Science of Writing IV

I know you are here because you want to hear what I have to say about writing and the long and the short of it is, choose the right word at the right time, mind your grammar but be real. It could be some small slip that pulls your reader out of the story.

We joke about “Grammar Nazi’s” but there are easy assumptions that can be made about you that can be entirely incorrect if you make the right slip up.

Then or Than. Hale or Hail. Grate or Great. Steak or Stake. Steel or Steal. Rain or Reign. Ad nauseam.

I can go on but I expect you understand. We all know we should proofread, but sometimes… we slept through that class in High School. So I have resources for you! First is a Magical option that I suspect no-body knows how to use anymore, I have it on good authority that my adolescent nephew has never seen one.

The Mighty Thesaurus! No, its not a dinosaur. Yes it is so important as to get this many words.

A Thesaurus (Per Google) is "A book that lists words in groups of synonyms and related concepts" vaguely translated it is a book for writers that will tell them when they are using the wrong word or the right word in the wrong context. It also helps with correct pluralization and tense. The best thing my Sixth grade teacher did was give everyone in class a paperback Thesaurus, I still have mine.

If you are the type who scribbles at length long hand from park benches or while in bed you will want a physical Thesaurus. I recommend the best you can get your hands on, for me that is Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus. If you are a cyber junky the I suggest you bookmark Thesaurus.com and Merriam-Webster.

The reason for this, is not because you cannot tell a good story, it is because you pay editors by the word, so you want to avoid having to go through too many revisions. Editors don't fix your mistakes, they just tell you about them. A lot like your High School English teacher.