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There are three parts to any artistic language: the tools, the rules, and the use of the tools. As much as it sucks, you will not properly know how to use English to properly express your ideas (meaning: the result you strive for) until you are comfortable with using the tools at your disposal. and this involves knowing and respecting the rules of syntax and grammar. The internet... is generally not the first place that comes to mind when you think of polished and edited writing. That's fine for the most part, since the internet is not meant to be a polished place. It is meant for creation and consumption at high speed and quantity. But by these same advantages of speed and mass, the internet is also a great place for polishing. And I maintain, that while hard work in not always appreciated on the internet (or IRL), lazy work can be spotted from a mile away and is repulsive over the long term (example: I'll forgive you the first misuse of "their", "there", "they're", but not the next twenty.) So what I'm getting at here is this is the first step of writing fiction that has absolutely nothing to do with what you're writing about: DON'T BE REPULSIVE!

Credit to: Prof. Paula Sharp. Former Professor at the College of Letters at Wesleyan University.
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Checklist of Errors to avoid in an essay or story:

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common student grammatical errors:
- run-on sentences
- ambiguous pronouns
- awkward constructions employing dependent clauses
- incorrectly use semi-colons

wordiness problems (avoid the following):
- "It was a hospital that treated..."
- "He was running" vs. "He ran"
- "He started to run" or "He began to run" vs. "he ran"
- "He almost laughed" vs. "he laughed"
- "in fact", "actually", "indeed".
(there are post-notes on this topic)

common stylistic errors:
- avoid repeating the same word or phrase within a short interval
- don't create overly complex, unclear sentences by linking several logically unrelated short sentences with "and".

stylistic errors in fiction:
- omit minute details such as "he looked", "he stood," and "he turned"
- avoid beginning descriptions with "he saw," "she watched," "he heard," "she listened."
- be careful with grammar and style in dialogue
------ use correct punctuation
------ avoid unnecessary "he saids"
------ place "he saids" early in sentence
------ commingle dialogue and narrative appropriately.
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Now these topics explained in more detail.
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Common Grammatical Errors
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1. Run-on Sentences: Do not write run-on sentences by connecting sentences (independent clauses) with commas:
Incorrect: The dog saw that people had mishandled affairs for too long, he realized that he would have to take over the U.S government.

Correct: The dog saw that people had mishandled affairs for too long. He realized that he would have to take over the U.S government.

(How do you know that a given group of words is a sentence? A sentence has a subject (a noun or pronoun) and a predicate (a verb): e.g., "The dog(subject)/decided(predicate)"
2. Ambiguous Pronouns

Avoid. A pronoun refers to the person, place, or object that immediately precedes the pronoun and is logically connected to it. (For example, in that sentence, "it" refers to "pronoun") Do not use ambiguous pronouns (pronouns whose referents are debatable). If a pronoun does not clearly refer to the referent you intend, either reword your sentence or replace your pronoun with a specific person, place or object.

Incorrect: James grabbed his opponent, the Snakeman, and immobilized him with his powerful, illegal chokehold. He then flipped him onto the pavement as he hissed venomously and, pointing at himwith his trembling right index claw, he warned him not to bother the neighborhood rodents.

Correct: James grabbed his opponent, the Snakeman, and immobilized him with a powerful, illegal chokehold. The Snakeman hissed venomously. Pointing at him with a trembling right index claw, James warned the Snakeman not to bother the neighborhood rodents.

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Ambiguous pronouns require the reader to stop reading, backtrack and reread your sentences to divin their meaning. this pulls the reader out of the story and reminds hims that he's just looking at a bunch of words scribbled on a page by an author.

To eliminate ambiguous pronouns, substitute them with nouns. In the alternative, reorder a given sentence so that the pronoun appears earlier or later in the sentence - that is, in a place where the pronouns referent and meaning are clear.
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3. Demented Dependent Clauses

Do not write: "Finally," he whispered, a smile flickering under his mustache, raising his hand to stop an oncoming taxi."

