April 2013 A to Z Challenge
April 2013 A to Z Challenge
26 letters of the alphabet, 26 days, 26 posts
Arlee Post started A to Z in 2010 with an initial 100 intrepid bloggers. A to Z has now grown to over 1700 bloggers with just six hours to go on the countdown clock.
This year our faithful challenge organizers have encouraged participants to develop a theme for posts rather than write on random topics as many of us did last year.
My theme for 2013: Writing PLUS Grammar You Can See
A strong knowledge of grammar helps writers produce more effective writing; more effective writing improves communication.
Each post will feature one aspect of writing with a grammar connection. Most posts will include a “So What? Who Cares?” section and a “Goals for ___________” section. The goals won’t be to just write more; anyone can do that. The goal will be to write better . . . and that includes me. Perhaps you, the reader, will help with some tips and comments for me. I would love that.
Of course, the danger in doing a blog on writing and grammar is that the grammar police, the trolls, and the technicality specialists will be on the lookout for my mistakes, both minute and egregious. Writers who write about writing have to look both ways before crossing the street otherwise trolls driving semis will smash them off the road.
My first few posts are ready. We’ll start with some easy stuff and go on from there.
April 1 A is for Adjectives, Anteaters, Armadillos, and Aardvarks
April 2 B is for Blogging Bliss, Boohahs, and Booyahs
April 3 C is for Complement and Compliment Complexities
Writing can be fun, and grammar can be fun, too. Elizabeth Fais of writersinthestorm reminds us that “Making something fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior.” Maybe we can have a little grammar fun as we take this ride on the A to Z.
Why not follow along? Perhaps we’ll come across a few of your pet peeves related to grammar.
You do have some pet peeves, don’t you? Let me know what they are. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
As I told you in my one and only comment to your past blogs, I have a special annoyance with grammar as it is used today. So I will get on this one.
Do I just start here?
A is for annoyed with “your welcome” which I see regularly.
B is for ?… Can’t think of anything. I need to go back to your examples and see what I am doing.
Ok..it looks as if I should mention pet peeves. I shouldn’t just lost them, but should elaborate, also. I’ll wait until I have seen some of you professionals do some before I continue.
Hi Carol… Thanks for your comment. I agree with you. “You’re welcome” and “your welcome” are entirely two different things. I see the second one too many times. Apostrophes cause considerable difficulty for some. I’ll probably do a post on that topic at some point as examples of apostrophe errors abound.
Hope the weather in Florida is better than it is here.
There is a sign over the door of the restroom openings in my park that reads “Men’s ” “Ladies”. No one else sees anything wrong with that.
HI Carol, This is a good example of inconsistency. It should just say MEN and LADIES…just regular plurals.
My pet peeve is the apostrophe. I see people do ownership when they mean plural all the time. Very common to see 1980’s when they mean 1980s.
HI Linda,
Apostrophes, plurals, and contractions seem to trip many people up. Too many snow days for school kids?