The years can gallop by at an alarming rate with some traversing the calendar faster than a cheetah charging across the savanna. Incredibly (well to me at least) JAA is now two; well strictly speaking two and a bit as I published my first post on the first of March 2011.
Yes, there were days when I wondered if I would continue. Blogging, as anyone who does it will attest, is time-consuming. Plus I am not a natural writer so when I sit down to cobble together a post the words don’t gush forth geyser-like forming themselves into coherent sentences. If only. Instead I tap away setting down the mass of fleeting and often unrelated thoughts floating through my mind.
This wilderness of words, with its grammatical inaccuracies, spelling mistakes and unlinked fragments of sentences, needs a great deal of tending to transform it into something resembling a readable pieces of English. Weirdly, I like doing this and not just this as I enjoy the entire process of blogging. Except that is for the proof reading of posts before I publish them; it’s not my forte. I am not a detail person so apologies for the errors of: spelling, grammar and syntax that I have undoubtedly not spotted over the years.
Improving my writing is a work in progress and help on that front comes from a few style manuals and some tomes on writing I have purchased. I haven’t digested them fully but a glancing look was enough to pinpoint some of my writing faults: overusing adverbs, ditto the passive voice and I am not succinct.
Speaking of succinct I discovered one very succinct and useful piece of advice on writing, by George Orwell, when I started blogging. I am sure you know it so I am reproducing more to remind myself than to enlighten anyone else.
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
And so JAA goes on heading towards its third birthday. Ok, that birthday is a while away but as I said at the start time flies.
Thank you so much for reading Just Add Attitude.
Just Add Attitude 
Congratulations on 2 years of JAA – your blog is hugely enjoyed.
Thanks so very much H. I really, really appreciate your comment. Bx
Congratulations on your first 2 years…here’s to lots more.
Thank you so very much Debra.
Congrats on “your” second birthday, B!
I can say I find your posts thoroughly enjoyable to read, in both content and style. For what it counts, just the opinion of one of your readers 🙂
Thank you Stefano. You are most kind. 🙂
Dear B,
I wish JAA a very happy birthday! 🙂 I enjoy your posts immensely and I think you are too hard on yourself about your alleged mistakes but I know exactly what you are talking about since English is my second language too. Sorry to disappoint you but you are totally a detail person. From a detail person to another, I raise my glass and I toast to your two years and to many still to come. Cheers!
Thank you very much Francesca for your birthday wishes. I don’t think anyone reading your blog, who didn’t know would ever (as in ever, ever) realize that English wasn’t your first language. I am in some things a detail person but when it comes to reading back through blog posts I am afraid I am not. When I read the most recent post again today I spotted two errors (since corrected). Aargh! Thanks again and I am *clinking* a virtual glass with yours. Cheers!
Many congratulations on your second anniversary; I like your writing style and really enjoy reading your blog (despite the occasional spelling error!)
Thank you very much your comment; it is much appreciated. And as I am not sure I am able to eradicate them altogether I will endeavour, in year three, to minimize spelling and other errors.
it is a delicious place to visit.
Thank you so much.
*smiling and waving*
Two years – congrats! You have a great blog and I love those writing tips 🙂
Thank you very much Meg. 😉
Congratulations on two years of blogging…I wish you many more years. You have a lovely style of writing.
Thanks Karen for your good wishes and for the compliment.
Happy Blog Birthday! Here’s to many more.
Thank you very much.
Great advice! Thank you!!! I mean, thanks!
Thanks for your comment. I think George Orwell’s advice on writing is brilliant (even though I don’t always adhere to it)!
Congratulations on your 2 year anniversary. We both continue to look forward to and enjoy your posts – and admire an att entshun 2 deetale wee cannut emewlate!!
Thank you G. I was in need of cheering up tonight and your comment had the desired effect. Still laughing. Bx
Intelligent, engaging content is far more important than merely being perfectly proofread. You score highly in the former two characteristics each time you put up a post, so I have no interest in worrying about scoring the latter. Keep up the lovely work! And cheers on your blogiversary! xo Kathryn
Thanks Kathryn for your kind words. I cringe sometimes when I re-read old post and spot errors I missed when I published them, so I do need to improve on the proofreading front. xo