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For Writers

Commas in a Series—Adjectives Before a Noun

I tend to organize elements in my sentences in sets of three—three items in a series, three-phrase predicates, three adjectives before a noun. I do it a lot because it creates a certain rhythm, it balances out the sentence and I like it. You can probably see that I’m doing it now, that it seems

Artfully Said–Make Room

Auguste Renoir, Two Young Girls at the Piano, 1892. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. Renoir gives us lots of color and great detail in this painting. Take some time to look at these details. Enlarge the picture if you can and look not only at the girls–their expressions and their clothing–but past

Artfully Said–Here’s Looking at You

Amedeo Modigliani, Girl in a Sailor’s Blouse, Oil on canvas–1918. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY. This portrait is typical of the stylized work of Amedeo Modigliani. After looking carefully at this painting, you could probably identify other paintings by Modigliani when you come across them in books and museums. With that in

Uninterested / Disinterested: “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Mark Twain

Check this category every week for a new set of ceaselessly confused, misused or misspelled words to master. Break the cycle of language abuse! Uninterested / Disinterested We’d be hard-pressed to find two other words that look so much alike and still are so very different. Writers often use them interchangeably which is trouble. So

Commas in a Series / The Oxford Comma

Commas lift, separate and clarify. When you have a series of single words, phrases or clauses in a sentence, commas need to get busy. Here are some examples of commas in a series. The Oxford Comma      In the examples above, take note of the commas that follow the words “brownies,” “dishes,” “puppy” and “shower.”

Comma Down! An Introduction.

Believe it or not, punctuation is a hot-button issue. Not only is there controversy but there are factions that spawn some rip-roaring arguments about things like correctness and necessity and what punctuation marks to use when. Even the experts disagree on things—a lot. So where does that leave the rest of us? If we’re lucky,