This sentence is incorrect because raising his hand to stop an oncoming taxi. is an action that should be performed by he and not his mustache.

A better alternative might be: A smile flickering under his mustache, he raised his hand to stop an oncoming taxi and whispered, "Finally!"

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Do not write: Standing on the platform in despair, the express train rushed by her.

This is incorrect because she, and not the train, is in despair. A better version is: The express train rused by her as she stood on the platform in despair

This is SAT stuff guys.
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4. Semi-colons
(a) Use a semi-colon to connect two complete sentences; don't insert a semi-colon where a comma belongs.

Correct: "The micro-probe bearing aliens had arrived; he had tried to warn America, but to no avail."

Do not write: "He had tried to warn America; but to no avail, for the microprobe-bearing aliens had arrived."

(b) Second, use semi-colons in a list, when your list is made up of sentences or clauses containing commas (such that commas won't do the job of separating items). For example:

In his carry-on luggage, he had secured a live snake in a sock, sealed at the end with a rubber band; fifteen emery boards, since he knew that steel nail files were now verboten; peppermints, in case he sat next to anyone he cared to speak to (which was unlikely); his portable CD-player, and his two favorite CD's - Earl Flat's Greatest Country Hits and Wagner's Ein Sechserpack Bier; a sack of peanuts, shelled and salted; four Slim Jims; Russell Banks' monumental River Dancing in New Hampshire; and a disassembled crossbow.

Wordy Constructions

1. Avoid beginning sentence with the impersonal "it".

Incorrect: It was a hospital that treated people who had imaginary illnesses.
Correct: The hospital treated people who had imaginary illnesses.

2.Avoid helping verb + verb constructions such as "he was eating." Instead, say, "he ate".

Incorrect: She was milling around the garden, uprooting the talking mushrooms that had been keeping her up for weeks with their hideous screeching.

Correct: She milled around the garden, uprooting the talking mushrooms that had kept her up for weeks with their hideous screeching.

3. Avoidy wordy constructions that link "began to," "started to," "almost", and "practically" with verbs:

Incorrect: Carl began to laughwhen the teacher fell off his chair.
Incorrect: Carl started to laugh when the teacher fell off his chair.
Incorrect: Carl almost laughed when the teacher fell off his chair.
Incorrect: Carl practically laughed when the teacher fell off his chair.

Correct: Carl laughed when the teacher fell of his chair.

EKUBLAI'S NOTE: An important take away is that these wordy constructions are also an example of not committing to the description of an action. These is an unhealthy vagueness to "practically laughed" or "almost laughed". How are we supposed to visualize these? If one "begins to laugh" do we need to then say "he continued to laugh after beginning to laugh."

4. Avoid empty words that add nothing to the meaning of the sentence, such as "actually," "indeed," and "in fact".

EKUBLAI'S NOTE: In fact, you can argue that these kinds of words add to the writer's voice, but that's for another lecture. This is a general guideline to be aware of.

Common Stylistic Errors

1. Don't repeat the same word or phrase within a short interval

Incorrect: She was a twenty-two-year-old college dropout exploring the world. Ben told her we'd been college roommates at Columbia College.

Correct She was a twenty-two-year-old college dropout exploring the world. Ben told her we'd been freshman year roommates at Columbia. (Jordan Goldman)

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2. Avoid overly complex, unclear sentences by connecting several logically unrelated short sentences with "and"

Incorrect: The three sat at the kitchen table and the television and Tom moaned and mumbled in the background and Annie sliced three large pieces of apple cinnamon pie and topped each with homemade whipped cream.

Correct: The three sat at the kitchen table as they watched television. Tom moaned in the background. Annie sliced three large pieces of apple cinnamon pie and topped each with homemade whipped cream. (Sara Covey)

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The Second Pre-Lecture will focus on the errors that most often occur in fiction-writing.

Again all credit for this lecture goes to Paula Sharp.

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