CURSIVE OUTLAWED?

I recently attended a meeting wherein one of the people I met with asked me my opinion about typing on a computer versus handwriting. He'd recently been to a school function where they mentioned they were considering (or planning to) not teach writing with a pen and paper any longer, citing the proliferation of communication by email and text message. In my opinion, this is insane. Perhaps we should get rid of whole words all together and just teach acronyms like WTF or LMAO or IKR or JK or BRB. Maybe we should outlaw words and just use capital letters that can mean differing things depending on the reader's imagination.

I am a proponent of both the written word on screen, in type and in a notebook, written out with a pen or pencil, cursive or not. I use both methods for varying applications in my writing life. Of course, some things must go out in type like emails or submissions or books. I believe most everything meant to be shared with the world should end up in typewritten form eventually, but it doesn't necessarily have to start there.

I know several people who write all of their initial drafts out long hand and then type them into the computer. I've read that the physical act of feeling your ink or lead flow over a piece of paper frees creativity and allows one to tap more deeply into his or her self-conscious. Plus in the transition from written long-hand to typed-in, the piece will undergo at least one round of revision. In my own practice, when I'm free writing, whether just stream-of-consciousness, see-what-will-come-out writing or if I'm free writing on a specific topic or planning of a piece, I use a pen and paper, usually my journal. When I have a specific piece I'm working on, like my novel or an article for which I'm using notes, I type it directly into the computer. I may use handwriting to make notes, plan a piece, or write bits of it which I'll then type in directly from my journal, but I almost never write an entire piece out by hand and then type it in.

Clearly, there is a place for typing and handwriting - at least enough of a place where both should still be taught to our children. Sure, with smart phones and tablets, usually we will always have some device available on which to type, but what if our devices die and there isn't an outlet nearby? At least pen, pencil, and paper don't need plugged in...

What do you think? Does this school need a clunk on the head or are they on the write track? Feel free to comment int he comment section below.

Happy Writing - However you do it!
-The Wordsy Woman

COMMA SUTRA - POSITION FOUR

Time to attempt to master another comma position: between adjectives. When using adjectives to describe a noun in sentences, at times you will need commas between them, at times you will not, and at times there will be commas between some of them but not others. Unlike with the intuitive comma use, often you can't tell when a comma should or shouldn't be used just by reading the sentence out loud. Fortunately, however, there is a rule you can use.

When using two or more adjectives, commas should be placed between those that describe the noun independently and separately. No comma is appropriate when the multiple adjectives are dependent upon each other. Diana Hacker (2009) in her A Pocket Style Manual refers to the distinction as coordinating adjectives and cumulative adjectives (p. 59-60). To test whether the adjectives are coordinate or independent, read them with the word "and" between them.

For example, from Missing Emily: Croatian Life Letters on page 13:

"I did not think again about the letter until I arrived home from school the first of March to find a thin envelope with a border around the outside like a red, white, and blue candy cane and several cancelled stamps addressed to me on our kitchen counter."

If you use "and" instead of the commas:

"I did not think again about the letter until I arrived home from school the first of March to find a thin envelope with a border around the outside like a red and white and blue candy cane and several cancelled stamps addressed to me on our kitchen counter."

This makes sense so the commas are appropriate. In fact, commas are needed so your words don't read like they were written by a preschooler. In this case, you could also determine the commas are needed by reading it aloud. If you try to read it without, "outside like a red white blue candy cane," you might pass out from loss of breath (especially because it is quite a long sentence anyway).

According to Hacker (2009), cumulative adjectives don't describe the noun separately and reading them with "and" would be cumbersome and nonsensical. For example, from Missing Emily on page 12:

"A passing elbow collided with mine, sending my books flying to the floor in slow motion."

Reading "A passing and elbow collided with mine" doesn't made sense so a comma would not be appropriate. As has been the case with all of the Comma Sutra positions thus far, whether to use a comma or not is still a subjective decision to a certain degree. The "and"s might make sense to some but not to others. The important thing is to consider the use of commas in your sentences and make purposeful choices about whether or not to use them.

Happy Comma-ing,
-The Wordsy Woman

Source:

Hacker, D. (2009). A Pocket Style Manual (5th ed.). Boston/New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.

KEEP IT BETWEEN THE LINES - PARALLEL PRONOUNS, the basics

The major grammar mistake theme I've seen in the documents I've edited the past few weeks has been matching plural and singular sentence subjects with their respective plural and singular pronouns. These are easy mistakes to make but they are also easy mistakes to correct.

