One of my strong opinions is that I really dislike present tense. Very strong opinions, frequently, though I'm not apt to share them unless I trust someone, and rarely on social media. For those of you that don't know me well, here's a fun fact: I have opinions. The next quote is from her chapter on Person and Tense. It's all well and good to be able to string words together, but unless your reader knows how they're meant to be read, your meaning will remain unclear. This involves knowing usage and punctuation well enough to use them skillfully, not as rules that impede you but as tools that serve you.'Īnd, if I might add, tools that help you communicate your ultimate meaning to your reader. 'That's the important thing for a writer: to know what you're doing with your language and why. Punctuation is a common language that we use to communicate intention and meaning in complex ideas, and even though we writers use copy editors to fix our mistakes, it's on us to make sure our ultimate meaning is clear. Both are incredibly important, not only for making you look like you actually know what you're doing, but because they are essential for your reader's comprehension. The next quote is from her chapter on punctuation and grammar. So that's what I'm doing here: practicing. until quite recently no writer had that training. The judgement that a work is complete- this is what I meant to do, and I stand by it-can come only from the writer, and it can be made rightly only by a writer who's learned to read her own work. And ultimately you and you alone can judge your work. I also feel this strongly when I am revising my work, and am forced to make a decision about someone else's thoughts-do I change it the way they want me to, or keep it how I think it should be? 'Ultimately, you write alone. The first quote hit home quite hard, especially as I frequently complain to Josh that half the time he's the only person I see during a week.

Steering the craft ursula le guin