Writing tips: Grammar tools and resources

I’m on record as saying that I think the most important thing to do in writing is structuring your text – and that grammar is something that people can worry about once they have organised their thoughts.

I am aware, though, that that is an easy thing to say when you are writing in your mother tongue. In that environment, we all have an innate understanding of how our language works, and what feels wrong and what feels right.

But for people who need to write in a second or third language (as so many people are in our English-dominated world), fear of getting things wrong can be confidence-sapping and inhibiting.
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A sock draw? Surely not

In a week of processing copy, I spotted this quote from a person responding to a survey, in a Daily Mail story:

‘Then there were other non-essential tasks such as watering plants and sorting out the sock draw which suddenly became urgent priorities ahead of the essential task they really should be concentrating on.’

Thing is, you reorganise your sock drawER, not your sock draw. Looked at in context, it’s possible that the mistake was contained in the original statement from a source mentioned in the story, and somehow slipped past the Mail’s subbing system.

Moral of the story: just because it’s in an email from someone else, doesn’t mean it’s right.

Contact me if you would like to chat about how I can help with all your organisational or communication needs (coaching, editing, writing, social media).

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Main picture: Photo by Nick Page on Unsplash