BASIC WRITING TIPS: Punctuation, Sentence Structure, & Grammar

“WORD CRIMES,” by Weird Al Yankovich:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

 

SENTENCE STRUCTURE:

(basic sentence structure) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/reading/grammar/sentences

(fragments) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/sentence-fragments/1/

(run-on sentences) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/runon-sentences/1/

(adjectives and adverbs) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/adjectives-and-adverbs/1/

(pronouns) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/i-me-and-other-pronouns/1/

(me or I) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/me-or-i/1/

(literally vs. figuratively) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/literally-or-figuratively/1/; http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally

(negatives) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/negatives/1/

(who vs. whom) http://theoatmeal.com/comics/who_vs_whom

(spines and speech) http://theoatmeal.com/comics/spines_speech

(handwriting) http://theoatmeal.com/blog/handwriting

(first, second, & third person) http://study.com/academy/lesson/point-of-view-first-second-third-person.html

(parallelism) https://www.grammarly.com/blog/parallelism/

 

SPACING:

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/how-many-spaces-after-a-period

http://digitalsynopsis.com/design/funny-letter-spacing-kerning-fails/

 

CAPITALIZATION (At the beginning of a sentence, Boston, the Center for Disease Control):

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/capitalization/1/

https://www.englishclub.com/writing/caps0.htm (continue on to “Why are capital letters difficult?,” “Word shape,” and “Take the test”)

http://www.english-zone.com/spelling/cap-names.html

 

The COMMA (,):

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/comma-story-terisa-folaron

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/commas/1/

(comma splice) http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/commasplice.htm

(Oxford comma) http://ed.ted.com/lessons/grammar-s-great-divide-the-oxford-comma-ted-ed

 

The APOSTROPHE (‘):

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/when-to-use-apostrophes-laura-mcclure

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/possessives/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/contractions/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/plural-possessives/1/

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/apostrophe.htm

(it’s vs. its) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/its-or-its/1/

(who’s vs. whose) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/whos-or-whose/1/

(your vs. you’re) http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/your-or-youre/1/

The HYPHEN (-):

(number-noun modifiers) http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/adj_numbermodifiers.html

http://blog.bleacherreport.com/2013/10/14/hyphens-some-rules-and-common-errors-around-compound-modifiers/

http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaCompound_Adjectives.htm

http://www.jour.sc.edu/news/csj/CSJApr08.html

(suspended hyphens) http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/english/2005/08/suspended_hypen.html; http://grammar.about.com/od/rs/g/Suspended-Compound.htm

 

The SEMICOLON (;):

http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-use-a-semicolon-emma-bryce

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/semicolons/1/

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/semicolons.asp

 

QUOTATION MARKS, double and single (” “, ‘ ‘):

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/quotation-marks/1/ http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/quotation.htm (take the very helpful quiz at the bottom of the page)

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/quotes.asp

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/577/01/

http://www.kentlaw.edu/academics/lrw/grinker/LwtaQuotation_Marks.htm

http://grammartips.homestead.com/Generalquotes.html

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/how-to-use-quotation-marks

 

ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS (appt. & NASA):

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/abbreviations-and-acronyms/1/

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/abbreviations-acronyms-and-initialisms

 

The DASH (–):

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/dashes-versus-colons

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/mad-dash/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1&

 

The COLON (:):

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/colons

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/colons.asp

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/colon.htm

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/dashes-versus-colons

 

WORD USAGE (words that sound the same but are entirely different):

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/there-their-or-theyre/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/homophones/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/its-or-its/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/bear-or-bare/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/compliment-or-complement/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/whos-or-whose/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/lose-or-loose-/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/your-or-youre/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/illusion-or-allusion/1/

http://www.gcflearnfree.org/grammar/than-or-then/1/

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/affect-versus-effect

http://www.englishforums.com/English/TheDifferenceBetweenEffectAffect/bwcq/post.htm

 

The ELLIPSIS (…):

http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/ellipses.asp

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/ellipsis.htm

 

BRACKETS, particularly the square kind ([ ]):

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/bracket.htm

http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/parentheses-brackets-and-braces

 

MISCELLANEOUS, meaning extra stuff:

(silent letters) http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/15-words-plagued-by-unusual-silent-letters

(the importance of practice) http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/what-new-research-on-the-brain-says-every-writer-should-do

(nor) http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/how-to-use-the-conjunction-nor

(plural names) http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/how-to-make-names-that-end-in-s-plural

(dashes, parentheses, & commas) http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/dashes-parentheses-and-commas

(power of simple words) http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-simple-words

(case against “good” and “bad”) http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-case-against-good-and-bad

(plagiarism) http://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-punishable-perils-of-plagiarism-melissa-huseman-d-annunzio

(resume writing) http://finance.yahoo.com/news/interviewed-over-100-people-goldman-150000544.html

(power of simple words) https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-simple-words

(does grammar matter) https://ed.ted.com/lessons/does-grammar-matter-andreea-s-calude

(misplaced modifier) https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-misused-modifiers-can-hurt-your-writing-emma-bryce

(me, myself, & I) https://ed.ted.com/lessons/when-to-use-me-myself-and-i-emma-bryce

(how many English verb tenses) https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-many-verb-tenses-are-there-in-english-anna-ananichuk

(4 lessons on grammar and word choice) http://blog.ed.ted.com/2014/05/29/be-a-better-writer-in-15-minutes-4-ted-ed-lessons-on-grammar-and-word-choice/

(power of great [literary] introduction) https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-power-of-a-great-introduction-carolyn-mohr

(using rhetoric) https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-use-rhetoric-to-get-what-you-want-camille-a-langston