I’m not the greatest grammarian. Far from it. I am a decent grammarian. However, I make a lot of mistakes, (Don't like to admit it!) inadvertently and usually small, but mistakes nonetheless. (Just ask my friend Lynne, who ranks up near the top of the list of great grammarians and who lets me know when I goof.)
Even so, I have some pet peeves that emerged as a result of grammar lessons learned the hard way. And, because I appreciate constructive criticism – the kind that will make me a better writer – I don’t mind airing my opinions.
The one grammatical error I find most difficult to correct is the misplaced only. We see this one every day, many times. “I only like mashed potatoes.” Unless you’re telling people you are the single person who likes mashed potatoes, or that you like mashed potatoes (don’t eat them, don’t serve them, don’t anything-else them) the correct phrase should be “I like mashed potatoes only” or I like only mashed potatoes.”
Sounds awkward, doesn’t it? That’s because we’ve all misplaced the word only for so long, the correct usage doesn’t ring true. Probably a better choice would be to say “I like mashed potatoes,” or be more descriptive by writing, “I prefer my potatoes mashed, not fried.”
When we talk, we often ignore correct grammar, which is why the errors creep into our writing.
There comes a point in life, however, where we just keep forging ahead. We get by with our current knowledge and don’t look for improvement. We think we know what we’re doing so why bother. Our mistakes go into our writing like bread into a toaster.
But then, if we have excellent characters, interesting plots, outstanding flow, we can always hope we get a good editor.
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