Tip 685: Resolving So Many Exceptions

From the Writing Workshops: Resolving So Many Exceptions

It seems that every time Miss Landers, our eighth-grade English teacher, gave us a rule, she gave us umpteen exceptions to that rule. 

The classic “‘I’ before ‘e’ except after ‘c.’” Right?

A weird rule (weird: “e” before “i”). 

And unscientific (unscientific, “i” before “e” after “c”). 

So what do we do? 

So how do we resolve so many exceptions to so many spelling, grammar, and punctuation rules?   

We read. 

We read professionally published articles, papers, magazines, and books.

We see the written word on the page. 

We develop a visual memory of how the words look, how the punctuation works, and how the grammar sounds.

So the next time we see “wierd” or “unsceintific,” our visual memory shouts “Wait a minute! That doesn’t look right!” And we make the corrections. 

And the next time we see “Pat, and Chris will write the manual,” our visual memory says, “No. No comma between Pat and Chris.” 

And the next time we see “Pat and I is responsible for writing the manual,” we remove Pat and Chris from the job.

It’s our visual memory that warns us of the problems. Not a memorized (and faulty) rule system. 

This works. 

We love it.