Have you ever wanted to call your child’s writing “crap?”  Have you ever even thought it? Be honest with yourself.  A close friend of mine did just that…and boy, did she regret it.  But it happened.  It just came out of her mouth.  Or, as she wrote in an e-mail to me and a couple friends a few weeks ago: “So Amanda* asked me to print her written report about Susan B. Anthony. for a social studies project. …didn't read it--she didn't ask me to and usually won't let me--but noticed the first paragraph: Susan B. Antony had many important impacts on society. The reason I would like to write about her, personally, is because her contributions had the most impact on Women’s lives everywhere. I politely suggested that the second sentence would read much more effectively without ", personally,"  The word doesn't add anything and also can make the sentence ambiguous. As … [Read more...]