THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY

Common writing snafus that will cause your writing to end in disaster.

By Mrs. Spear

NEVER USE THE FOLLOWING:

• Any form of “you” – you/your/you’re– Unless it is in a quote.– Only used in directions, letters

• Contractions in formal writing – don’t - do not– Cannot is one word.

• It at the beginning of a sentence• Percent signs (%) at the beginning of sent.• There are…/There is… - they are extra and

unnecessary

Phrases to avoid at all costs

• I think… , I feel…, I believe… - do not start sentences with these three phrases.

• “I plan on telling you in this essay about what I’m going to tell you about.” – 5th grade mentality

• “I’m going to write about …..” – 5th grade again• “ I hope you enjoyed my essay” – once again

5th grade

WORDS are POWERFUL or not

• Unique - • Interesting • Nice• Lots/lot• A lot of• Very• Like

Techniques in typing

• Do not repeat words – “quiet quiet” do you mean extremely quiet or is it a typo?

• Proper nouns are always capitalized (hold down the shift key and then hit the appropriate letter)– British, German, I,

– Spelling – proofread – spell check is not always reliable– Hyphens – know when to use them.– Numbers – spell them out – 50 fifty (less than 100)

Sentence Structure

• Don’t use fragments, run-ons, or comma splices.

• Don’t end a sentence with a preposition• “a” precedes consonant – a dog• “an” precedes a vowel – an elephant• “This +verb” – this is a demonstrative pronoun

and must be followed by an object.

My markings

• MM – misplaced modifier• X or / – take it out• WC – word choice• RO – run-on• SS – sentence structure• Sp? – spelling• VA – verb agreement• SV – subject/verb agreement• VP – vague pronoun