Punctuating Your Way to a Contract
By MM Pollard
August 1-28, 2013
WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION:
Are
you guilty of apostrophe apathy? Has comma chaos taken over your writing? Does
simply thinking about punctuating dialogue give you hives? If so, fear not.
During this workshop, MM Pollard, editor with Black Velvet Seductions, will use
her unique way of distilling information that will have you punctuating like a
pro, and editors will notice.
MM
throws in a bit of humor to make the lessons much more fun than your jr. high
English classes were. Cross her heart!
She
will cover in this month-long workshop:
Lessons
1, 2: apostrophe use with singular and plural nouns; to show dual ownership;
with numbers, dates, letters, and words mentioned as words;
Lessons
3-8: comma use in introductory words and phrases, in non-restrictive clauses
and participial phrases; commas in compound and complex sentences; the dreaded
comma splice; dash and parentheses use and how they differ from commas; the
comma conventions;
Lessons
9, 10: punctuation in dialogue; comma, period, question mark, quotation marks,
em-dash, and ellipises
Lesson
11: those other marks you have no clue how to use but might need to some day
because you are a writer – hyphens, slashes, italics, quotation marks not in
dialogue, colons.
Lesson
12: review of all punctuation marks covered in workshop
Yes,
there will be homework with each lesson. MM was an English teacher for fifteen
years, after all.
Reward
for doing your homework: If you post all of your homework when due, she’ll
proofread your 1,000-word submission for grammar, usage, and punctuation errors.
ABOUT
THE PRESENTER:
As
an English teacher and acquisitions editor for Black Velvet Seductions, MM
Pollard has had the mission to find ungrammatical grammar, misused usage, and
problematic punctuation in others’ writing. Mistakes seem to jump off the page
for her – yes, she’s that good.
Her
goal is to teach writers what they need to know about English grammar, usage,
and punctuation so that they won’t need an editing service to correct their
mistakes in these areas.
MM
has presented or will present workshops for Muse Online Writers Conference,
Savvy Authors, Writers Online Classes, Novelists at Work, and Orange County
Chapter RWA, in addition to those in her virtual classroom.
WORKSHOP
FEES:
$15
for Members
$20 for Non-Members
$20 for Non-Members
To
pay via PayPal, please send payment to workshops@passionateink.org and make the
subject line WORKSHOP: PUNCTUATING. Please be sure the information field
includes the name and email address you will be using for the workshop.
To
pay via check, please include WORKSHOP: PUNCTUATING in the memo area. Also,
please include a note containing the name and email address you will be using
for the workshop.
Mail
checks to:
Robin L Rotham, Treasurer
P.O. Box 2412
Norfolk, NE 68702
Robin L Rotham, Treasurer
P.O. Box 2412
Norfolk, NE 68702
***Permission
to forward granted and encouraged.***
