Rob’s Megaphone

20 May, 2009

Writers’ toolbox

Posted by: Dr. Rob In: Grammar posts| Writing

Rob’s Rules for Writing

(This deep-links post revisits some of my previous posts)

Good writing requires tools, rules, and jewels.

writers20toolbox2030020x20255 I hope you’ll find a new tool here to help craft your next masterpiece. Many of us have the same tools in our writing toolbox, but some may have gotten a little rusty. Rules were made to be broken, but when communication is key, rules are more of a friend than a foe. Dust off the manual next time you’re in trouble and you’ll achieve precision and clarity. Many of us stop writing too soon. Polish those pearls of wisdom, your ideas deserve your best writing, and from time to time you’ll uncover a real gem.

1. English Handbook for the game of your life - Nobody needs to memorise all the grammar rules, just know when to refer to the manual.

2. If Punctuation Marks Were People – they might be easier to understand.

3. We hear and read incorrect grammar so often that Does it sound right? doesn’t work anymore

4. The Problem with Pronouns is that they can be tricky

5.  Tools for Fine Tuning helps polish those gems

6. Layers of Revision is an often neglected step that can catch careless errors.

7. Evolving Language offers a basic foundation for building . . . . and a quiz or two

8. Got Style - there are more rules for writing than just grammar. Do you have style?

9. Commonly Confused Words can ambush an otherwise articulate article – take the challenge!

10. Using News Values - consider these tools when gathering material for your writing.

11. Overcoming Writer’s block - we all need to refresh, reset, and refocus from time to time.

12. To improve writing, first improve listening

 

Good writing is like serving a tennis ball. If you practice everday, but you never learned the correct way to serve in the first place, you may simply get really good at serving incorrectly.

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7 Responses to "Writers’ toolbox"

1 | zobop republic

May 20th, 2009 at 11:38 am

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If i had more time to devote to writing i’m sure i could get better at it.

2 | Kathleen Rake

May 20th, 2009 at 11:59 am

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Great post. Great advice.

Cheers,

Kathleen

3 | timethief

May 20th, 2009 at 2:21 pm

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This is an absolutely excellent deep link post. w00t!

4 | Dr. Rob

May 20th, 2009 at 3:41 pm

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Thanks, Folks.

Your comments mean a lot to me.

5 | nutuba

May 24th, 2009 at 8:24 pm

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What a wonderful post! You’ve got some great insight and excellent resources here. Nicely done!

6 | Dr. Rob

May 24th, 2009 at 8:34 pm

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Thanks, Friend.
That means a lot. I really appreciate your kind words
Rob

7 | Rahma

June 2nd, 2009 at 1:23 pm

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I’m having a blast reading your blog. I have a new blog I call The Dead Cats Society and two of my posts are about commas, the Oxford comma and the comma splice.

I would like to link your blog on my site, since there’s too much to read here all at once. Looking forward to it!

Thanks for a great site!
Rahma

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All About

About

Hi! I'm Dr. Rob. I'm a father of two wonderful sons, a mass communications professor, and a blogger. Through Rob's Megaphone, my hope is to inform and entertain. Hope you get a chance to view my previous posts in the "Categories" menu below. Drop me a line if you have any feedback. Thanks a bunch!

BC