If a subject within a sentence is singular, meaning the sentence is talking only about what one person, place, or thing did, the pronoun must be singular as well. If the subject is gender neutral, use it. If the subject is male, use he or his; if female, use she or her; if it has a gender but you don't know or it doesn't matter if the the subject is male or female, use she or he or his or her. Granted, writing he or she all of the time can make the piece feel cluttered and reading tedious so it is tempting to use they or their. Don't do it. If you are writing he or she too many times, make the subject plural so you can use they, their, or them, etc. properly.

As mentioned, perhaps the easiest way to get around the whole he or she dilemma is to make your sentence's subject plural and use the more easily-read they or its derivative. Sometimes, however, it won't be so clear cut. Perhaps the subject to which your pronoun refers isn't contained in the same sentence. The rule is still the same: if the subject to which you are referring is plural, use the they pronoun. For example, from Missing Emily: Croatian Life Letters on page 20 with highlighting to hopefully make it clearer which pronouns go with which subjects:

"Within a few hours, I knew the whole story. Aunt Shari had taken Emily for a walk in her stroller to the park in her neighborhood. When they left to walk back home, Aunt Shari Buckled Emily into her stroller. When they reached the intersection a block away from the park, Aunt Shari pushed the street light button and waited for the walk signal. The moment she stepped into the intersection, an unlicensed sixteen-year-old girl riding with her friends swerved around the cars stopped at the red light and struck Emily's stroller." ("They" refers to Aunt Shari and Emily.)

It can also get tricky when your sentence has multiple subjects or contains some descriptive words between the subject and verb. The rule is still the same: match the verb to the subject about which you are writing. They, them, and their also applies to inanimate objects or places as well as gender-neutral subjects, which also can make them easier to deal with. But in the interest of interest, change your work up at times. Find a synonym for your subject or use the he or she (properly) occasionally.

Of course, if you are talking about only yourself, use I. If you are including friends in your sentence talking about yourself, use the collective we. The good news is if you are talking directly to someone else (second person), you is proper whether you are addressing one person or a whole crowd.

Even if you know this rule about singular or plural subjects and pronouns, it is easy to slip up when you are cranking out a draft, making it that more important when it comes time for revising to read your work carefully and think through your sentences to ensure your grammar is correct.

Thanks for reading!
-The Wordsy Woman

WORDS SAID OR THOUGHT WHILE GIVING BIRTH

This past Wednesday was my daughter's fifteenth birthday and I got to thinking about all of the things I thought or said that day which stick out in my mind. So I thought I'd put them into a little story.

A few birthdays ago...

In 1998, April 3rd was a Friday. On Wednesday, I'd went in for my routine exam and was told my blood pressure was up - not an April fool's joke. So I was scheduled to be induced on Friday. On Thursday, my mom and my in-laws came over, my husband wrapped up things at work, and I spent the day on my side on the couch waiting.

When we arrived at the hospital, the nursing staff had a long list of questions, including about drug and alcohol use. Did you smoke while you were pregnant? No. Did you use illegal drugs? No. Did you use alcohol? Yes, three or four. And the nurse's jaw dropped. I quickly clarified that was three or four alcoholic beverages over the entire pregnancy, and not per day as she intended the question.

An Oxytocin drip was started and I waited. I thought, Hey, this is pretty easy. No pain at all. And then about noon they broke my water. Within minutes, the pain started and quickly intensified. As a first-time mother, I naively thought I'd go au natural -no drugs. After about ten minutes of pain wherein I was nearly climbing and clawing at the walls (I so admire those women who gave birth before the advent of drugs), I was ready for something, but not an epidural. So they put some sort of medicine in my I.V. that made me fall asleep until I was thrust awake in excruciating pain. So I begged for the epidural.

Since I'd not said I wanted an epidural, I hadn't gone through the formality of acknowledging one could kill me. But in that moment of pain, I didn't care. Just stick that needle in my back. "Hold still," the anesthesiologist said, "or I might paralyze you." I think I remember my husband chuckle; maybe he thought the doctor was being sarcastic.

The epidural was in - sweet relief. I slept off the prior drug until it was time to push. My daughter was posterior so the labor was long and difficult. As the nurse and my husband were holding my legs and trying to tell me when to push or breath, I got really pissed. So I ignored them, screamed, and pushed as hard as I could when I damn well felt like it. The baby was born and I think after a few seconds my husband thought to ask what it was. A girl. I thought, Oh, yeah, that's important, because at that time I didn't care if they'd said it was a dog as long as it was OUT of me.

As my grandma said, childbirth is the worst pain you will ever feel, but it is also the easiest to forget. This is only somewhat true. I forgot enough to have my son about three and a half years later, but that time, I announced early into my pregnancy I wanted the epidural and asked for it during labor at the first possible moment. And yes, after a bit of time passed, I was glad my daughter was indeed a girl and not a dog (girl or boy) and it was all worth it.