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troy church

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Wed May 21, 2008, 7:05 AM

Not very good at this journal thing.

I have been meaning to update my journal for some time now, suddenly it's been four months. Ooops. Sorry it has been a long time between posts. I have been writing alot on my novel - The Burden, but not posting it because my problem lies in editing not writing. I have been looking for a course to do in the basics of writing to get my grammatical skills up to scratch, so far i have had no luck.Do you writers out there have an education in your craft or did you do what i have done and just plunged ahead? If anyone has any suggestions on ways i can tackle the editing fiend, i would love to hear them. Maybe it just comes with time and patience.
It's been a constant battle to stop my daughter from chewing on power cords, she has just started crawling and has the ability to find the most dangerous thing in the room.

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Mood: Neutral
Listening to: The cell - audio book
Reading: Ravenor
Watching: Flight of the concords
Playing: How can i drive my wife crazy
Eating: Tim tams
Drinking: very hot tea

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*denlm May 21, 2008, 9:22:02 AM

I majored in communications in college, and taught English and Composition for many years. It comes second nature to me now. However, if you don't own it, I suggest getting the Chicago Manual of Style. I refer to it all the time, and have even read whole sections as a kind of grammar and composition "refresher" course. Very informative and handy.

~pageburner May 21, 2008, 11:46:28 AM

Thanks for putting me onto the Chicago manual of style.

*Penfury May 21, 2008, 5:44:28 PM

For editing as in taking out the words you don't need and rephrasing the ones you do, I use Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: Renni Browne and Dave King. It is easy to read and understand and I think it's very helpful.

--
Dreams are goals without the work is applied.

~pageburner May 22, 2008, 1:41:22 AM

Thanks very much for the great info.

=DarcKnyt May 22, 2008, 6:51:56 AM

Along with the great reference materials already listed, I was always fond of good ol' Strunk and White. It's a nicely written, easily understandable grammar book. I also use The Desktop Grammar Reference from Writer's Digest. It's not too hard to stumble on and not too hard to digest, either.

But, if you really want some down 'n' dirty, quick 'n' cheap tricks, do a search for "Grammar Girl" on Google. It's a fantastic site filled with easy-to-remember tips and tricks to help improve grammar.

But I suspect CMS and the other suggestions will be more what you're looking for; they'll help you figure out how to work the style of your prose out.

Good luck!

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JDT