Any online guides on improving your Grammar?

It’s becoming more and more noticeable that the more I write the more my grammatical faults seem to show up. Although I tend to write fairly well when dealing with less serious articles I’ve started to take up some more serious work involving money. Now it’s time for me to finally brush up on my grammar and learn to write without the glaring errors I get when I write now.

Does anyone have any good online resources or techniques on how to notice grammatical errors, and how I can do away with them? A lot of the writing I may need to do in the future is very expressive and I’ll need to be able to show exactly what’s in my head through my writing; something I find extremely difficult to do now.

:slight_smile:

you cannot do better than H W Fowler

see The King’s English

other online usage guides at bartelby: http://www.bartleby.com/usage/

ya you can use softwares such as typing tutor, it not only increases u r speed of typing but also inproves u r grammer caz u hav to write the keywords correct. moreover online websites are there which can help u.

“inproves u r grammer cuz u hav to write the keywords correct”

dude, you need major help yourself, no offence

:cool:

Looks like a fantastic resource, although lots of text on a HTML page tends to be hard for me to read. Might need to drag this one into a PDF or something. Thank you very much for sharing this!

That’s probably your self improvement efforts paying off. Maybe you didn’t see your grammatical faults when you first wrote the piece.

If by “involving money” do you mean writing for hire … or copywriting? Those are entirely different approaches.

One of the best “resources” is reading aloud after you finish a piece. You may be amazed at how clumsy or confused some of your passages sound.

Go slowly on weilding the grammar of the English language. Don’t write beyond your ability to completely understand word and phrase usage. Gauge your readership and write to them. I remember one text on writing short and long fiction suggesting writing so a 10 year old could understand it. Some ESL programs use grade 6 texts.

Some works call for a more relaxed narrative than others. Look at cadence. Verbs can be your best friends. :slight_smile:

Great advice on that site:

“Any one who wishes to become a good writer should endeavour, before he allows himself to be tempted by the more showy qualities, to be direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid.”

I wish. Most of the comments typically come from those who have read my work. A lot of my ideas far outreach my writing ability, and in an overall scope I find it hard to express those ideas.

It’s funny, but I’ve been up to a lot lately, such as:

  1. Working on writing some fiction with someone based off this idea for a story we both had.

  2. Serious article writing on Computing issues, which I’ll get paid for

  3. Generally writing for academic purposes, like university.

  4. Writing for a website I’m working on. I guess you could call it business-style writing.

These all take entirely different approaches, but my lack of writing ability still shines through in whatever I do. Overall my writing isn’t terrible, but I make glaring errors now and again and never realise until someone points it out, and those can be pretty fatal in certain situations (on job applications, for example). I was hoping to find a general guide on improving your writing, and hopefully the article mentioned will put me well on my way to actually being able to fulfil my plans.

I think one of my major problems is that I work in spurts. I can work under normal settings, but I get times when I am at my creative peak where the work just flows and I get thousands of words done in an hour. This rush usually leads to my downfall, as by the time I go back to rewrite I’ve already used that energy up doing that or something else.

Another problem most likely stems from the fact that I haven’t received the best education throughout my life. I typically write how I would say something, and my speech isn’t exactly great. For all those who know the UK well I suffer from the ‘Westcountry Accent’. It’s an absolute killer in a professional setting and anyone looking to do well in any kind of professional practice is usually told to get rid of it.

So yeah, I write and talk like a common westcountry guy, kind of like Bill Bailey when he’s ranting about something.

One of the best books on writing I ever read is “If you can talk, you can write”.

So far in this thread, I found your posts very well-written. If others are finding errors in your work, the thing you need to do is walk away from a piece after “finishing” it and come back later to read it before publishing it. You’d be amazed at the errors “fresh eyes” can find the second time through! And by the way… you accent doesn’t come through in your writing. :smiley:

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/grammar/

If the comments are coming from outsiders, you are lucky to get their feedback. I assume it must be constructive. If you understand your “errors”, practice write a couple of passages using that same concept. If you don’t understand them, research until you do and make sure you fully understand.

It’s funny, but I’ve been up to a lot lately, such as:

  1. Working on writing some fiction with someone based off this idea for a story we both had.

IMHO, two writers can’t write on the same work, especially in fiction writing. Each writer will use a slightly different “voice” and maybe a different cadence. The reader will likely pick up on the differences and be uncomfortable.

  1. Serious article writing on Computing issues, which I’ll get paid for

  2. Generally writing for academic purposes, like university.

  3. Writing for a website I’m working on. I guess you could call it business-style writing.

These all take entirely different approaches, but my lack of writing ability still shines through in whatever I do. Overall my writing isn’t terrible, but I make glaring errors now and again and never realise until someone points it out, and those can be pretty fatal in certain situations (on job applications, for example). I was hoping to find a general guide on improving your writing, and hopefully the article mentioned will put me well on my way to actually being able to fulfil my plans.

I think you might be surprised how many times great writers rewrite. John Grisham’s forst novel was so poorly written it was rejected a number of times. The publisher who finally brought it to market had to completely re-collate the manuscript … shifting chapters, etc.

Most experts in writing will tell you, as Shyflower has mentioned, to put the work aside long enough to forget story lines, dialogue, etc … then plan on coming back to it with a fresh approach.

I think one of my major problems is that I work in spurts. I can work under normal settings, but I get times when I am at my creative peak where the work just flows and I get thousands of words done in an hour. This rush usually leads to my downfall, as by the time I go back to rewrite I’ve already used that energy up doing that or something else.

You can’t force good writing or creativity. Some days you are “off”, pure and simple. One thing you might do to better utilize your time, when you’re fiction creativity dwindles, switch to computer articles or other web articles.

Another problem most likely stems from the fact that I haven’t received the best education throughout my life. I typically write how I would say something, and my speech isn’t exactly great.

Are there any writing classes around your area? Also, look for informal writing clubs or groups. Few people can write really well without effort, study and practice. Some of us can’t write really well even with effort, study and practice. :wink:

I would suggest that you find a well written article and read it in a normal manner. Put it aside, wait a day or so, then write an article on the same topic. Then compare the two. I’m sure you will see differences on how the original article “said” something and how you “said” the same thing. Repeat as necessary.

Another approach … if your vision is lucrative enough, consider a ghost writer who can translate your ideas from concept to the written word.

Y’all come back now, ya hear. :wink:

can any one suggest software which suggest us if any grammetical mistakes is there in paragraph. i know about one “white smoke” but it paid. can any one suggest any free software with same functionality.

Online as in Software? or as in Resource?

Software, nope… no ideas, sorry.

Resource: Go to the original, the best and the concise. Strunk & White have been improving writing for a very long time now, and they are available at at least one site that I know of, and use.

http://www.diku.dk/hjemmesider/studerende/myth/EOS/

This guide will definitely improve your usage.

also available at bartleby (in fact your dk version of EOS actually links to bartleby)

:slight_smile:

For a “quick & dirty” grammar lesson, do a search for “Celestial Grammar”.

However “dirty”, in this case, means “naughty”. :slight_smile: Celestial Grammar and Advanced Celestial Grammar use examples from pornographic stories to demonstrate proper use of English Grammar. The articles cover all the basics and the examples make it much easier (and more fun) to remember.

I think the best way to improve your grammar is to read more. Yes, you could pull out a manual or two on how best to “structure” a sentence but, increase not just your grammatical skills but also your diction, presentation, thought flow… etc… etc… is to read more. Read more of what you want to right about! I think then you’ll find the insight you seek. :slight_smile:

Good luck!

Lyte

… to write about

lern 2 spel, eh :wink: