The “Big 12″ (or 6) of writing bloopers
1. Not paraphrasing. If you have a quote–especially a long quote–be sure that it does something really, really special. Here’s a good rule of thumb: Use a quote if it does something that you can’t do in your own words (through paraphrasing).
Representative Tom Smith said that the state would “need to raise taxes at least ten percent in order to make the annual budget.”
Representative Tom Smith said that the state would require a ten percent raise in order to fulfill the annual budget’s obligations.
Representative Tom Smith said, “This state is in pretty nasty shape, and we’re going to have to raise taxes just to break even.”
2. Comma splices. This is where two independent clauses are hooked together with a comma. In other words, you have two sentences that need to be separate. Instead of being independent and separate, however, they are wrongly hooked by a comma. Simply unhook or add a conjunction (or maybe use a semicolon).
It’s already late, my friend is asleep on the couch. –> It’s already late, and my friend is asleep on the couch. (It’s already late. My friend is asleep on the couch.)
3. It’s its/their there they’re.
4. Titles and quotes or underlining.
5. Dangling Modifiers. This is a common problem, although many people don’t recognize it when they see it. Basically, whenever you have a small “chunk” of text that describes something, that chunk has to be next to the thing it describes. Otherwise, what you find is a sometimes confusing and unintentionally funny situation.
Dangling: After studying the problem, vandals are now thought to share certain characteristics.
Revised: After studying the problem, researchers think that vandals share certain characteristics.
Dangling: I talked about the great things George Washington did at Sunday’s picnic.
Revised: At Sunday’s picnic, I talked about the great things George Washington did.
Dangling: At age seven, her grandfather passed away.
Revised: Her grandfather passed away when she was age seven.
Dangling: Having finished my dinner, the waitress offered to bring out the dessert tray.
6. Non-parallel construction. When you have a series of actions, make sure they are in the same mode. Do they all “fit” with the verb that is used for the first word? [What about the following…?]
Jim likes to surf the net, to design games, and watching science-fiction movies.
I wanted to cry and head for the hills, all at the same time.
Without my mom, I would have driven too fast and shopping all the time.
For Thursday: Please find a section (perhaps a few sentences or even a paragraph) that either gives you trouble or that makes you particularly proud.
