The Mercenary Writer's Guides: Manuscript Critique and Grammar Rx Congratulations! Here’s what WORKS in this manuscript: 1
Citation Information: Severson, Heather. 2012. The Mercenary
Writer's Guides: Manuscript Critique and Grammar Rx.
StudioGraphia: Tucson, AZ. http://www.MercenaryWriter.net
Grammar Diagnosis & Treatment Prescription Directions:
1. See the specific writing issues I’ve identified in your work.
2. Read the appropriate section in Diana Hacker’s Rules for Writers.
3. Revision: Consider these solutions as you revise your work.
4. Practice: Apply this information to your next writing project.
Rx√
Topic
Clarity: Sentences
Clarity: Word Choice
Grammar
ESL Grammar
Specific Issue
Example from Manuscript
Active vs. passive verbs
Active vs. be verbs
Active Verbs
Parallelism
Needed Words
Mixed Constructions
Misplaced modifiers
Dangling modifiers
Shifts: Person and Number
Shifts: Tense
Shifts
Choppy sentences
Subordination
Wordy sentences
Jargon
Sexist language
Misused words
Standard idioms
Clichés and mixed metaphors
Sentence fragments
Run-on sentences
Subject-verb agreement
Pronoun-antecedent agreement
Pronoun reference
Pronoun case (such as I vs. me)
who and whom
Pronoun case: review
Adjectives and adverbs
Irregular verbs
Standard English verb forms
Verb tense and mood
Helping verbs and main verbs
Conditional sentences
Verbs followed by gerunds or infinitives
Articles
Omissions and repetitions
Order of cumulative adjectives
Present vs. past participles
Prepositions showing time and place
2
Citation Information: Severson, Heather. 2012. The Mercenary
Writer's Guides: Manuscript Critique and Grammar Rx.
StudioGraphia: Tucson, AZ. http://www.MercenaryWriter.net
Rx√
Topic
Punctuation
Mechanics
The Basics
Citation
Specific Issue
Example from Manuscript
Major uses of the comma
Minor uses of the comma
All uses of the comma
Misuses of the comma
The semicolon and the comma
The colon, the semicolon and the comma
The apostrophe
Quotation marks
Other punctuation marks
Abbreviations
Numbers
Italics (underlining)
The hyphen
Capital letters
Parts of speech: nouns
Parts of speech: pronouns
Parts of speech: verbs
Parts of speech: adjectives
Parts of speech: adverbs
All parts of speech
Subjects
Subject complements and direct objects
Indirect objects and object complements
Linking, transitive, and intransitive verbs
Prepositional phrases
Subordinate clauses
Subjects of subordinate clauses
Verbal phrases
Phrases and clauses
Sentence types
Check spelling of names and titles,
accuracy of dates, etc.
Titles: include subtitles.
Publisher: include publisher and place of
publication
Periodicals: list volume and issue/number
Internet sites must always be evaluated for
reliability. Be critical. Never assume online
information is correct.
Medium of publication: Most style guides
require that you include a brief description
of the medium.
Citation Format and Style--Check and
double check citations, both in-text and in
the References or Works Cited list.
3
Citation Information: Severson, Heather. 2012. The Mercenary
Writer's Guides: Manuscript Critique and Grammar Rx.
StudioGraphia: Tucson, AZ. http://www.MercenaryWriter.net
Books on the Art and Craft of Writing Rx√ Recommended Reading
Especially this Section
Chris Baty. No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, HighVelocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days
Steve Biko. I Write What I Like: Selected Writings
Ray Bradbury. Zen in the Art of Writing
Dorothea Brande. Becoming a Writer
Renni Browne. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to
Edit Yourself Into Print
Robert Olen Butler. From Where You Dream: The
Process of Writing Fiction
Julia Cameron. The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to
Higher Creativity
Julia Cameron. The Right to Write: An Invitation and
Initiation into the Writing Life
Joseph Campbell. The Hero with a Thousand Faces
Annie Dillard. The Writing Life
Umberto Eco. On Literature
E.M. Forster. Aspects of the Novel
John Gardner. On Becoming a Novelist
John Gardner. The Art of Fiction: Notes on Craft for
Young Writers
Natalie Goldberg. Thunder and Lightning: Cracking Open
the Writer’s Craft
Natalie Goldberg. Wild Mind: Living the Writer’s Life
Natalie Goldberg. Writing Down the Bones: Freeing the
Writer Within
William Goldman. Adventures in the Screen Trade
William Goldman. Which Lie Did I Tell?: More
Adventures in the Screen Trade
Diana Hacker. Rules for Writers.
Ernest Hemingway. A Moveable Feast
Ernest Hemingway. On Writing
Patricia Highsmith. Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction
Stephen King. On Writing
Milan Kundera. The Art of the Novel
Anne Lamott. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing
and Life
Ursula K. Le Guin. Steering the Craft: Exercises and
Discussions on Story Writing for the Lone Navigator or
the Mutinous Crew
Elmore Leonard. Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing
Mario Vargas Llosa. Letters to a Young Novelist
Donald Maass. Writing the Breakout Novel
Vladimir Nabokov. Speak, Memory
Patricia T. O’Conner. Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s
Guide to Better English in Plain English
George Orwell. Why I Write
4
Citation Information: Severson, Heather. 2012. The Mercenary
Writer's Guides: Manuscript Critique and Grammar Rx.
StudioGraphia: Tucson, AZ. http://www.MercenaryWriter.net
Rx√ Recommended Reading
Especially this Section
Francine Prose. Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for
People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to
Write Them
John Rember. MFA in a Box
Rainer Maria Rilke. Letters to a Young Poet
Pat Schneider. Writing Alone and with Others
Wallace Stegner. On Teaching and Writing Fiction
Sol Stein. Stein On Writing: A Master Editor of Some of
the Most Successful Writers of Our Century Shares His
Craft Techniques and Strategies
John Steinbeck. Working Days: The Journals of The
Grapes of Wrath
William Stunk, Jr. The Elements of Style
Lynne Truss. Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance
Approach to Punctuation
Brenda Ueland. If You Want to Write: A Book about Art,
Independence and Spirit
Christopher Vogler. The Writer’s Journey: Mythic
Structure for Writers
Eudora Welty. Eudora Welty: Stories, Essays, and
Memoirs
Eudora Welty. One Writer’s Beginnings
Eudora Welty. The Eye of the Story: Selected Essays and
Reviews
Virginia Woolf. A Writer’s Diary
William Knowlton Zinsser. On Writing Well: The Classic
Guide to Writing Nonfiction
Final Comments and General Recommendations 5
Citation Information: Severson, Heather. 2012. The Mercenary
Writer's Guides: Manuscript Critique and Grammar Rx.
StudioGraphia: Tucson, AZ. http://www.MercenaryWriter.net