Writing with Meaningful Restraint

The art of writing concerns style and form as much as it does clarity and grammatical accuracy. Technically proper sentences can be operative but uninspiring if not also touched by feeling and flow.

Consider the following pair:

     He fully opened the window and looked at the sunset. It had been a long day. He was ready to put it behind.
     He opened wide the window and gazed at the setting sun, which slowly closed the day he knew he must forget.

The first sentence succeeds in conveying information in plain, short, linear thoughts. The second one puts us in the same spot with the same person doing the same thing, yet it offers more imagery, depth and even mystery, all guided by rhythm and sound.

As writers, we want to spark readers’ minds in interesting, original ways. At the same time, we want to maintain self-awareness and balance. Just as a cake can have too much frosting, so can our writing have an excess of flair.

When we are composing, we should be mindful of whether we are drawing more attention to words than to ideas. Perhaps motivated by giants of literature we have read, we may try to compose our own grand expressions, thinking that real writers aim high.

Unfortunately, until we have practiced and perfected the skills we admire, we can produce sentences such as this one:

     With an iron will forged on the anvil of conviction, the solitary traveler with the aching, calloused, sandaled feet crossed the rolling blanket of desert dunes toward the flaming horizon from which the unforgiving heat like a colossal palm pressed down.

While we may not fault the ambition behind such writing, we can agree it tries too hard. We sense the writer’s inflated excitement that he or she might be starting to sound literary. By focusing on being less “fine,” we could express the same sentence as:

     Feet revolting, will unyielding, the traveler crossed the desert alone, pushing through the pressing heat toward the horizon that had to be reached.

We also want to avoid writing that aims to be “poetic,” particularly if it is clichéd or otherwise unoriginal. Authentic poetry has its place throughout our language when it is shared by those who have mastered the form. For the rest of us, we will serve all (including ourselves) by refraining from phrases such as lips red like the rose, her raindrop tears, eye of night (meaning the moon) or ocean blue like the sky, as well as archaic words such as oft, alas, ere and ’twas.

Let us likewise be wary of too much alliteration, which is the repetition of vowels or consonants in the same line, especially at the beginning of words (desert dunes, opened wide the window). When applied with skilled moderation, it can make writing pleasing and memorable. When unleashed, it can lead to grating passages such as the fate that forged friends from forgotten fields in France.

Art is often driven by passion, and that spirit tends to dislike self-control; rather, it prefers to run freely in releasing thoughts and emotions. We will make a greater mark as writers if we harness its strength in the right ways at the right moments through restraint that shapes technique.

Top 10 Grammar Mistakes in English

Grammar mistakes remain common in daily communication. Even those of us who pay close attention to such matters can still be potentially duped by the occasional sneaky error.

Because grammar mistakes in American English have always been and likely always will be, we thought it’d be fun and informative to review the ones that still tend to occupy the top spots on the list of snafus.

(You might notice you’ve seen many of them before.)

Top 10 Grammar Mistakes 2024

The following inaccuracies populate the trouble roster in no particular order.

1. Dangling modifiers. A modifier is a part of a sentence that describes another part. Because speech doesn’t always have the processing speed to align modifiers perfectly, they will typically be more misplaced when we talk. In our writing, which does afford the time for more thought, they should appear where they belong if we wish to be clear.

A modifier is dangling when it describes the wrong element in a sentence.

Dangling: Never likely to turn down free food, the jumbo-size bag of Doritos was too much for Goose to ignore. (The modifier describes “bag,” which is nonsensical.)

Not dangling: Never likely to turn down free food, Goose could not ignore the jumbo-size bag of Doritos. (The modifier describes “Goose,” which is grammatically accurate and clear.)

Modifiers should always be placed as close as possible to the element being modified.

2. Run-on sentences. A run-on sentence joins two independent clauses either with a comma splice or no punctuation.

Comma splice: The grass is getting long, you should mow it soon.

No punctuation (fused sentence): The payment system crashed paychecks will be delayed by a day.

To avoid such sentences, we need to include markers that clearly identify the independent clauses as either separate or modified by a subordinating clause.

The grass is getting long. You should mow it now. (Periods properly separate the independent clauses.)

Paychecks will be delayed by a day because the payment system crashed. (Adding because makes the payment system crashed a dependent clause that modifies the independent clause.)

3. Homophones. A homophone is each of two or more words that sound the same but have different meanings and often different spellings.

Examples

your, you’re

its, it’s

there, their, they’re

Your really buying a new Porsche?

