🚀 go-pugleaf

A writer cannot flourish, but for the existence of readers. Whether she writes
to produce a best seller, or writes to produce an art work, her work is
worthless if it cannot be read. Many writers are afraid of grammar,
often with good reason. At school they may have been punished for breaking
the rules, instead of being gently shown why the structure had sabotaged
their meaning. This wasn't the problem for me. At my secondary school, we
were taught a minimum of grammar. The chances to write creatively were rare.
I envy those who were forced to study grammar, because they have an
intelligent, and creative, advantage.

Although I've been a writer for over eleven years, my first efforts had no
structure, no fine detail. I knew to improve my work, I had to learn grammar,
so I started reading every grammar book I could find. The rules cannot be
learned overnight, but they are worth learning. In time, many of the rules
become second nature. I still have much to learn, but I look forward to it.
Grammar is a framework, a canvas on which we paint our words. It not only
guides us, it guides our readers. It is a common point from which we can
depart, and develop our own style.

I am lucky to have an honest critic, who will show me where my prose fails.
Often, it is a sentence that has been structured badly, and makes my reader
work to grasp my meaning. We write to make readers think, but we should not
force them to grapple with the mechanics of our written work. We should not
distract them from the meaning. I am not a published writer, but I take pride
in learning my craft. When I finish a piece of my work, I want to show
the reader a rich tapestry which is invisibly, but securely, held together
by a sturdy frame: grammar.

Linda

My views are personal, and do not reflect those of my employer.