Category Archives: Writing Glitches
Writing Glitch 1096
Today’s glitch: What we see in the second sentence of the example is an actual run-on sentence: a sentence that lacks even a misused comma to slow the headlong rush. It needs either a period or a semicolon after friend. … Continue reading
A quartet of “writing glitches” to entertain and inform
I haven’t had any “Writing Glitch” posts lately, so today I decided to do something about that. Let’s get the really ugly one out of the way first: I’ll ignore the ampersand, because this glitch was a Tweet, and it … Continue reading
Apparently, Weaver knows grammar because he DOESN’T HAVE A LIFE.
Sometime over the weekend, some troll felt the need to leave a comment on literally every post here that deals in some way with grammar or other aspects of copyediting: “Get a life!!” Even if they typed that only once … Continue reading
Irony
Irony: Pervasive punctuation errors in a blog post saying professional authors — real, serious-about-the-craft writers of any sort — always make sure their writing is free of errors. Punctuation advice of the day: Do not add a comma after a … Continue reading
Auto-“Correct” Strikes Again! Ten more glitches…
Today’s glitches are (just like last time) all from a single source (the same one as last time), and all on one theme (sort of the opposite of the errors from last time). Why does this always happen when I’m … Continue reading
I don’t have one “glitch” for you; I have SEVERAL.
A week or so ago, I had this to say about the Very Bad Punctuation in — among other things — the dialogue tags in a novel I just finished reading: I blame the publisher’s in-house copyeditor, who may deserve … Continue reading
Sometimes, he uses Venn diagrams to explain comma usage.
Do commas really matter all that much? you may wonder. Of course they do! (The previous sentence would have a different meaning if I’d written it as Of course, they do!) You’ve probably seen at least one of the many … Continue reading
Writing Glitch 1095
Today’s glitch: It is not possible for anyone to wink a sentence or even a single word. (Facial expressions have meaning, but they’re not words!) This all-too-common error can be fixed by changing the tag to he says, winking or … Continue reading
Writing Glitch 1094
Today’s glitch: There’s only so much I can do with this one…, but I’m willing to give it a try. (Perhaps the ‘my brain hurts now’ reaction to dealing with such bad writing will be an adequate distraction from the … Continue reading
Writing Glitch 1093
Today’s glitch: Because it’s a long introductory phrase (and also an adverbial phrase — you can’t get away from these things! *wicked copyeditor laughter*), Playing in the river needs a comma after it. Playing in the river, a local kid … Continue reading
North of Andover 