Fiction Forge Indy: Grammar for Writers

Sunday, March 5, 2017

Grammar for Writers

Before I begin fully into this grammatical series, I want to give some acknowledgements and some references. I am not the first writer to consider this topic, and I will certainly not be the last.

However, I would like to list a few references that have influenced my grammatical perspectives (no, grammar isn't all black and white):

Grammar Girl--This website is a fantastic resource for all things grammar, authored by Mignon Fogarty. I began listening to her podcasts almost ten years ago, but her marketing genius expanded her works to include so much more: books, blogs, and TV presentations. She presents grammar in a wonderfully accessible way.

Understanding English Grammar--This textbook develops sentence structure and basic parts of speech to build sentence diagramming techniques. For those of us that geek out on that kind of thing, this book really forms a solid foundation. Additionally, this book has introductory sections on transformational grammar and rhetorical grammar. Marvelous.

The Language Instinct--I've referred to this book by Steven Pinker before. This witty, readable book introduces some basic theories of linguistics. If ever you have been curious about how babies learn language, about how difficult it is to acquire a second language, about how and why humans developed language, and about some of the brain injuries that affect language, this book dips into these theories. And in an accessible, humorous way.

Azar Grammar--As an ESL (English Second Language) teacher, I learned more about grammar than I ever dreamed. Of course, any time you need to explain a concept to someone, you learn it better--especially when the students do not fully understand the material. These classroom materials (especially the advanced) taught me more about basics of English that I have taken for granted as an English speaker. Understanding topics like gerunds, phrases, clauses, and conjunctions help me to use them more effectively (I hope).

This is a partial list. On to the specific issues next time....

1 comment:

Randy WiremanMarch 10, 2017 at 9:03 AM
Heather, you have had such rewarding experiences! Just know that I continue to learn from you in the workshop, on the blog, and over tea!
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Mike

Hi. My name is Michael Moir and I'm a writer.

I don't know when I became addicted to the printed word, but over time I have found that I can't put it away from me. My therapist says it has to do with the little yellow books that were forced upon me in Kindergarten (See Spot Run...Run, Spot, Run! RUN!!!), but in the depth of my soul, I know it is deeper than that. I was born with this in my very DNA. Phrasing, grammar, and plot structure are as sure in my being as cytosine is to guanine. It is a dark and wildly fantastic creature that gires and gimbles in the shadowed places of my soul. I have been told that I must find a way to purge the wordful animal within (my therapist recommended me to a witch doctor in the Andes), but I have decided to learn to live with it. This desire, this compulsion, this demon that is writing is me and I am it.

I call him Steve.

Randy

Hi! I am Randy. I'm pretty sure that I started writing when I held my first crayola. Unfortunately, I grabbed the white one which left little proof of my brilliant earlier works! I write fiction that's often centered on gay characters - but sometimes off-centered gay characters, too -Ha! Because of the poor recording or admittance of such affairs due to prevailing political and religious views, such historical possibilities of gay relations are difficult to accept, let alone imagine. But, of course gay relations occurred, and much more often than the historical records dictate. I like to give honor to my gay brothers and sisters of our hushed past by conjuring such situation backdrops of history and breathing life into what I cannot know really occurred, but what I feel is closer to reality than it is to fiction.