lunes, 18 de octubre de 2010

MY WRITING STYLE

We all have a natural style. Style is simply the way in which you put words together when you are writing. It is a reflection of your speaking and thinking habits.Clear, muddled? Some people write in short staccato sentences, sometimes even without using verbs. I believe style can reflect your personality, eg. serious, brusque, friendly, chatty,... and so on.
In some ways, people can write differently to the way they speak.

I don't usually speak much...but I use plenty of words in my writing!
Good style is essential in any writing.
You won't get published without good style.
It means writing with clarity and precision.
Writing is a craft which needs to be learned and practised, so be self critical.

Style is very individual - it is your own style...and is YOURS alone - your unique personality "shining through".

Style may be simple, formal, and even utilize slang, or be more complex with long sentences, sub-clauses and paragraphs; but it should never lose its essential clarity.

  

PUNCTUATION IN WRITING

 Punctuation marks are importantante in writing because they  indicate breaks mandatory, delimit phrases and paragraphs and provide the syntactic hierarchy of propositions, getting the text and structure, sort and prioritize ideas into primary and secondary schools, and remove ambiguities. Therefore require a very precise job, if put in the wrong place, the words and phrases stop saying what the author meant.
The score varies depending on the writing style; however, style differences that may arise do not exempt anyone from complying with certain minimum standards and to avoid errors generally considered unacceptable.
However, should be noted that beyond any established rule, the punctuation marks also make the architecture of written thought. In this sense, as happens in poetry for more than a century, there are no precise rules to regulate the proper use of signs on the scores, both narrative and poetic. In terms of principles and parameters, the punctuation would be part of the parameters of language, and therefore are in a process of constant evolution and are variables that can depend on other factors.
If the ultimate goal is communication, it might seem paradoxical to find spelling licenses that do not respect the conventional way of writing and that, however, express perfectly the concepts and the internal rhythms, otherwise invisible.
A good punctuation ensures the proper articulation of the meaning units that make up a sentence or paragraph. So punctuation jobs require very precise;
if put in the wrong place, the words and phrases that are no longer what the author meant. The more signs highlighting the structuring of the content (theme, sub-theme, idea, detail), the more consistent and accurate is the text. The Punctuation  rules are very broad, each person has his own style of expression as well as having a writing style. Punctuation depends on the text we write a report if the information should be expressed in a straightforward way as if a trial is more free because you can give opinions or defend an idea.


Apostrophe  ´
To indicate the omission of one or more letters in a word, whether unpronounced, as in o’er for over, or pronounced, as in gov’t for government; to indicate the possessive case, as in woman’s; or to indicate plurals of abbreviations and symbols, as in several M.D.’s, p’s. But do NOT use apostrophes for possessive pronouns or for noun plurals.
BRACKETS  [ ]
You can use brackets to include explanatory words or phrases within quoted language.
If you are quoting material and you’ve had to change the capitalization of a word or change a pronoun to make the material fit into your sentence, enclose that changed letter or word(s) within brackets.
Also within quotations, you could enclose [sic] within brackets to show that misspelled words or inappropriately used words are not your own typos or blunders but are part of an accurately rendered quotation.
You can use brackets to include parenthetical material inside parenthetical material.
COLON   :
The sign used to mark a major division in a sentence to indicate that what follows is an elaboration, summation, interpretation, etc., of what precedes; and to separate groups of numbers, as hours from minutes (5:30) or the elements of a ratio or proportion (1:2).
COMMA   ,
A mark of punctuation used to indicate a division in a sentence, as in setting off a word, phrase, or clause, to separate items in a list, to mark off thousands in numerals, to separate types or levels of information in bibliographic and other data.
DASH        ̶
A mark or sign used variously in printed or written matter, especially to note a break, pause, or hesitation; to begin and end parenthetic text; to indicate omission of letters or words; to substitute for certain uses of the colon; and to separate elements of a sentence or a series of sentences, as a question from its answer.
ELLIPSIS  
The omission from a sentence or other construction of one or more words understandable from the context that would complete or clarify the construction. A mark to indicate the omission of letters or words.
EXCLAMATION POINT  !
The sign used in writing after an exclamation or interjections, expressing strong emotion or astonishment, or to indicate a command.
AVOID OVERUSE!

HYPHEN -
A short line used to connect the parts of compound words or the parts of a word divided for any purpose.
PARENTHESES ( )
Either or both of a pair of signs used in writing to mark off an interjected explanatory or qualifying remark.
PERIOD .
A full pause, as is made at the end of a complete sentence. The point or character used to mark the end of a declarative sentence or to indicate an abbreviation.
QUESTION MARK ?
A mark indicating a question.
Seriously.
QUOTATION MARK “”
One of the marks used to indicate the beginning and end of a quotation.
SEMICOLON  ;
The punctuation mark used to indicate a major division in a sentence where a more distinct separation is felt between clauses or items on a list than is indicated by a comma, as between two clauses of a compound sentence.


IMPORTANCE GRAMMAR IN WRITING

          Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it possible for us to talk about language. Grammar names the types of words and word groups that make up sentences not only in English but in any language. As human beings, we can put sentences together even as children--we can all do grammar. But to be able to talk about how sentences are built, about the types of words and word groups that make up sentences--that is knowing about grammar. And knowing about grammar offers a window into the human mind and into our amazingly complex mental capacity.
People associate grammar with errors and correctness. But knowing about grammar also helps us understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear and interesting and precise. Grammar can be part of literature discussions, when we and our students closely read the sentences in poetry and stories. And knowing about grammar means finding out that all languages and all dialects follow grammatical patterns.


Grammar. Is it important? In school, we are taught that if the use of proper grammar is always important in your writing, but now that you are a writer you might be have a little more leeway in your grammar usage. It can all depend on the type of writing you are doing.

For non-fiction, proper grammar is always important. With non-fiction, you are telling your reader facts and information they need to know. you are most likely doing this in some of article format. If your grammar is poor, then the reader is left with thoughts of whether or not you really know what you are talking about. If you can't write properly, how can you really the subject matter you are writing about authoritatively. So, yes, in this instance good grammar usage is important.

Now it is with fiction that the writer can have more fun with grammar. The rules still apply, but they can be bent a little. Fior example, say you have a character that does not speak proper English. There are many reasons why this character speaks this way, and if you are not true to this character's attribute and instead use proper grammar, then you will confuse the reader. So in this instance, it is okay to give those rules a little bend, and have the character speak the way they want.

Now, not every writer can write perfect grammar. Even after years of schooling where the rules are proper grammar are taught to you on a daily basis. Don't worry this is not really a problem. There are many resources available to the writer to learn grammar or to check grammar once you have written. Many word processors have grammar checkers built into the program. However, there are separate programs and books that you can find that will also help. In next week's article, I will discuss some of these resources.

miércoles, 13 de octubre de 2010