Category: Getting Started

Three (Less Obvious) Reasons Grammar Matters

Meg Dowell2 Comments

grammar

In honor of Grammar Day, Grammarly took to social media last week to ask followers why grammar really matters. “Bad grammar undermines credibility,” one Facebook user defended. “I like eating my family,” a Twitter follower declared – sarcastically, we hope – in response to an example of why, in some cases, Oxford commas “save lives.”

To show our appreciation for the grammatically correct way of life, we’re filling this week’s slot with three reasons grammar is important to the modern writer, and probably not ones you’ve heard before. Continue reading “Three (Less Obvious) Reasons Grammar Matters” →

How to Grasp Your Audience Like You’re Writing a Super Bowl Commercial

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super bowl

There’s only one day a year we don’t hate commercial breaks. Football fans and non-fans alike chatter through the game and hush the room at the first sign of a brief advertisement hiatus. “Best and Worst Super Bowl Ads of [Insert Year Here]” articles pop up online before the game even ends.

Why are we so obsessed with 120-second intervals of marketing binge sessions? Because, once a year, there is hope of finding a commercial we’ll never forget. Continue reading “How to Grasp Your Audience Like You’re Writing a Super Bowl Commercial” →

How to Earn a Degree and Write a Novel, Simultaneously

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book sitting

Back when I was “just an English major,” finding time to write was a whole lot easier. Of course, back when I was “just an English major,” I was still taking lower-division literature credits, which meant a whole lot of reading and not much else.

This was also back in the day (I’m starting to feel a little old right about now) when my only career goal was to publish a novel. Not a bad goal for someone who has been writing since forever, but a 19-year-old heart is prone to want more out of life than that same heart five years prior.

To make a long story short, I added a second major to prevent my brain from suffocating from boredom, and it wasn’t until my first NaNo as a double-major that I realized: writing takes A LOT of time.

Like, a LOT of time. Even when you love doing it. Continue reading “How to Earn a Degree and Write a Novel, Simultaneously” →