Kelly Milner Halls: Welcome everyone to tonight’s chat with grammar guru Pamela Rice Hahn. We’re so glad to see such a great turn out. Late last year, Pamela saw the release of her fabulous trade paperback Teach Yourself Grammar and Style in 24 Hours. iUniverse was thrilled to schedule Hahn for a live expert chat, but she was unable to attend. Tonight, she takes us up on our rain-check to chat abour grammar for writers of every kind. Welcome Pam, we’re really glad to have you. Tell us a little about what inspired you to write the book.

Pamela Rice Hahn: Thank you. I was asked by Macmillan to do the book (via my agent) and they offered an advance. Money is a nice motivator. It was one of those fluke things, actually. The original author (a college professor) decided his schedule was such that he had to back out. So they asked me and I then wrote a sample table of contents and a proposal that convinced the editors I was up to the task. Loved writing that book — especially the example sentences!

Candy: Pam, what is your proofreading technique? I mean what steps do you take to prep the book before submitting it for publication?

Pamela Rice Hahn: My favorite proofreading technique is when I can convince a friend to do it for me. It’s almost impossible to proofread your own work! When I proofread my own work, I find it works best for me if I read the stuff out loud. More apt to catch the errors that way. I’m usually close enough to deadline that I only have time for one (on stuff done on assignment). I get spoiled because I know that my DE and a copyeditor will be checking the ms, too.

Kelly Milner Halls: Pam, what was your background…what prepared you for such a daunting project as a grammar guidebook?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Luck

Kelly Milner Halls: That looks good on a resume. No really…

Pamela Rice Hahn: Discipline. Self-study mostly. I’d worked with Macmillan before so they knew that I turn in clean mss. For that book I did have to “attach” a Ph.D. to the work though. Dr. Dennis E. Hensley (I sometimes joke that they didn’t think that “Ph.D. = Pam hahn Darnit!” would cut it.)

WCTracey: Pam, have you always been passionate about grammar?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I’ve always been passionate about words. Reading. Figuring out how a writer hones a passage so that it speaks to me (ideally without my noticing that he’s done it).

Kelly Milner Halls: Pam, can you name a few of the chapters you think are most helpful to writers? And tell us WHY they are good for scribes.

Pamela Rice Hahn: The first chapter is a good intro to the subject. It touches on why it’s so important to know the rules of grammar so that you can learn when it’s okay to break them. It’s also where I was able to stick in some corny puns and a cutesy poem I came up with for an example. Other than that, off the top of my head, I can’t name chapter numbers. Do you want me to grab the book, take a quick look-see, and advise?

Kelly Milner Halls: In a bit sure…Remember, if you have a question, type ? and we’ll call on you. Pam, what are the most COMMON grammar mistakes we make as writers?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I can add this: I’m proudest of the grammar portion of the book. (The first half.) I’m proud of the entire work, of course, but I think I felt I had to work hardest doing the actual grammar lessons so knowing I wrote that really feels like an accomplishment.

Kelly Milner Halls: So let’s back track…what are some of the most common errors we make as writers?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Mixing up possessive pronouns and contractions seems to be a biggie.

Kelly Milner Halls: Any others?

Pamela Rice Hahn: You want more? Okay. Unclear pronouns, passive voice ranks right up there.

Kelly Milner Halls: Give us examples, if you could Pam.

Pamela Rice Hahn: Gosh, example sentences take awhile. Hang on Gonna type one in from page 62, so give me a second please

“He told her that he planned to do it for her but she felt that he should not do that.”

That’s ambiguity.

Kelly Milner Halls: Okay. How about an unclear pronoun?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Give me a minute (this is all real time, first draft typing here, remember.)  In that sentence, it could the “she” who believes he shouldn’t do it or somebody else not represented in the sentence but indicated earlier. (IF that helps.) Another pronoun error that drives me up the wall, and I believe IT IS AN ERROR, is using a plural pronoun instead of “his or her” in the name of nonsexist language. One more thing: I’m of the opinion that the pronoun number (singular or plural) should match the noun. Want an example of that?

