Although I am not much of a writer myself, I know how important it is to use proper grammar and punctuation in my writing. A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a link to a free podcast called Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Grammar Tips in the iTunes store. I am a big nerd, so I subscribed at once and began listening to an episode entitled “Don’t You Dare Lay Down, Sally,” which tackled my personal word choice nemesis: lie vs. lay. In other installments, the intrepid Grammar Girl has also tackled grammar issues, such as splitting infinitives; punctuation problems, including a two-part lesson on apostrophes that includes a really cute song sung to the tune of “O Tannenbaum;” and general tips on proofreading, avoiding wordiness, and more. Each episode runs about 3–5 minutes.
If you don’t use iTunes, fear not! Grammar Girl posts a complete transcript of each episode on her website at qdnow.com, which stands for Quick & Dirty Now. You can also subscribe if you’re into feeds (RSS and Atom). In addition to the podcasts, I have printed out a few of these transcripts for easy reference.
Heard any good grammar tips lately?
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saw your write up in my favorite magazine- “the week”! you are doing so good. you go, grammar girl!!! jonw
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[...] We’re fans of Grammar Girl, so if you want an extra helping of motivation with your punctuation, then check out Generating Story Ideas And Overcoming Writer’s Block. In this podcast she offers tips on generating non-fiction and fiction story ideas, as well as overcoming writer’s block. Even though Grammar Girl doesn’t mention it (but one of her readers does), we think blogs help writers generate story ideas and overcome writer’s block. (At least they do on most days.) Have a great week. By Kathy Posted in Ideas & Tips, Inquiring Minds, Uncategorized July 16, 2007 – 12:09 pm « A primer on portfolios: How to make them work for you, continued Booking your own book tours: Reach out and read to someone » [...]