Author Archives: suzanne.obszanski

Faulty parallelism or a false series messes with the syntax of your sentences. Parallelism is often misused in lists, but many types of phrases and clauses are also affected by this error that creates jilted and sometimes awkward prose. Think of the following quote by Benjamin Franklin:
“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” – Ben Franklin

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Commas are insidious. They sneak into some writers work with little thought. Some writers pepper commas throughout sentences in some random pattern known only to them. What they don’t realize is that commas are a bad thing when too many are used. Overusing commas creates a slow, painful death to the coherent thought and readability of any written piece.

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Interjections are vital parts of developing dialogue that is realistic, interesting and emotionally charged. They find a home in both fiction writing and nonfiction writing because they are used in everyday speaking. Think of how many times you’ve used them just today. Wait, you’re not sure what an interjection is?

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The little punctuation mark known as the apostrophe creates a big stir when it’s misused. Throughout history, writers, grammarians and others have debated over the necessity of the apostrophe. Its misuse and abuse is rampant in writing.

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