Kelly Milner Halls: Yes.

Pamela Rice Hahn: “Does ANYONE want to eat THEIR popcorn?”

In that case, ANYONE is singular. Correct would be: “Does ANYONE want to eat HIS or HER popcorn?” I shortened the example sentence so it doesn’t read as well. Add “in the living room” to the end of those examples (after popcorn) and it makes a bit more sense, unless you want a better example. LOL

Kelly Milner Halls: Nah, it’s good…thanks Pam…okay, Rob, your question?

Rob: Reading that example sentence made my teeth hurt. I’ve heard that good singers actually have a hard time singing poorly. Was it difficult coming up with these “error” sentences?

Pamela Rice Hahn: It took some time to come up with them, yes. But actually they were really fun to do. I used every family member’s name I could come up with and all of the names of my friends — online and in real life, then started asking my friends for names of their friends so I could quit repeating names. Once I got past that, sometimes paranoia would set in that I’d get one wrong.

WCTracey: Pam, do you recommend that writers proofread their own work or get another set of eyes?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Whenever possible, get another pair of eyes to help out. Hands down!

Kelly Milner Halls: Kazon, your question?

Kazon: Does Kelly remind you of a mother superior (teaching order) putting you through the paces? LOL. With informal writing I use his/her instead of his or her. Is this lazy on my part or acceptable?

Kelly Milner Halls: Bless you, my child! : )

Pamela Rice Hahn: LOL Kel. Kazon, it’s lazy if it’s formal writing. As for informal writing, acceptable is based on how informal you wish to be.

Kelly Milner Halls: Pam, how do you define what’s FORMAL or INFORMAL?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I use s/he in informal writing a lot, btw. Formal writing would be any business writing. Most essays fall within formal writing. As do most books, although allowances can be made depending on the genre or format. For example, humor writers sometimes purposely change writing style or punctuation for emphasis. Informal writing is like what’s done here in chat when I say “howdy” to my sister-in-law. Informal writing is anything that isn’t formal.

Kelly Milner Halls: How important is good grammar to the professional credibility of ANY published book?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I believe that any error that shows up in a book hinders the credibility of the entire work. I think proper grammar shows a respect for the reader.

Kelly Milner Halls: Okay, a question about dialogue. How do you BEND the rules of grammar to reflect regional accents or intellectual weaknesses WITHOUT making your book seem “dumb” or “sloppy?”

Pamela Rice Hahn: I primarily write nonfiction, so while I’ll attempt to address that question, so much of what’s done does depend on the genre, the publisher’s style guidelines, your editor’s preferences, etc. When errors show up in dialogue, the reader knows (if not consciously, at least subconsciously) that they’re intentional. To show the speaker’s voice. Blocking out on title that came to mind, so give me a minute. BONFIRES OF THE VANITY (vanities?) Wolfe had the cops use grammar errors and occasionally had an attorney insert them in his conversation so that it wouldn’t appear that he was trying to one-up them by talking correctly, if I recall.

Kelly Milner Halls: Would a good professional editor be the best idea to be sure on fiction like that, Pam?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Yes. And pray that you get a good editor with your publisher, too.

Mimosajo: My story uses a diary written by a young under-educated child. Isn’t misspellings appropriate in this case?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I would think it would be. You may want to offset the diary somehow from the other text. Indented paragraphs tricks sort of thing. In something that’s being shown that’s understood to be verbatim, those types of errors would be okay. They’re less distracting, too, than say … using too much dialect (like Twain was able to get by with but is frowned on today).

Kelly Milner Halls: Mim, a good editor I know said to go easy on dialect-driven misspellings because they slow the reader down. SHOW your child’s disability rather than TELL it with misspellings. Pam, how has writing this book effected your OWN work as a writer?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Each thing I write improves my skill, I’ve found. But what helps me even more is when I edit someone else’s work. It *is* easier to see mistakes made by another. Editing (whether it’s done formally or done for a friend as a favor) helps me see other ways to phrase sentences, etc. And, because I’m a visual learner, I canNOT say enough about how much using “revision marks” in Word has helped me see things more clearly in those edits.

