What grammatical and mechanical issues do you, as a writer, need to focus on this semester?

Although I consider myself to be a far beyond average writer (as most of us should in this class), there is no denying that many facets of my writing need work. Writing has always been something I naturally picked up. I learned to type when I was five years old. And I swear I could type faster than any other kid in the nation. Rarely have I struggled to write an essay or whip up a poem; class assignments were always easy. I have been destined to become a student of the language since my earliest years.

However I have never been taught grammar, it just wasn’t part of my curriculum in school. Of course I know the basics (noun, verb, adverb), but I don’t have a strong grasp on the other 95%. I have always had a hard time breaking down sentences and assigning the technical terms to each word in the sentence. It only makes sense that if I am going to be teaching the subject, I better learn what a subject actually is (see the play on words? I crack myself up).

One of my favorite English teachers of the past used the term “comma-litterer” for those of us who tend to elaborate, you know, draw things out. I am a comma-litterer. Is it that I have too much to say all the time? Or can I not organize what I want to say into a strong paragraph? Either way, the over usage of commas is detrimental to my writing and an overhaul of my style is needed if I wish to improve.

Another area that has always troubled me has been the structure of my sentences. It goes along with the aforementioned problem, but is different in a way. Sometimes I am unsure whether or not I should end a sentence with a certain word, or if I can’t because of a weird rule. This goes back to the issue of having a strong grasp on the subject and being uneasy in some areas of your writing. I have found that being weary of a topic causes me to change my writing style, and I will start being passive or not make any sense. I just want to know that whatever way I decide to go in my writing I will have made the error-free choice, which sounds like it will come with practice in this course.

I must learn grammar. Well. I need to be able to avoid hearing the “…but you’re an English major” astonishment. I hope to begin to master the sticky grammatical issues of the English language, and I hope this course puts me well on my way.