KathyBC Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 I scrolled by a letter from Faulkner the other day, and marveled. I leave dangling participles recklessly in my wake. Any suggestions on how to craft better day-to-day missives? Would sentence diagramming, something our homeschool never got to, help? Is there a free app for that? Quote I thank you for your friendly letters. You sure know how to cheer up a really old geezer (84) in his sunset years. I don’t make public appearances any more because I now resemble nothing so much as an iguana. What I had to say to you, moreover, would not take long, to wit: Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 The Killgallon's method of imitation would probably do more than sentence diagramming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 A few thoughts. Practice makes perfect. Start by writing more. If you really want to practice, join a writing group or take a class. Writing centers abound and some of them may even have letter writing classes. But most of them will have memoir or creative nonfiction. Language evolves. The writing expectations for things like internet posts, emails, etc. are different now. And that's okay. Dangling participles matter less than understandable voice and prose for the vast majority of writing most people have to do now. Formal grammar doesn't typically translate to better writing style. So I wouldn't take that approach. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathyBC Posted August 28, 2022 Author Share Posted August 28, 2022 Thanks @Rosie_0801 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted August 28, 2022 Share Posted August 28, 2022 The best writing advice I ever got was, "write like you're hanging clothes on the backyard clothesline and talking over the fence to your neighbor at the same time." It was my supervisor who told me that when I was 22 or 23. I soon got a new job and never thanked her. So last year I looked her up and she'd become a nurse. And she died in her 60s from cancer. It still frustrates me that I didn't reach out to her a lot sooner. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted August 29, 2022 Share Posted August 29, 2022 This book has many editions, so I would look for a reasonably priced copy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321024087/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i8 Same for this book: https://www.amazon.com/Writers-Options-Lessons-Style-Arrangement/dp/0205533167/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PUIHTF95FITI&keywords=the+writer's+options&qid=1661780186&s=books&sprefix=the+writer's+options%2Cstripbooks%2C91&sr=1-1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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