Lynda's Blog
A Walk Down Memory Lane
As I continue through my journey to publish my first book, I find myself looking back at what I’ve learned.
Wow, it has been along time since high school English. You never realize how much our technology effects our daily communication and writing skills.
When I was younger, (Yah, not saying how old I am, but this should give you a hint), I would write letters and I even had a pen pal. Do you remember what they were? I know, once again, showing the age.
I remember getting stationary for Christmas gifts and would wait by the mailbox for my next letter, and I knew what sentence structure was and where to put a comma.
Well, now I would like to tell you what to do with the comma, and it has nothing to do with a sentence. (sorry Might Queen of English, comma’s still hate me, but I’m still working on them.)
With today’s changing technology we have gotten away from pen and paper, and moved to keyboards and smart phones. I have to admit, over the years I have let my basic English knowledge lapse. OK, I let it die and I buried it.
When I started to write I was so excited, I had a story and I wanted to tell it. I would write for hours, slave over every word and give it to friends and family to read. As I waited, I fantasized about all the great things they would say and the encouragement I would get. Then my sister finally called and her first encouraging words were. Your basic English sucks! I had to do so many punctuation and grammar corrections that I haven’t had any time to decide if I like your story. I was crushed, but it was the truth. So I did the only adult thing I could think of, I told my sister to bite my but, (not what I really said) and I hung up on her.
She has long since forgiven me and I have taken a few workshops on grammar and punctuation. I owe a big thanks to the great, ‘MM Queen of English’. I took one of her workshops and it brushed off some cobwebs, and helped me regain some respect from my family. I’m not the illiterate one anymore.
I have a long way to go to regain 30 years of forgotten basic English skills, but I’m getting there, and so is my book.
I am half way through Editpalooza, and it is amazing. The girls at savvy authors are amazing and have taught me a lot.
So I am looking at the big 30 day countdown to submission!
It has been a long journey and i still have a little more work to do but I see the end of this chapter, which will start my next one. The achievable contract and the second book. (which I have already started.)
So remember, as you are texting, chatting and e-mailing, make sure you utilize your words and type in full sentences. It might take you longer but you will look smarter.