Mark Twain had a good point adding “damn” to delete unnecessary words. He was born during a visit by Halley’s Comet, and predicted he would “go out with it” as well. He died the day following the comet’s subsequent return. He was lauded as the “greatest American humorist of his age,” and William Faulkner called Twain “the father of American Literature.”
As I think about a way to connect Halley and Twain to lengthen this Blog I wonder if the process is a damn action. With that in mind – delete.
10 Day Book Club encourages healthy writing through feedback and revisions during virtual book clubs. Until you get your manuscript included in the process, here are some quick tips:
- Join two independent clauses with a comma followed by a conjunction, a semicolon alone, or a semicolon followed by a sentence modifier.
- Use commas around nonrestrictive phrases, which are not essential to the meaning of the sentence.
- Do not use commas to surround phrases that are essential to a sentence’s meaning.
- Use a comma after beginning a sentence with an introductory phrase or an introductory dependent clause.
- End a singular noun with an apostrophe followed by an “s” to indicate possession.
- Use proper punctuation to integrate a quotation into a sentence. If the intro is an independent clause, add the quotation after the colon. If the intro ends in a verb indication expression, use a comma.
- Use active voice unless you specifically need to use the passive.
- Make the subject and verb agree with each other.
- Omit unnecessary words – damn it!
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