The next WordCount Last Wednesday writer chat is this Wednesday and we’ll be talking about grammar dos and don’ts. Use #wclw to join us on April 24 at 10 a.m. Pacific time/1 p.m. Eastern time for the one-hour chat.
You may know “its” from “it’s” — unlike whoever wrote the sentence in the picture — and “your” from “you’re.” But what about the difference between active voice and passive voice? Do you inadvertently switch from 3rd person to 2nd person midway through a story? Do editors ask you to tone down the jargon?
In the chat, we’ll go over these and other grammar, punctuation and usage pet peeves and advice.
My cohost for the chat is Boston freelance writer and UrbanMuseWriter blogger Susan Johnston.
Questions for April 24 #wclw chat
For the chat, we’ll start by introducing ourselves, answers some pre-set questions, and save room at the end for other questions, tips or advice you want to share.
Here are the questions:
- What common grammar or usage mistakes do you watch for?
- What punctuation do you struggle with or wonder about?
- How do you check grammar before turning in a story?
- What grammar rules don’t necessarily apply anymore?
- How do you deal with editors who introduce grammatical errors into your copy?
- Do the publications you work with have style guides — and do you use them?
- What are your favorite books on grammar, usage and style?
How to join the #wclw writer chat
To join the #wclw writer chat, log onto Twitter account and use the hashtag #wclw to follow tweets related to the chat.
Although it’s possible to use the standard Twitter interface, you might find it easier using a Twitter application such as TweetGrid, TweetChat or HootSuite. Of those three, my favorite is TweetChat, which you can log into using your Twitter account.
You might want to alert followers that you’ll be tweeting more than usual during the chat, and suggest they use Muuter.com to temporarily mute your tweets if they don’t want to tune into the conversation.
On Wednesday I’ll be traveling to the American Society of Journalists and Authors’ 2013 writers’ conference and won’t be able to post a complete transcript of the chat. Transcripts will resume in May.
[Flickr photo by Velo Steve]