Weird? Unscientific? “I” before “e” . . . ?

The rise of access to unedited text on the internet has flooded the market with incorrect examples. That’s why we say published material. Proofread. Edited. Corrected. Newspapers. Magazines. Novels. Heck: Dictionaries. 

But read. 

What do you think? Your comments? Your questions? We love this stuff.