Sandra’s cat might chase it’s own tail, but mine doesn’t.

Jason said their going to the Dodgers game tonight.

These mistakes will not affect our speech, but they will always stain our writing. Precise and eloquent writers will consider the spellings and meanings of similar-sounding words in order to use the right ones.

You’re really buying a new Porsche?

Sandra’s cat might chase its own tail, but mine doesn’t.

Jason said they’re going to the Dodgers game tonight.

4. Adverb and adjective confusion. At times we might mistakenly interchange adverbs and adjectives.

Examples

I’ve been working real hard on my essay. (adjective)

We better get home quick before the rain starts. (adjective)

Leticia dances good. (adjective)

All of these sentences are incorrect. Adverb and adjective confusion can often result from conversational habits spilling into our written ones. As with homophones, we want to remain mindful of our word choices and types.

Examples

I’ve been working really hard on my essay. (adverb: correct)

We better get home quickly before the rain starts. (adverb: correct)

Leticia dances well. (adverb: correct)

5. Subject and verb agreement. Grammatical accuracy in a sentence requires a subject and a verb that align in number. A singular subject should have a singular verb, and a plural subject should have a plural verb.

Incorrect: The audience are applauding the performance.
Correct: The audience is applauding the performance. (collective singular noun, singular progressive verb)

Incorrect: See that? The alignment of those stars form a smiley face.
Correct: See that? The alignment of those stars forms a smiley face. (singular subject modified by a prepositional phrase, singular verb)

In addition to mastering primary subject and verb agreement (e.g., the leaves rustle), understanding the interplay of verbs with collective nouns modified by a prepositional phrase will further reinforce skill in this area.

6. Subject and object pronouns. Whether in daily conversation, newspaper articles, or movies and TV, the belief that “___ and I” is proper formal grammar in all contexts still often prevails.

Correct grammar places subject pronouns in subject positions and object pronouns in object positions.

Incorrect: Would Aaron like to go to the park with Jerrod and I?
Correct: Would Aaron like to go to the park with Jerrod and me? (The pronoun is the object of a preposition, making it an objective pronoun.)

Incorrect: Me and Ravi would like our burgers well-done.
Correct: Ravi and I would like our burgers well-done. (The pronoun is the subject of the sentence, making it a subjective pronoun. Placing the first-person subject pronoun last also is considered polite, proper form.)

7. Malformed verb phrases. Some verb phrases endure although they still hit left or right of the bulls-eye. Among the most common are must/should/would/could of and try and.

Incorrect: That tool shed must of taken a long time to build.
Correct: That tool shed must have taken a long time to build.

Incorrect: Let’s try and get it done before six p.m.
Correct: Let’s try to get it done before six p.m.

8. Lay and lie. The distinction between these verbs can remain elusive even for those with a firm grip of grammar.

Lie means “to recline” or “tell a falsehood.” It is an intransitive verb, meaning it does not take an object.

Lay means “to place or put.” It is a transitive verb, meaning it takes an object.

Incorrect: The scarf is laying on the bin.
Correct: The scarf is lying on the bin.

Incorrect: I’m pretty sure Barry lay the shovel in the yard.
Correct: I’m pretty sure Barry laid the shovel in the yard.

9. Misplaced or misused apostrophes. Over time the apostrophe has become the all-purpose tool of punctuation. It has served in functions ranging from ownership to plurality, although not always in grammatical ways.

Incorrect possession: Please give the dog it’s bone.
Correct possession: Please give the dog its bone. (Its is a possessive pronoun that does not include an apostrophe. Refer to Grammar Mistake #3 as well.)

Incorrect plural: They gave me five day’s leave because of my injury.
Correct plural: They gave me five days’ leave because of my injury. (The modifying compound noun, five days, is plural, so the apostrophe should appear after the s.)

10. i.e. and e.g. They’re both abbreviated forms of parenthetical statements, and they both originate from Latin. Beyond those similarities, they mean different things that are often confused.

The abbreviation i.e. means id est (“that is to say,” “in other words”), and e.g. means exemplī grātiā (for example). We use i.e. when we want to restate or reiterate we’ve just written. We use e.g. when we want to introduce examples of what we’ve just described.

Incorrect: We should probably eat a healthier meal (e.g., this half-pound cheeseburger is not diet-friendly).
Correct: We should probably eat a healthier meal (i.e. [in other words], this half-pound cheeseburger is not diet-friendly).

Incorrect: This salad needs more veggies (i.e., carrots, cucumbers, green peppers).
Correct: This salad needs more veggies (e.g. [for example], carrots, cucumbers, green peppers).

