Since it’s NaNo (National Novel Writing Month), the online writing community is abuzz with endless talk of that’s right, you guessed it, writing. Just this morning, we came across this blog by the amazing author Tex Thompson. In it, she discusses how even though most Americans learned grammar in elementary school, it’s not necessarily a skill we picked up enough so that it endures to adulthood, nor is it always one non-native English speakers are proficient in.
English is a wonky language. In fact, there are all sorts of rhymes and tricks invented to just let us keep track of it all…Remember
“i” before “e” except after “c” when it sounds like “a” as in “neighbor” and “weigh”?
Well, this rule has 44 words that follow it. Guess how many are exceptions? 923.
Everyone needs a little help with spelling and grammar from time to time (or they just need to learn it to begin with), so here’s our list of favorite online resources for the struggling writer or budding grammarian.
- The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) This website has guides for Chicago, MLA, and APA styles, but remember if you’re writing a non-academic book, it should follow Chicago. The OWL addresses formatting and usage and is loved by college students everywhere.
- The Chicago Manual of Style If you’ve got a question, why not just go straight to the source? We at Wise Ink prefer the online version to the printed book because each related section is linked so it’s easier to search through. The CMS covers everything (and we mean everything) about spelling and grammar, but it’s best used if you have specific questions rather than a need for a general grammatical overview. NOTE: the CMS isn’t free. It’s available for a yearly fee, but we think it’s entirely worth it.
- Grammar Girl is where we go if we need a quick and dirty refresher on a particular type of punctuation, or advice on whether to use “who” or “whom.” Run by Mignon Fogarty, this site has the most entertaining approach to the subject since School House Rock’s “Conjunction Junction.”
- If it’s an online quiz you want so you can test your progress and skills, there are a wealth of websites accessible through google. We prefer the Guide to Grammar and Writing (created by the Capital Community College Foundation) as it has a combination of quizzes and handouts for both native English speakers and ESL learners.
Writers, what’s the one niggling grammar error that always gets you? Where do you go for answers?