Kelly Milner Halls: When is it okay to break a grammar rule? Can you give us ONE example?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Sometimes it’s better to write in complete sentences. Other times it’s better to write in fragments. For emphasis, for example.

George: I write juvenile historical fiction.  I try to incorporate the language from the American Revolution through the civil war.  Is it wrong to try and utilize the dialogue of these times?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I truly don’t feel I can speak to that. Those types of decisions depend on the genre (which I realize you’ve named), but they also depend on the publisher’s style guidelines.

Kelly Milner Halls: Pam, were there any surprises for you as your wrote this grammar guide? Things you’d forgotten, perhaps?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Thinking. Keep in mind, this book was written over a year ago. I have three books coming out this year and I’ve written what seems like a gazillion proposals, Web pages, and articles in that time, too, so my mind can only recall so much. Nothing really pops out right now. I think there’s always the feeling that, given the time, one could always have done better. But, it’s a fact of life, at some point, you’ve got to shove the thing out the door.

Kazon: When a grouping calls for commas, there seems to be two schools of though regarding the final comma before the word and. Billy brought home bread, beans and milk. Thoughts?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I am sooooooooo glad you brought that up! I’m a firm believer in the serial comma. (Putting a comma after EVERY word in the series before the conjunction — such as, “and” or “or.”) I’m of the opinion that writing “this, this, and that” has a different meaning than “this, this and that.”) The serial comma, which more and more publishers seem to be adopting as their style, helps avoid ambiguity.

Kelly Milner Halls: What about starting sentences with “But” or “And?” Is that okay now?

Pamela Rice Hahn: Not in formal writing. But, there can always be exceptions.

Kelly Milner Halls: But it’s done all the time in newspapers.

Pamela Rice Hahn: I know. And in books. Some editors hate it; some don’t mind. The same as some consider it the work of an amateur to use certain forms of punctuation!

Kelly Milner Halls, did writing this book help you get more work?

Pamela Rice Hahn: I’m sure it has. I haven’t had an editor say, “I want to work with you because I saw TYG/S” but every credit helps prove your credibility. Each work shows that you’re able to deliver. One thing that doing books for a series shows is that you’re able to deliver a work ON TIME (and usually within a SHORT amount of time). Disclaimer: I wouldn’t use THOSE CAPS in formal writing either.

Tangrene: How much can one trust the WORD program to “suggest” grammar.  It is hopeless for me when writing poetry, but since poetry is my love I tend to write in a similar fashion..and get into trouble with stories.

Pamela Rice Hahn: You can use it for suggestions, but you can’t rely on it. So what does one do when they have questions but don’t know where to go? Prior to Word 2000, Word’s grammar checker suggested “it’s” for “its” almost every time. Word is pretty good at finding passive voice. What to do depends on several factors. If you’re on deadline and don’t have much time, rewrite the sentence (in a way that you KNOW is correct). Otherwise, you can read my book.

Kelly Milner Halls: Tracey, don’t you have a question? About work space?  I’ll ask it for her. Tracey always wonders, what does your desk or work space LOOK like, Pam. Can you tell us?

Tangrene: LOL. Got it. But then I forget the question I am  looking for cause I get distracted.

Pamela Rice Hahn: You don’t want to know about my work space. LOL

Kelly Milner Halls: She DOES…trust me.

Tangrene: yes we do.

Pamela Rice Hahn: I tend to live with clutter. Actually, not by choice. Right now it’s because of lack of space and my current office arrangement. I once had a home office in the basement. (I called it “Suite B.”) There I had 900 square feet of space and I miss every little inch of that place! I live in a much smaller place now, so I’ve converted what would be the master bedroom into my office. Do you want me to go into some detail here?

Kelly Milner Halls: Nah, that’s good Pam…sounds familiar to me. Well, my friends, that kills the hour. Pam, any last comments you’d like to share? Tell us about those NEW books?

