Why BLOG

I’ve been reading a number of BLOGs lately for no other reason than to get some ideas. I enjoy writing, but, more often than not, I have little to write about. I’m a bit of a Neanderthal which, in this particular instance, means I believe reading the instructions is a sign of weakness. My grammar and spelling are atrocious and I rely mainly on the red, green and blue squiggly lines provided by MS Word to tell me something is amiss.  I read a considerable amount but would not say I am a vicarious reader. Most of the items I read are work related which are often technical or directive in nature.

Sentence structure is a foreign language to me. I know what a noun is and a verb, but not so sure I can point out an adverb. I know what an adjective is but often get them confused with words that are probably not adjectives. I know when a sentence does not look right, but lack the wherewithal to correct it without some outside assistance. In fact, for the sake of curiosity, I just went to www.grammar.ccc.commnet.edu and took a short Sentence Body Quiz. There were seven questions of which I failed five and the two I got right were purely guess-work.

Don’t ask me what a “simple subject” is or an “adverb clause” and if you ask me what a “dangling participle” is I will assume you have a runny nose. Here’s another bit of information I feel I should share. I just looked up the definition of an adjective on the same website and learned what I thought was an adjective is not. Apparently book learnin’ is not my strong suit. So, we have undoubtedly determined sentence structure is not my area of expertise.

Punctuation is another area of understanding that eludes me. If you are a scholar in this area, and you are reading this, I’m sure you have found numerous punctuation errors and are at this very minute getting ready to send this article to some friends so they too can get a chuckle. That’s OK, I take no offense.

So why would an undereducated Neanderthal want to write a BLOG? Well, the answer is simple; because I want to get better. I recently started the process of self-publishing a book and while writing the effort I felt I was doing well based on my own understanding. I submitted the final draft and should not have been surprised to learn my writing skills were reminiscent of paintings on a stone wall.

If you read my BLOGs (I suspect my audience is in the single digits) and see glaring errors fell free to leave a comment and point out my errors. I believe we learn most from errors made. I will not take offense. I take constructive criticism very well; unless it comes from a family member, friend, acquaintance, co-worker, associate or a stranger.

I started reading a BLOG by Michelle W who is a “professional writer, editor, napper and dog-snorgler who has the ability to leap tall buildings with only minimal mechanical assistance…” Her BLOG (or at least one of her BLOGs) is titled “Blogging 101 and I believe it may help in my efforts.

We’ll see.