The Writer

CALMING YOUR COMMA CALAMITIES

WE LIVE IN A WORLD DIVIDED.

From politics to sports to entertainment, we all agree on precious little. Even something as seemingly benign as declaring your love for your favorite movie, The Goonies, can spark a debate over capitalism, privacy laws, and ableism.

It is exhausting, especially if you are someone who despairs conflict, to engage in these constant clashes. And so, during these bleak uncertain times, I’ve taken refuge in the one thing that offers certainty. I’ve turned to grammar.

In grammar, there are rules. There are guidelines. There are precedents. There are even funny words like participle and gerund, if you prefer some lightheartedness mixed into the staid world of sentence diagramming.

Most of all, there is order. Grammar is no fickle friend, unlike spelling, where i may come before e except after c and

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Writer

The Writer3 min read
ESSAY: Buck Teeth Were My Weakness. They Now Are My Strength
I WAS DESPONDENT ABOUT MY BUCK teeth, but now I am proud of them. Growing up, I gradually came to realize that my front teeth were different than the front teeth of others around me. Whenever I looked into the mirror and smiled, a pair of outstanding
The Writer12 min read
Postscript
Many writers want to hone their craft but don’t want to commit to or pay for a full-blown MFA program. Luckily, many local and online classes, workshops, and certificate programs can support writers’ needs without obliging them to commit several year
The Writer3 min read
How Can I Earn a Living by Writing?
Hardly a day passes but some young man or woman climbs the stairs to the office of The Bostonian to ask me that question. Always I tell them that the only way I know for a beginner to earn a living by writing is for him to get a job on a newspaper. S

Related Books & Audiobooks