Pamela Rice Hahn: : Kelly: Keep this topic in mind. It’s one of the things we need to discuss. Thanks. Time flies! My new grilling cookbook, Lazy About Grilling: the feet up, hands down easiest ways to barbecue published by Laurel Glenn will be out in April. (It’s a cookbook with an attitude. Lots of humor.) Journey to the Center of the Internet (my first published fiction other than short stories) is out now from Syngress. It’s what I call “faction” … fictional story with “infodump” nonfiction details about the Internet. (I got my start in tech writing, btw.) Next: I’m waiting to hear what my next book will be. I’m busy building a new Web site (www.CookingWithPam.com) and writing book proposals. Oh! Another cookbook will be out in September – The Everything Diabetes Cookbook, Adams Media.

Kelly Milner Halls: Sounds great, Pam. Thanks so much for taking the hour to share your experience with us. And thanks to all of you for showing up. Rob, Tracey, you were amazing as always.

WCTracey: Thank *you* and thanks to Pam (who I kept calling Patricia)!

© 2002 iUniverse.com

Reprinted with permission.

Read an excerpt from Teach Yourself Grammar and Style in 24 Hours

Pamela Rice Hahn Interview is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

One of my most frequent fantasies involves being the only female in a roomful of dignified men, each dressed in a dark custom-tailored suit and a power tie.

While growing up in a small Ohio farm community, I could only imagine the stylish world I read about or saw on TV: a world where men wore something other than bowling shirts, coveralls with mid-thigh black (or
fatigue green) rubber boots left unbuckled to the ankles, or white socks with their Sunday suits.

I left the five hundred people in my hometown behind and set out for the big city hoping to find fame, fortune, and men with fantastic wardrobes. I longed for some class. Perhaps I could find it in a place that actually had a couple of stop lights. I knew somewhere there was man without a toothpick sticking out of the corner of his mouth.

The right clothing can project the power of a man in a way that a coordinated purse and shoes could never do for a woman. It’s unfair actually. But with the exception of a pastel-colored leisure suit ensemble (what mystery writer Les Roberts refers to as a “full Cleveland”), a dark shirt with a white tie, a shirt that doesn’t completely cover a beer gut, or jeans slung so low you-know-what shows when he bends over, a man can
wear about anything and really command a presence.

All this may seem rather petty, but at the time I really didn’t have anything much more serious than this about which to be concerned. The Vietnam War was already a memory. The free love movement never did quite make it to our area; girls still had reputations. And AIDS was a diet candy. Even if it was spelled differently, it reflected my biggest concern at the time: thick thighs.

With this in mind, picture a group of ladies in the various stages of being single and looking for some male companionship.

Brenda, Julie, Connie, Martha, Rhonda, and I spent more weekend nights together than we would have preferred. We’d go out of town, since once someplace has become your hometown, there’s that unwritten rule: the
hunks live somewhere else.

Our typical nights usually ran about the same. Brenda would say, “And to think, I could be home nice ‘n’ comfy on the couch with my pillow and blankie.”

Julie would add, “For this I’m paying a babysitter?”

Connie was always worried about missing a call from Peter. She’d mention that for our benefit, wanting to give the impression of her faithfulness and devotion to the jerk she’d been seeing for the last couple of years. We
each knew that if Connie was alone that weekend, it probably meant that she and Pete had had a fight. That meant that he would be spending the weekend with his ex-wife, so Connie would be thinking about spending the weekend with whomever she could find.

Batting her skimpy eyelashes, Martha would demurely whisper something like, “If I could only overcome my shyness.” Actually, Martha was a crotch grabber. Very subtle.

Rhonda always said, “Maybe if I’d worn a different shirt.” Rhonda had the lousiest fashion sense of our little group. She’d buy jeans on sale that were always too short and then sew a contrasting colored band of material around the hem to make them long enough. The shirt she wore always clashed with the hunk of fabric stuck on the legs of her jeans.

I usually wrote poetry on the napkins since I had, unfortunately, never mastered that special eye contact followed by a sweet smile-type of courage that going out looking requires. Connie was a master at it. She was seldom lonely when Peter wasn’t around.

