Why Giving & Receiving Writing Advice Can Be Hard
(+ Join The Interactive Grammar and Writing Program)
Why Giving & Receiving Writing Advice Can Be Hard
(+ Join The Interactive Grammar and Writing Program)
Most people feel stuck when they're trying to improve their writing (or help someone else improve theirs) because they don't have the tools to see what needs to be changed.
That's how I felt back in college when I was a writing tutor who didn't know grammar. My tutoring sessions were painful because I didn't know what I was doing. I wasn't able to give my students clear advice about how to make their sentences better.
Learning grammar gave me a way to analyze writing, and it also gave me the vocabulary to teach other people how to make their writing better.
AI?
AI or Human?AI can generate a sentence for you in seconds, but the sentence isn’t our goal. Our goal is to build your ability to think with clarity. Once you understand how sentences work, you can use AI as a tool, but don't allow it to let your mind atrophy. :)
Let's Look At An Example
Imagine receiving this work from a student. (If you're not a teacher, imagine that you yourself have written the following sentences and you're trying to make them better.)
The dog barked. It ran after the ball. The ball bounced into the street.
There's nothing wrong with those sentences. They're just fine, and they're perfectly appropriate for students at certain skill levels. But, if you wanted to help this student become a better writer, you would want to give him advice on what he could do differently. If you didn't know grammar, your advice might look something like this.
"These sentences are a bit monotonous.
Can you combine some of these ideas to make a more interesting sentence?"
The problem is that this student would have no idea how to make his sentence more interesting.
If, on the other hand, you and your student both knew grammar, your advice might look something like this.
"These sentences all have similar structure.
What if you combined them into one sentence by making barking an introductory participle and turning the last sentence into a dependent clause?
Perhaps you could also add an adverb to the participle to describe how the dog was barking."
Now there are clear ideas for exactly how to make the sentence more interesting. If the student put that advice into practice, his rewrite might look something like this.
Barking excitedly, the dog ran after the ball as it bounced into the street.
Moral of the Story
Understanding grammar makes teaching and learning writing much easier. If you know grammar, rather than telling your students (or yourself) to “make it better,” you can give concrete, grammar-based ways to change the structure of the sentence and make it more interesting.
Add Tools To Your Toolbox
Join the Writing & Grammar Program, and you'll learn specific ways to enhance your writing and make it more interesting (so that you don't have to just "make it better").
Here's what you'll get to learn and practice:
- Adverbs
- Adjectives
- Prepositional Phrases
- Participles & Participial Phrases
- Absolute Phrases
- Appositives & Appositive Phrases
- Gerunds & Gerund Phrases
- Infinitives & Infinitive Phrases
- Dependent Adjective Clauses
- Dependent Adverb Clauses
- Dependent Noun Clauses
Learn With VideosYou'll learn these concepts with video lessons, and you'll practice what you learn by writing your own sentences.
Time-Sensitive Bonus
When you purchase this program from now until April 20, 2026, you'll be able to access an interactive version where I'll give you feedback on your sentences and answer any of your questions within a private forum! It's a lot of fun, and it'll help give you motivation to go through the lessons. I typically offer this interactive version about once a year. Jump in now so that you don't have to wait until next year! This bonus is available now at no extra cost.
Join the Interactive Grammar & Writing Program
April 20–May 29
- Learn to Write Better Sentences!
- Downloadable, Printable Versions of Each of the 30 Lesson (PDFs & Videos for Each Lesson)
- Closed Captioned Videos for Each Lesson (Auto-generated)
- Assignments for Each Lesson (You'll be writing at least three of your own sentences based on the concepts covered in each lesson.)
- Example Sentences From Past Participants for Each Lesson
The Time-Sensitive Bonus Includes... - Interactive, Private Forum (Post your sentences and read other people's sentences.)
- My Feedback (I'll respond to five people's posts for each lesson.)
- Email Reminders Each Weekday from April 20–May 29 with links to each lesson
Lifetime Access $99
The lessons are self-study. The “interactive” part means that you can post questions or share sentences in a private forum if you’d like, but participation is optional. You’ll have lifetime access, so you can move at any pace you wish.
You don't need to know grammar in order to join us. I'll include short grammar lessons about the concepts that we cover, and I'll also link to extra lessons if you want to learn more about any of them.
Here's the introductory lesson.
Here's the scope and sequence.
What Past Participants Have To Say
I've run this interactive program a few times, and each time has been such fun! Here are just a handful of comments from those rounds.
I have learned many things from you, but never before have they been brought together with such finesse. —Bill
I look forward to these lessons every day. :) —Lana
We'll practice using the concepts that we study as we combine sentences!I really enjoyed this course and found it very valuable. The summary in the last lesson is wonderful, and I plan to keep it easily accessible so that I can frequently review it. I care a great deal about grammar, but I was unsystematic in my approach. Your lessons are a great start for getting a deliberate hold on writing (and thinking). —Stephen
I'm so glad that I decided to take this course! I love reading all of the other student sentences along with your kind comments and suggested improvements. —Terry
Do you know what an absolute phrase is? You'll learn about them in this program!I am learning so much in this course. I am in awe of you as a teacher, and I appreciate your time and effort in giving individual feedback. It has been your feedback comments that have cemented certain concepts for me. —Madeleine
Join the Interactive Grammar & Writing Program
April 20–May 29
- Learn to Write Better Sentences!
- Downloadable, Printable Versions of Each of the 30 Lesson (PDFs & Videos for Each Lesson)
- Closed Captioned Videos for Each Lesson (Auto-generated)
- Assignments for Each Lesson (You'll be writing at least three of your own sentences based on the concepts covered in each lesson.)
- Example Sentences From Past Participants for Each Lesson
The Time-Sensitive Bonus Includes... - Interactive, Private Forum (Post your sentences and read other people's sentences.)
- My Feedback (I'll respond to five people's posts for each lesson.)
- Email Reminders Each Weekday from April 20–May 29 with links to each lesson
Lifetime Access $99
The lessons are self-study. The “interactive” part means that you can post questions or share sentences in a private forum if you’d like, but participation is optional. You’ll have lifetime access, so you can move at any pace you wish.
I'll see you there!
:) Elizabeth
Hello! I'm Elizabeth O'Brien, and my goal is to get you jazzed about writing.