Some of the worst books I ever read were written by English teachers.
On the other hand, my younger brother was the class clown, sucked at English class but has written over 1000 songs, a bunch of Cowboy poetry, recorded over a dozen country music CDs and has backed up huge name recording artists with his band, has two good published western novels and several more he has sent me to proofread.
Incidentally none of his books published or as yet in the works have vulgar language in them.
So true. And the worst journalist I ever worked with had a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern, one of the top two J-schools in this country. (The best reporter I ever worked with never graduated from high school and spent 12 years in prison.) Back in the Jurassic era, I was associate editor of a Long Island weekly newspaper. Every week I read through the letters to the editor. Every letter I ever saw from a teacher or educator was chock full of writing errors. Your brother didn't suck at English. He was just bored out of his skull in English class. I am convinced the nation's so-called educators sign some sort of secret pact to teach every topic in as dull a manner as possible!
Grammar you can learn. What's your story? Even nonfiction writers tell a story of sorts. Stephen King was a so-so writer when he published Christine. But he was and remains one hell of a storyteller. No one better. And, he kept writing and got much better at the craft.
Of course not. The road to boredom is paved with adverbs. The road to hell is paved with lousy diction. I cannot tell you how books I read today that mistake discreet for discrete, and vice versa, etc. I was a newsroom copy editor for more years than I care to admit to, and stumbling over diction bloopers these days just makes me want to whip out my pica pole and do some hard pounding on someone's skull. If you don't know what a pica pole is, you are probably too young to care much about proper word usage. The road to tyranny is paved with poor language comprehension. Double plus ungood and all that.
My story…it’s a story about an incredible young girl who came to live with us from Haiti on a medical visa- that very quickly turned into can she stay with you forever? Our local hospital donated all her medical care for free and we provided a home, all her care and basically everything else for her. Her story is heart-warming and heartbreaking. There’s so much more but that’s the gist of it. Anyway, I wrote about 60 pages or so a while ago for a writing contest that I never submitted it to. I have tried Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird method but then I convince myself that I am just a mom, wife and nurse and it’s best to leave writing to writers. 😝
That’s a story I would read. Publishers are supposed to have editors that help prepare the text for publication. But the telling of the story is where the real skill lies for the writer. What you wronged above was enough to make me reread it and want to know more
I won't use speech to text because I once spoke to a business associate lady and asked, " Are you going to the meeting at the Hilton in Golden on Friday night?", and it typed "Are you going to meet me at the Hilton on Friday night?" Thankfully I read it before I pushed send!
And I'm just an aging dumpling with spiritual pretensions, if you want to put it that way. Your story sounds moving and heartwarming and we can use a whole lot more of that in this world. Write it from your heart to your readers, and you will never go wrong.
You just described me! I want to write a book but I suck at grammar and all the things! 😂🤣
Some of the worst books I ever read were written by English teachers.
On the other hand, my younger brother was the class clown, sucked at English class but has written over 1000 songs, a bunch of Cowboy poetry, recorded over a dozen country music CDs and has backed up huge name recording artists with his band, has two good published western novels and several more he has sent me to proofread.
Incidentally none of his books published or as yet in the works have vulgar language in them.
So true. And the worst journalist I ever worked with had a master's degree in journalism from Northwestern, one of the top two J-schools in this country. (The best reporter I ever worked with never graduated from high school and spent 12 years in prison.) Back in the Jurassic era, I was associate editor of a Long Island weekly newspaper. Every week I read through the letters to the editor. Every letter I ever saw from a teacher or educator was chock full of writing errors. Your brother didn't suck at English. He was just bored out of his skull in English class. I am convinced the nation's so-called educators sign some sort of secret pact to teach every topic in as dull a manner as possible!
I learned from the best in the 40s and 50s. Teachers after that are indoctrinated Marxists
Grammar you can learn. What's your story? Even nonfiction writers tell a story of sorts. Stephen King was a so-so writer when he published Christine. But he was and remains one hell of a storyteller. No one better. And, he kept writing and got much better at the craft.
King’s On Writing is one of the greats… however I fervently disagree that the road to hell is paved with adverbs 🤣
Of course not. The road to boredom is paved with adverbs. The road to hell is paved with lousy diction. I cannot tell you how books I read today that mistake discreet for discrete, and vice versa, etc. I was a newsroom copy editor for more years than I care to admit to, and stumbling over diction bloopers these days just makes me want to whip out my pica pole and do some hard pounding on someone's skull. If you don't know what a pica pole is, you are probably too young to care much about proper word usage. The road to tyranny is paved with poor language comprehension. Double plus ungood and all that.
🦧(-)_(-)
Have no idea what it means
🤣
My story…it’s a story about an incredible young girl who came to live with us from Haiti on a medical visa- that very quickly turned into can she stay with you forever? Our local hospital donated all her medical care for free and we provided a home, all her care and basically everything else for her. Her story is heart-warming and heartbreaking. There’s so much more but that’s the gist of it. Anyway, I wrote about 60 pages or so a while ago for a writing contest that I never submitted it to. I have tried Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird method but then I convince myself that I am just a mom, wife and nurse and it’s best to leave writing to writers. 😝
That’s a story I would read. Publishers are supposed to have editors that help prepare the text for publication. But the telling of the story is where the real skill lies for the writer. What you wronged above was enough to make me reread it and want to know more
Wrote!! Not wronged 😬 sorry autocorrupt
I hate autocorrect! Too often it puts errors into my text instead of taking them out.
I won't use speech to text because I once spoke to a business associate lady and asked, " Are you going to the meeting at the Hilton in Golden on Friday night?", and it typed "Are you going to meet me at the Hilton on Friday night?" Thankfully I read it before I pushed send!
I hate auto correct
Thank you so much! That is so encouraging. Maybe I will give it another try!
And I'm just an aging dumpling with spiritual pretensions, if you want to put it that way. Your story sounds moving and heartwarming and we can use a whole lot more of that in this world. Write it from your heart to your readers, and you will never go wrong.