“Must Try Harder!”

[itsjustc]

.I was born at the latter end of the baby boom in 1964

Comments

[anonymous]

Well, speaking as a professional copy editor, I think your use of grammar and syntax is perfect. It's interesting what you wrote about the "experiment". I don't think they had that kind of experiment here but I *do* think they stopped teaching English grammar in public elementary schools around 1964. When I was working at a medical publisher in the 90s I used to screen job applicants with a copy editing test and the only people who could pass it were people my age and older (I was born in 1950) or people who had gone to Catholic schools. I remember once asking my boss why there were so many Catholics working there and he said that it was because only people who went to Catholic (or other private) elementary schools were being taught English grammar. And I certainly don't think writing in the first person is lazy. It's a different kind of writing. I could never write fiction. I wrote two plays, but mostly I like to write essays similar to some of the OpEd pieces I read in the TIMES (I am thinking of writers like Maureen Dowd and David Brooks, or Anna Quindlen, although she now writes novels). A little memoir, a little humor, and a little social commentary.

[itsjustc]

Thank you for your professional comment. I appreciate it.

It is interesting that it's older people and the private/Catholic school pupils who are able to use grammar and syntax correctly these days!

I have always enjoyed story telling and really like to make people laugh. But I've always been aware that I never knew how to translate my oral stories on to paper - and tbh I still haven't dared to try yet!