When I was growing up and in grade school, I learned about proper grammar and how to use it from old teachers. Many of these teachers were so old they taught even my mom and her brothers and sisters. Being taught by old teachers is fine for many subjects like history, math, and general science, but when it comes to English, I got screwed.
I cannot and do not blame the teachers who taught me, as they were taught to teach grammar as it was when they were going to school and many of the teachers then weren’t required to keep up-to-date. Language, however, changes and evolves, yet how I was taught to speak and write proper English and grammar did not. I was taught a very out-of-date form of grammar.
That said, I am currently taking a short pause on writing my novel and other works-in-progress. I am updating my knowledge of English grammar and its current rules. I have a few books on grammar, as any good writer should have at least one, but I checked their copyright dates and the newest one is just over a decade old. The times, they have changed.
Today I bought a new book on grammar called Woe Is I by Patricia T. O’Conner. I’ve known about the book for many years and have heard and read only good reviews about it. I checked the copyright date for the current third edition and found it updated as of last year. Score for me.
While perusing the book, I found a bit of my knowledge of grammar to be so wrong and out-of-date, I began to wonder if I was taught English by Neanderthals. Sure, most things I learned years ago have not changed, but how they are used may have been. The worst part of this is I haven’t even finished reading through the first chapter.
I have won contests and awards for some of my writings. Now I wonder how the hell that is even possible. I want to go back though all my writings and update them. The pull of new knowledge for my inner editor screams to be unleashed upon my unsuspecting essays, stories, and even silly blog posts like this one. As much as my inner editor evilly grinned and laughed, brandishing about his always ultra-sharp blue pencil, I told him now is not the time. There are still things to learn and apply. He didn’t want to listen, so I had to punch him in the face and kick him in the gonads. That shut him up, the right bastard.
While all of this may mean nothing to any of you right now, it means the world to me. In the future, this will come to mean something to you as well. It will mean you’re reading something written by someone who cares enough for their audience to hone their craft and not haphazardly hack away at a keyboard, hoping for the best. As I grow and learn from writing more and applying grammar correctly, I’ll have a better shot of someday getting published somewhere, fulfilling my dream of being a professional writer.
But is the book any good?! It’s the sort of thing I might like.
I take it you read Eats Shoots etc when it came out a few years ago? (Her follow up was good too though not about language per se.)
I’m currently reading a book about disappearing languages which is quite interesting (if on a loosely related topic).