10 comments

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  Hunter Nuttall

  1 year ago

  Although it wasn't a "quality of content" test, I'm sure you'd do well in one! But I don't know if you'll be winning any grammar awards--I believe the correct phrase is "how to write more goodly."
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  feministfinance

  1 year ago

  No question about it: Garner's Modern American Usage by Bryan A. Garner has saved me from making an ass of myself more times than I care to reveal.
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  t h rive

  1 year ago

  Not that I post my short stories (yet)...but I think that John Irving has a style I like to emulate. Not in the formal writing sense; but the matter-of-factness of some of my half-rants. Oh, and use of hyphens and semi-colons.
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  Money Blue Book

  1 year ago

  I is try to rite gooder as well. Have gooD dae
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  Early Retirement Extreme

  1 year ago

  Even though English is my second language, I also made the list so I guess I talk English good too ;-)
  I would credit Orwell as my greatest stylistic influence. This article really lays it out: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/orwell46.htm
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  Steve (Brip Blap)

  1 year ago

  @feministfinance: I haven't heard of that one, I will have to check it out.
  @t h rive: Interesting choice. I'm not a big fan of Irving, but then again I haven't given him much of a chance.
  @ERE: Orwell is tremendous. I can't think of a single thing he wrote that I've read that I haven't enjoyed. He's more well known for his vision I think - due to 1984 and Animal Farm - but really I appreciate him more for his mastery of the art of writing than for his creativity (which was impressive, too).
  @Hunter: I know. I just didn't want to show off my smartiness.
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  Writer's Coin

  1 year ago

  This one's easy: David Foster Wallace. Read A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never do Again—he makes mundane topics interesting and funny. Plus he's brilliant.
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  Steve (Brip Blap)

  1 year ago

  @WC: OK, not to make me appear any more impulsive than I need to but after I read this quote from the book: "I have seen sucrose beaches and water a very bright blue. I have seen an all-red leisure suit with flared lapels. I have smelled what suntan lotion smells like spread over 21,000 pounds of hot flesh . . " you had me at hello. I love it, I'm buying it.
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  Nez

  1 year ago

  Hi Steve,
  
  I just found your site via (I think) Barbara's, and from there, Hunter's -- it's kinda interesting the online degrees of separation out there.
  
  Anyway, I cannot remember the specific title, but waaay back in high school, when writing certainly was more of a chore than a pleasure, I happened to decide to check out a grammar book from the school library.
  
  Over the next few days, I devoured it from beginning to end, and for whatever other reason -- perhaps I was simply ready -- I was able to come away from it with a newfound appreciation for phrases, clauses, commas and semicolons.
  
  From then on, I had a better comprehension of books, and appreciated things like Richard Lederer's The Miracle of Language.
  
  Like I said, it's been a long time, but that's a book I'd recommend checking out -- not sure if it would help one develop a writing style, but it certainly gives one a new appreciation of language.
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  Steve (Brip Blap)

  1 year ago

  @WC: By the way, I just finished reading A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again. Almost all of the essays were brilliant, but the two on tennis and the one about the cruise were above and beyond. The only stinker was the one on television - it got a bit tedious. Good suggestion!
  
  @Nez: Glad you stopped by! Yep, feeling comfortable and relaxed with the guidelines and rules of grammar are essential to enjoying writing - and even reading. If you want to form thoughts and phrases using the written word that mirror natural spoken language you do need to understand grammar and punctuation to approximate its pacing and delivery. I'll put Lederer's book on my (long and still growing) wishlist!
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