I was also the one who had been complimented recently with: “You have nice muscle tone for someone your size.” Yes, thick thighs are a hereditary curse. I usually had a sliding scale of confidence, so that night
it was about as low as it could go.

We managed to have a few good times together. As the reader of the group, I was always trying out new advice. Once I experimented with my possible psychic powers by trying a technique that promised that, with the
proper concentration, I could will myself to surround someone with an attracting white light of good vibrations. It worked, too. Actually, I tried it
several times that evening. Unfortunately, each time the zapped stranger came over to our table, he’d ask the person sitting next to me to dance.

This night we were at a bar just off Route 53 near Lake Erie because Julie had gone to high school with one of the guys in the band. (She’d graduated with more people in her class than were in my home town.) We were about as excited as six people can get who know they have nothing better to do on a Saturday night than to travel thirty miles to hear somebody named Alvin sing.

Julie had been carded on the way in. “I didn’t remember that I had my daughter’s teddy bear clips in my hair until I got in the door,” she said, flipping a strand of her hair back over her shoulder, “but it wasn’t until I reached inside my Snoopy change purse to get out my license that I really got embarrassed.”

Our table conversation later that night was up to “not too bad for a local group,” so things were pretty well proceeding according to their normal schedule.

Then he walked in.

I couldn’t help but notice him. His clothes were neat! Granted, they were casual. Not the suits I prefer. But, they fitted him so well.

“Now there’s one Trish should zap,” Julie offered.

“Are you kidding,” I argued. “And watch him ask you to dance?”

Our table was about five tables back from the dance floor. Julie and Rhonda were seated to my right on the vinyl-covered bench attached to the wall with Martha, Connie, and Brenda seated across the table from us on chairs.

“He smiled at me,” Connie announced, turning her back to us. This was her standard response.

“I think he smiled at me,” I whispered to Julie, embarrassed that he might have noticed my staring at him.

“I think he did, too,” she whispered back. “Go for it.”

Instead, in an attempt to not appear too desperate, I pulled some business cards out of my purse and started shuffling them. Then I decided to try smiling back. After all, I had practiced in front of a mirror all day.

He stood at the bar awhile talking to Jack, a guy Connie had gone out with a couple of times.

“Funny we never noticed him here before,” Connie commented.

“He seems to know Jack,” I added.

Our table conversation was abruptly stopped because Alvin and his friends had just ended their break. It’s hard to exchange subtle comments when you have to shout over the noise of a rock band.

So, we stared instead. At least I did. Prince Charming himself could have ridden in on his white horse – I was always looking for him to – and I wouldn’t have noticed. Unless, of course, he was wearing a suit.

About that time, he took off his jacket. He unbuttoned his shirt sleeves and rolled them at the cuffs. About that time, I started to drool. His forearms were incredible. Some women like well-developed biceps. Not me. I look at the area between the wrist and the elbow. If that part of his arm is skinny, forget it. His wasn’t.

Then he smiled again, so I mouthed (with a smile, of course), “Come here.”

He sort of tilted his head like he didn’t understand what I meant, so knowing my mother was nowhere around to see how bold I was being, I patted the bench beside me.

He started walking toward me.

I started to think about crawling under the table.

He smiled again, looking right into my eyes.

I panicked.

He sat down. Next to me. Our thighs touched, for God’s sake.

Oh boy, now what do I do? I thought, so I leaned over, touched his arm and whispered in his ear, “Why don’t you ask me to dance and if the answer’s ‘no,’ will you please keep smiling so my friends won’t know I’ve just been rejected?”

“I don’t dance,” he told me.

“Huh?”

“Actually, I can’t dance.”

“Uh, I can’t quite place your accent,” I stammered, trying to change the subject before he deserted me. “Where are you from?”

“Africa.”

“Oh.” I knew I was definitely impressing him with my vocabulary.

“Actually,” he said. I remember that part distinctly. He said ‘actually’ a lot. “I’m from the Canary Islands.”

