ON THE SUBJECT OF GRAMMAR . . . .
IT'S CALLED PROOFREADING, MORONS.
Please keep in mind that running Spellcheck and Grammarcheck is not the be-all, end-all of writing. This is why everyone should have a beta-reader.
Things that drive me BONKERS when I'm reading:
We "make do" with what we have in the fridge, or the trunk of the Impala, as the case might be. You "make due" an invoice for funds.
You "toe the line" when you're following the rules, you don't "tow the line". Unless you're doing something with boats, in which case, I imagine that you might very well need to tow an occasional line.
"Just desserts" means he got what he deserved. "Just deserts" is sending him to the Sahara. I'M TOTALLY WRONG ABOUT THIS. I HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATELY CORRECTED.
A person set on a difficult course of action is "bound and determined", not "bounden determined".
It does not matter how many times you use it in a fic, "irregardless" is STILL not a word. The word is, simply, regardless.
While we're on the subject, you leave a message regarding the ongoing investigation, not "in regards to" your missing brother who may have been kidnapped. Or possessed. Whatever.
It's a moot point, people, not a mute one . . . with the possible exception of someone making said moot point who is, indeed, mute. My supervisor says this ALL THE GODDAMN TIME AND IT MAKES ME GO BATSHIT.
Please match the case of the pronoun to the case of the receiving noun. In other words, Sam and Dean put their souls in jeopardy, not their soul. Unless you are writing a fic in which they do indeed share one soul, instead of each having his own soul-- in which case I sincerely hope you have already taken the trouble to clearly express this concept to the reader.
For the love of GOD, an ordinance is a law. Ordnance is, in its broadest definition, weaponry. If you are writing SG, SGA, SPN, or any fandom in which the military or militia figures prominently and professionally, this is an especially heinous error.
I get it, I do. TYPOS HAPPEN, even to a grammar Nazi such as myself. That's why I ask lucifrix to read over just about everything I write. Sometimes, authors deliberately use awkward or incorrect grammar constructions in order to make a point. But errors like the above list proliferate like . . . like, I dunno, a giant proliferating thing, and every time an author fails to correct a mistake, further down the line is a reader who comes to believe that the error is actually correct, because of how often the person has already seen it.
Please, people, don't let yourself get to the level of Laurell Hamilton, whose wildly popular novels are RIDDLED with the errors I've just listed, and more besides. Nip it in the bud right now, and find yourself a grammar Nazi of your very own. The world will thank you.
Or at least, I will.
ETA: Hey, wow, look at that . . . I was wrong about the "just desserts" issue. It is, actually, spelled "deserts", from the verb "to deserve"; however, it's pronounced like "desserts", a noun used to describe the sweets course after a main meal.
I'm still upset about everything else, though. :)
Please keep in mind that running Spellcheck and Grammarcheck is not the be-all, end-all of writing. This is why everyone should have a beta-reader.
Things that drive me BONKERS when I'm reading:
We "make do" with what we have in the fridge, or the trunk of the Impala, as the case might be. You "make due" an invoice for funds.
You "toe the line" when you're following the rules, you don't "tow the line". Unless you're doing something with boats, in which case, I imagine that you might very well need to tow an occasional line.
"Just desserts" means he got what he deserved. "Just deserts" is sending him to the Sahara. I'M TOTALLY WRONG ABOUT THIS. I HAVE BEEN APPROPRIATELY CORRECTED.
A person set on a difficult course of action is "bound and determined", not "bounden determined".
It does not matter how many times you use it in a fic, "irregardless" is STILL not a word. The word is, simply, regardless.
While we're on the subject, you leave a message regarding the ongoing investigation, not "in regards to" your missing brother who may have been kidnapped. Or possessed. Whatever.
It's a moot point, people, not a mute one . . . with the possible exception of someone making said moot point who is, indeed, mute. My supervisor says this ALL THE GODDAMN TIME AND IT MAKES ME GO BATSHIT.
Please match the case of the pronoun to the case of the receiving noun. In other words, Sam and Dean put their souls in jeopardy, not their soul. Unless you are writing a fic in which they do indeed share one soul, instead of each having his own soul-- in which case I sincerely hope you have already taken the trouble to clearly express this concept to the reader.
For the love of GOD, an ordinance is a law. Ordnance is, in its broadest definition, weaponry. If you are writing SG, SGA, SPN, or any fandom in which the military or militia figures prominently and professionally, this is an especially heinous error.
I get it, I do. TYPOS HAPPEN, even to a grammar Nazi such as myself. That's why I ask lucifrix to read over just about everything I write. Sometimes, authors deliberately use awkward or incorrect grammar constructions in order to make a point. But errors like the above list proliferate like . . . like, I dunno, a giant proliferating thing, and every time an author fails to correct a mistake, further down the line is a reader who comes to believe that the error is actually correct, because of how often the person has already seen it.
Please, people, don't let yourself get to the level of Laurell Hamilton, whose wildly popular novels are RIDDLED with the errors I've just listed, and more besides. Nip it in the bud right now, and find yourself a grammar Nazi of your very own. The world will thank you.
Or at least, I will.
ETA: Hey, wow, look at that . . . I was wrong about the "just desserts" issue. It is, actually, spelled "deserts", from the verb "to deserve"; however, it's pronounced like "desserts", a noun used to describe the sweets course after a main meal.
I'm still upset about everything else, though. :)