Back in the day, I envisioned this blog to be subtitled: Running, Writing and Reading on Canada's East Coast - a great way to give the blog some focus. Since I have nothing on any of those subjects, it's a good thing I didn't go with subtitle route! Of course, back in the day I had set up this blog I wasn't working The Day Job and thought I'd have all the time in the world to run, write and read! I whine about there not being enough hours in the day...when really there are just not enough FREE hours in the day!
Have you noticed lately I've been overusing the Ellipsis (...) in my writing? Not sure where I picked that up from, but a quick Google search tells me that if used correctly, the Ellipsis can show an omitted section or used when the writer wants to expand on something already mentioned in the sentence. Also, Grammar Girl has this quoted from The Chicago Manual of Style: Ellipsis points suggest faltering or fragmented speech accompanied by confusion, insecurity, distress, or uncertainty. Umm, doesn't that say a lot! I also learned from that quick lesson that it can become annoying - fast - so I'll try to curtail my use of Ellipsis!
The scene from Mamma Mia when the girls are discussing Donna's sex life (dot, dot, dot) is now playing over and over in my head!
What grammar punctuation do you tend to overuse? Besides the Ellipsis (and I just love to say and type that word), I love exclamation points! Lots of them!! Anything new and exciting out there that I should know about - because this post ended up being a grammar lesson instead of anything newsy and interesting? Hmm, perhaps I should look up the Dash (-), I tend to overuse that, too!
I go through periods (of time, not punctuation) where I overuse the ellipsis... but only in comments or chat. And yeah, I'm using them to show pause, which is obviously wrong. I think I'm doing the punctuation in my writing correctly. Maybe.
ReplyDeleteYou know, every time you do one of these posts where you have nothing to write, you come up with something pretty good. Sounds like a perfect method for getting those sneaky words to come out of hiding. Reverse psychology for the muse? ;o)
You bring up a good point, B.E. - what we do as we 'chat' either on Twitter (which has its own grammar rules that make me cringe) or FB or in Blogland is very different than our 'real' writing! As long as we keep them separate, right?
DeleteMuse needs more than just reverse psychology - she needs a full-time therapist! Thanks - glad you enjoy these "I have nothing to write about" posts ;)
You have to ask? Dashes, of course! Also, exclamation points! And I tend to write in incomplete sentences. Because I'm trying to reflect the patterns of speech I hear in my head. Haha!
ReplyDeleteWe need to have coffee soon so we can talk more about the pros and cons of embracing failure. In the meantime, here's a virtual hug: XX
I think that's why I do all the dashes and ellipsis and stuff, too, Janice - trying to write as I speak.
DeleteI'll take that virtual hug - thank you - and yes to coffee soon ;)
I used to over use ... a lot, but now it's the em dash. I'll have to curtail that. Good luck with your run today.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with that, Patti - as you can see, even here in my comments, I love that dash!!
DeleteAnd my run today was awesome! It felt great, I was running at a good pace, the sun was shining - on days like this I love being a runner!!!
When I submitted to the book SRW published, Lesley and her daughter said it was full of grammar errors.....
ReplyDeleteThis was because I use.... ! - and one word sentences - Not! No! Unbelievable! Never. etc
Did you know you aren't supposed to put a period after etc How you then end the sentence beats me.
Glad about your run - except - while you were doing that, I was scraping the frost off the wind shield (early morning...still, this is May!)
I always cringe when I read about those that blog first drafts of their posts - I'm sure my morning rants and ramblings are full of grammatical errors, Connie! And I love one word sentences! Seriously!
DeleteBrrr - dare I tell you that our trees are leafing out here? No, probably not ;)
Oh sweet ellipses of life. You are the emdash of my world. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
ReplyDeleteHa - love it, Silver. Made me laugh :)
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