“Oh,” I said again, not knowing what difference that made. I didn’t know that the Canary Islands were near Africa, but I wasn’t going to let him know that. He probably already figured I didn’t know how to talk. I couldn’t risk having him think I was stupid, too. Instead, I asked, “So, what are you doing here?” Not much better than “You come here often,” I know. But, it was the best I could do on short notice.

He leaned back against the wall. He started to put his arm around me, but instead began playing with my hair, twisting it around his finger.

“You have very beautiful hair,” he said. At that time it was still a very light natural blonde. It was also long, almost to my waist.

Then he answered, “I’m here to pick up a cheap.”

Some women might have been offended by that. I was probably just too naive to think he could have been talking about me, which is just as well. I’m sure if I would have slapped his face or something that could have messed up the rest of our conversation.

“What can you pick up cheaper in Ohio than you can get in the Canary Islands?” I asked.

“Actually, I picked it up in California. I just left the turnpike and drove until I found someplace to stop for a drink.”

I must have looked puzzled, because he added, “I picked up my cheap in California. Cheap. J-e-e-p.”

“Oh, jeep,” I said with a laugh. I repeated it a couple of times until he could almost pronounce it, then gave up. I bombarded him with questions: Don’t they build jeeps in Germany or anywhere closer? Why California? I ask lots of questions when I’m nervous.

“I had a four-wheel drive custom-built in California because we have so much rough open country,” he told me. “After I closed my art gallery out there, I started driving my cheap to New York. It’ll be shipped home from there. I’m flying home Monday.” (Just my luck.)

“What’s your name?” I asked him. I had less time than I’d hoped for.

“Tony,” he said. He told me his last name, too, only I can’t remember it. I guess that’s why I’ve never been tempted to call him.

“Mine’s Trish. Or Trisha. That’s short for Patricia, after my mother.”

We talked for at least an hour about my growing up in a small town, his going to private schools, my being the oldest of six kids, his being an only child, his colleges and art studies, my mother’s worries while I was going to college that if I got too smart I’d have trouble finding a husband, his age of 32, mine of 25, his never being married, my divorce, and his wondering why I’d let my body go when I had such a pretty face. (I didn’t ask him why he was losing his hair.)

We held hands.

He looked in my eyes.

I thought I’d die.

“I think one of your friends is trying to get your attention,” he finally said.

“I can talk to them anytime,” I told him, ignoring the others.

“Aren’t you going to introduce us?” Martha asked. Actually, to coin a oft-repeated phrase, she blurted her way into our conversation. The band was on break again. I guess she needed something to do. (If she would have reached over and grabbed his crotch, I would have killed her. Literally.)

So, I sighed and said, “Tony this is….” I introduced him to everyone around the table and got that out of our way. I turned my back on them as soon as I was done and hoped they wouldn’t bother us anymore. They didn’t.

Then he held my hand some more. I still get those shivers in the pit of my stomach just thinking about it.

“Did you drive?” he asked after an uncomfortable pause.

“Yes, but….”

“Would your friends mind if we’d leave?”

“They probably would,” I answered, “since they rode with me.”

“Should I follow you home then?” he asked.

Someday I’m going to learn how to not show my initial reaction. I don’t know if I had silently responded to that question by looking scared or what, but before I could answer, he asked, “You’ve never done this, have you?”

“Huh?” I really can sound intelligent sometimes. I guess this wasn’t the time.

“You’ve never gone to bed with someone you’ve just met, have you?”

I shook my head.

“I thought not. Why don’t you walk me to the door?”

I told the girls I’d be right back and slipped my hand into Tony’s as he stood up.

***

For a moment I thought about leaving with him. Connie could have picked up somebody who’d have taken them home.

We walked out of the bar and around the corner.

We stopped at the door. Tony leaned against the brick wall. I laid my head against his chest. I’d been waiting all evening to feel his shirt. I knew it had to be silk. It was.

“It’s probably just as well. I don’t think you could have handled it,” Tony said. “Innocence is commendable, I guess.”

I just looked into his eyes and said nothing.

He touched my face with his left hand and brushed my hair away from my mouth. I always shudder when a guy touches my face. I loved it then. Still do.

