WELCOME, WRITERS

If you've come to this blog, you're probably already a competent writer--or well on your way to becoming one. After all, the surest sign of a good writer is an eagerness to become an even better writer. Writing teachers are also welcome here.

This blog will offer advice on style, grammar, even such mundane matters as punctuation. Good writing is an art, yes, but it is also a craft, like quilting or carpentry or car repair. That means the ability to write is more than just an inborn talent; it is also a skill that can be learned.

Over the years, folks have paid me a lot of money for my writing and for my advice about writing. I've been a senior editor at the New York Times Magazine Group, and I've published hundreds of magazine articles myself. I've taught writing at several universities—most recently Virginia Tech. Corporations like FedEx have hired me to teach their executives how to write better. (Note to teachers: Many of my blog posts originated as lesson plans. Feel free to use them in your own classes.)

Now retired from full-time work, I still teach writing seminars, for free, to worthy nonprofits.

Given all this, I suppose I'm qualified to offer some suggestions about the subject of writing. Much of what I say here has been said in other places--especially in fine books like Strunk and White's The Elements of Style and Donald Hall's Writing Well. You should read those books. Meanwhile, I hope you find some of the advice on this blog useful.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

DIAGRAMMING IS FOR FREAKS (LIKE ME)

     The famous writer Gertrude Stein once said, "I really do not know that anything has ever been more exciting than diagramming sentences."
      Of course, Gertrude Stein was strange. She also once wrote, "Out of kindness comes redness and out of rudeness comes rapid same question, out of an eye comes research, out of selection comes painful cattle." This makes no sense whatsoever--maybe because she was smoking marijuana at the time with a strange little woman named Alice B. Toklas.
     Nevertheless, Gertrude Stein and I agree about diagramming sentences: It's at least as exciting as watching NASCAR races. And a lot easier on the ears.
     No, I'm not smoking anything.

Gertrude Stein (left) and Alice B. Toklas (right). I don't know who the writer is in the middle--probably an editor.

     In order to have a solid grasp of English grammar and punctuation, you need a thorough understanding of the architecture of English sentences. The two best ways to get this are 1) to master a foreign language like German or, even better, Latin and 2) to learn to diagram sentences. Everyone in my generation did both those things, a million years ago, in the 1960s.
      A foreign language you'll have to find a way to learn on your own. As for diagramming, here's an amusing website devoted to it.
      A while back, a friend also gave me a delightful book about diagramming called Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences. I recommend this funny book if you're a grammar goofball like me. 
      Of course, you can learn to punctuate well and use proper grammar without knowing how to diagram or how to read Latin. Not wishing to be a freak, you're probably glad to hear that. I'll explain some basic punctuation rules in future posts.
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2 comments:

  1. StarlingJanuary 19, 2011 at 1:36 PM

    Ed, I'm thoroughly enjoying these posts. I would agree that learning any foreign language requires you to think more critically about the structure of your own. As for diagramming, well, I remember learning how to do it in 8th grade or so. I don't remember much about it, though, or even if I enjoyed it. I might have to pick up Sister Bernadette's Barking Dog to see what I remember. Thanks!

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  2. Ed WeathersJanuary 19, 2011 at 4:03 PM

    Glad you're enjoying the posts, Starling. I enjoy writing them.

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