Might something that is useful and inspiring to one be useful and inspiring to one other?
These are the things that are useful and inspiring to me.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Prepositions and Em Dashes
Today I want to share two things that were recently shared with me. I've have always been of the opinion that writing rules are often a bit overrated and should be broken as a writer deems appropriate. In some cases, however, I believe that rule-breaking can be a bit overdone. I agree with an article from Slate Magazine that my sister sent along this week on the overuse of the "Em dash." You know that good old dash - the one used to separate a clause or emphasize a point in lieu of other forms of punctuation? Emily Dickinson may have used it well, but common usage has brought it to a whole new level - less artistic - and more - annoying.
On a more positive note, for the rule breaking type at least, is a video from Merriam-Webster's "ask the editor" shared with me by my husband. I have been long known to end a sentence with a preposition when the moment is right; check out Merriam-Webster's argument:
Before I even watched that video, I thought of that Churchill quote, and the boyfriend who would un-ironically parrot it whenever I ended a sentence with a preposition (one of the reasons I dumped him).
Grammar and punctuation are two things I can get wildly passionate about, which pretty much insures I'll eventually end up living alone with a bunch of cats.
Before I even watched that video, I thought of that Churchill quote, and the boyfriend who would un-ironically parrot it whenever I ended a sentence with a preposition (one of the reasons I dumped him).
ReplyDeleteGrammar and punctuation are two things I can get wildly passionate about, which pretty much insures I'll eventually end up living alone with a bunch of cats.