Grammar Resources

By Terry

I recently finished reading Net Words by Nick Usborne and among the many things I learned, one Ah-Ha was how important the written word is online.

The internet is text based (duh). We read web content, read emails, socialize on forums, instant message/chat. So what we write and how we communicate to our visitors is extremely important.

I am *terrible* with grammar. And I’m sure you noticed that :lol:. No I’m not caveman or ghetto fabulous level, but I do have some work to do.

I also just finished reading The Deluxe Transitive Vampire by Karen Elizabeth Gordon (and ordered two more of her books The Disheveled Dictionary and The New Well-Tempered Sentence) because I do want to try getting a handle on this grammar and punctuation stuff.

What’s really nice about The Deluxe Transitive Vampire is that it is a friendly grammar book. And the full index at the back is the key feature that I love. If I ever need to refresh my memory as to what a Gerund is, a quick flip to the index and I can find the description :snap: just like that.

Gerunds

A gerund is the -ing form of a verb, and it gets to live the unpredictable life of a noun, buffeted about by caprices and verbs. By now, you know that means it can be a subject, object, subjective complement or object of a preposition.

Gerunds as Subjects:

Killing time takes practice.
Imploring is humiliating.
Lisping is seductive.
Kicking a habit takes lots of practice.
Practicing demands much persistence.

Now I know I have never heard of a gerund before. And I’m not convinced it’s a necessary thing to know! :lol:. But this is a nice resource book to have, especially since I want to take what I write more seriously.

What are the benefits to being a good writer, aside from good copywriting for sales/conversions? Off the top of my head:

Articles - When you put together well written articles, you will find more of them picked up and circulated;
Blogs - good, creative writing attracts readers;
Websites - good spelling and grammar gives a better/more professional impression

Between script languages, web design, copywriting, sales techniques, web development - and now grammar and spelling - there is a massive, ongoing learning process to being an Affiliate Marketer and website developer isn’t there. Don’t ya just love that! Keeps us on our toes and out of trouble :wink:.

Here are a few grammar resources to polish up the Who, Whom, It’s, Its, and things like gerunds (I think a couple had free newsletters too):

PS: The link above to BookCloseouts is not an affiliate link, promise.

Disclaimer: This blog is not guaranteed to be grammar and punctuation perfect from this point on.