Mnemonic Devices

The human brain contains 100 billion neurons, 400 miles of capillaries, 100,000 miles of axons, and an estimated 100 trillion synaptic connections. Scientists estimate that if the modern human brain were a computer, its storage would be up to 2,500 terabytes (as of 2023, the world's largest commercial hard drive is 100TB).

During an average day, we might have up to 70,000 thoughts. Over a lifetime, the brain might hold up to 1 quadrillion bits of information. More electrical impulses are generated in one day by a single brain than by all of the telephones in the world.

That's quite a command center. Yet as some of us may corroborate, human memory can have limitations. Despite the brain's processing power, its typical short-term memory can retain from five to nine pieces of information at once for about twenty to thirty seconds.

In other words, many of us can benefit from extra help with better memory. In language, we achieve this with mnemonic devices.

What Is a Mnemonic Device?

Originating from the ancient Greek word mnēmonikos ("of memory," "relating to memory"), a mnemonic device is any technique that increases our ability to retain and retrieve information. It operates on the principle that the human mind more easily remembers information that is personal, spatial, conceptual, physical, experiential, surprising, or humorous than it will information that is rote, abstract, or impersonal.

By encapsulating information in more-relatable ways, mnemonic devices help us encode short term–memory information into our long-term memory bank, where we can then better retrieve it on demand when we need it.

Types of Mnemonic Devices

You can use mnemonics to remember all kinds of information. The following are but a few devices you can apply to help retain what you need or would like to remember.

Acronyms and acrostics (name mnemonics). This method takes the first letters of words and combines them to make a new word (acronym) or phrase (acrostic).

Examples: Acronyms

"Roy G. Biv" for the colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)

"HOMES" for the names of the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior)

"FANBOYS" for recalling the coordinating conjunctions (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

Examples: Acrostics

"Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally" (PEMDAS) for the order of operations in mathematics (parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction)

"Elephants and Donkeys Grow Big Ears" (EADGBE) for the letters of a guitar's strings from top to bottom

"I Value Xylophones Like Cows Dig Milk" (IVXLCDM) for the Roman numerals from smallest to largest

A 2022 study found that making your own mnemonic devices can improve your chances of remembering things because the association holds more meaning for you. If acrostics interest you as a device, NASA offers an online tool for forming your own.

Rhymes. Rhymes create a catchy, playful way for the brain to retain and recall information because of their repetition, pattern, and sound.

Examples

"I before e, except after c." (for how to spell words such as receive)

"30 days hath September, April, June, and November.
All the rest have 31.
Except February, my dear son.
It has 28 and that is fine.
But in a leap year it has 29." (for remembering the number of days in the months)

"In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue." (for the year the explorer embarked and discovered the sea route to America)

Chunking. With this mnemonic device, you break down bits of information and learn them separately before reassembling them into the larger whole.

For example, to remember a phone number, instead of trying to memorize the entire number, you might first focus on the learning the area code, followed by the prefix and then the suffix. You could similarly approach remembering your full bank or credit card number by breaking it into divisible chunks you study one at a time.

Music. The attraction to music is innate in most humans. That's why many of us will tend to better remember information such as a phrase or a concept when it is attached to a song or melody.

For example, the ABC song stays stuck in our memories by pairing the alphabet with the melody for "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star." Another example is the melodic slogan "Nationwide is on your side" that often appears in the insurance company's TV and radio ads.

We can use music as our own mnemonic device by relating information we want to learn to music we like or even creating a melody or song of our own.

Spelling. This mnemonic device applies phrases, patterns, or rules to help us remember certain difficult spellings.

Examples

Never believe a lie.

The word "separate" includes a rat.

It's hard to embarrass really righteous and serious students.

Rhythm: Rhythm helps your two hips move.

Alliteration. The ear and mind like repeated sounds. When successive words begin with matching sounds, they form alliteration. These can be used as mnemonic devices for information storage and retrieval.

For example, you might remember a new colleague's name by forming for yourself alliteration that pairs the name with a quality or fact about the person: Punctual Peter, Smiling Sarah, Baylor U Bahira. If you keep a schedule for doing laundry, you might remember Wash Wednesdays.

Perhaps the mnemonic devices we've mentioned will inspire you to establish new ways to further secure some of the quadrillion bits of information you will process in your lifetime. You can also further research other forms of mnemonic devices online.

After all, as the Roman statesman and philosopher Cicero once said, "Memory is the treasury and guardian of all things."