He smiled for a moment. My bottom lip quivered. Then he kissed me. A soft, tender kiss. And yes, I saw fireworks. I hope he did too. At times I remember thinking he was somewhat a rich snob. But for a moment at least, I felt him leave his conceit behind.

“I couldn’t do that to you, Trish,” he said as he placed both his hands on my shoulders. Pulling my head back down to his chest, he added, “I really don’t think you could handle tonight knowing that you’d never see me again.”

He kissed my forehead before ending our embrace. Then he walked out the door. He didn’t look back.

I leaned against the wall for a moment, took a deep breath, then turned and walked back into the bar.

***

You know, I would have let him come home with me. I could have worried about everything else – later.

Sometimes, when I feel like escaping for awhile, I read a romance novel. Other times I imagine that had he spent the night with me, he would have become so obsessed that I would have seen him again. And again. That’s what always happens in the novels. And I love happy endings. Of course, I call them happy beginnings. I met mine in church. He wears dark socks with his suit now.

###

Copyright © 2001-2008 Pamela Rice Hahn
All Rights Reserved

Author bio:

Pamela Rice Hahn is the author of The Everything Improve Your Writing Book, Lazy About Grilling, Journey to the Center of the Internet, Macmillan Teach Yourself Grammar and Style in 24 Hours, The Unofficial Guide to Online Genealogy, and 13 other books. In addition to her editing and design work on The Blue Rose Bouquet; Pam has also created a number of other Web sites, including Chronic-Illness.org, GenealogyTips, Fawnn.com, and CookingWithPam. You can learn more about her by visiting her personal Web site.

My First Silk Shirt is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Book excerpt:

Teach Yourself Grammar and Style in 24 Hours

Rhyme

Rhyme is a series of word endings that repeats the same, or similar, sounds.

Old Mother Hubbard went to her cupboard….

Rhymes can be used to add a whimsical, yet effective, touch to ad copy:

e.g.

You can always trust our milk, so buy some now.
The only stuff fresher is still in the cow.

If you’d enjoy playing a word game designed increase attention spans and improve the vocabulary in young children, take a look at “Task: Rhyme Time” from page 14 of Teach Yourself Grammar and Style in 24 Hours:

Task: Rhyme Time

Rhymes increase a child’s attention span because the child soon learns to listen for the repeated, familiar sound patterns. You can use this to your advantage if you have a youngster in the car with you during a long trip.

Example: Through the fog, the little green frog in a soggy wet bog jumped from log to log before the dog could hog all the grog.

Play a game to see how many rhyming words you can use in a sentence. This stuff is allowed to be fun, too. (Don’t forget to let the kid win!)

End note:

One of the sentences that survives from when I’d play that game with my daughter Lara is: Please don’t tease the fleas on my knees, you’ll make them sneeze and wheeze; just give them a cuddle, and give them a squeeze, and feed them some cheese.

Last week, I recited that sentence to my granddaughter — who just celebrated her fifth birthday in August. She listened to me say the sentence and remained silent for a minute, then said, “You left out trees.” So, we modified the sentence to: Please don’t tease the fleas on my knees, the breeze from the trees makes them sneeze and wheeze; just give them a cuddle, and give them a squeeze, and feed them some cheese.

Copyright © 2000 Pamela Rice Hahn
All Rights Reserved

You can read more about this book — expanded table of contents, introduction, author bio’s — on this Web site.

For more fun with rhymes, read The Ball That Started It All, also in The Blue Rose Bouquet.

Rhyme is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

This page is no longer a good news-announcements page. For current author information, visit

The Blue Rose Bouquet Author Web Sites:

Pamela Rice Hahn

David L. Hebert

Eric J. Ehlers

Ron Collins

Richard Montanari

A Few of Our Books:

Richard Montanari

Janelle Meraz Hooper:

David L Hebert:

Pamela Rice Hahn:

The Everything Improve Your Writing
Writing Books Resource

Genealogy Books Resource

Dennis E. Hensley, Ph.D.

wOOhOO: Celebrate Good News is a post from: The Blue Rose Bouquet

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.