The online Grammar Checker or get out the grammar book

I thought that Rowlings was an English teacher and that would be like someone who is a journalist, they know about writing. It as not Helium, it was another writing site. I have not written for Helium for a while since they only pay non Americans for page views and I would rather be paid for my writing not for someone who accidentally sees it when they surf. As for Rowlins, was it not that they were more interested in the subject rather than her ability? I am sure that had she not written about a boy wizard and going to wizard school, that she would not have been as popular.
When I went on to my how to write sites, the one thing they all agreed on was that if one does not have a popular subject to write on, or a popular story, and especially if one is writing for publication for the first time, they are less forgiving about style and want you to get the grammar correct.

I did find one grammar checker on the net. They have a contest every week to see if you get it correct. You can also download a book but it does cost. The trouble they only give you a few examples and not all of them so that I get some of the answers wrong. I guess they want you to order a book. There was another online grammar course, but it is now defunct.

I have to customize the Grammar checker and I heard that when you are a real writer, that is one that is trying to get published, they prefer that you follow a book rather then use the Microsoft grammar checker. Besides I plan to bet a Mac, and if I want to save money, and use Open Office, (after all Macs are more expensive) they have a spell checker, but not a grammar checker. And it would be easier for me.
The trouble is with the books, they only give you a few example and even with that, I make booboos.

I do get a little help from my books, but in some I am confused like the em dashes, the en dashes, and those little dots and whether there are spaces in front of them or not. It depends on what grammar book and where you are going to publish your story. With guidelines it is different, as they are specific. And then there are the hyphens between words or not.

You're right. I never was taught about dashes in school, and have no idea when they were accepted as punctuation marks. I only use them when I am introducing a non-relevant phrase. For example, 'a man - wearing a purple shirt - was seen near the crime scene.'

I usually use dashes when there something not related to the sentence, not in the shirt thing, because he could be the murderer or the thief. It is sort of something interrupting the sentence for a while, and then after that thought is written, you go on with what it really was about.
It seems that — unless I am mistaken — that the em or en dash has taken the place of the brackets or the bracket marks.

Right. As far as I am aware the dashes do the same as brackets, or commas.

I figured out that much. Now if only can get over the confusion between those little dots and the dashes. It also seems that each country has different rules. So it depends on what grammar book you use, and who wrote it also how it is written. I have one where the rules are all over the place so I have to look at the index to see what to do.

I know what you're saying. Dach different things. it's not like when I learned English back in the fifties, when everything was cut and dried. Good luck with your novel.ifferent writing from the same countries te

When I was at school, being in Canada, it was the British English, but since we live near the States, we also have American English. So it depends on who is going to read what I write. I usually stick with American English. Now if I lived in Australia or New Zealand I would go with British English since there is probably a large market there.

I have Microsoft and use their grammar checker, but i have to customize it because they have so many rules that are more politically correct or not to offend, then the usual do not put commas there. They have do not make long sentences, do not start them with Ands, and yet there are exceptions to the rules. I also have a couple of grammar books like Stunk and whatever you call, it Grammatically correct, and when I went to Open office, there was a supposed grammar checker, but it was more like the when to use lie and lay or mistaking their for there and not what i am looking for.

ah ok..well I hope you find what your searching for ..

So do I. I have checked a few online grammar checkers, but not all. The one I am using only gives simple examples and they do have a test but I get some of that wrong, because the test shows more complicated examples. So what I want is a grammar checker like that online dictionary I use that gives various examples from the simple to the complicated, that is long sentences, etc. so I do not make any mistakes.

The Microsoft Grammar Checker also does not like people who write long sentences, or those who say that "she did it," when they want us to write, "She or he did it," and do not want such words as police woman, or fireman, etc. they would rather have police person or fire person. The microsoft grammer checker is the one that comes in word. I have customized it, but there is only so much I can do as I am not good at hacking to add more or take more things away from it.

That's the problem with programmed checker because they only do what is programmed and not like men who has feelings...

I agree with you, but it is more then that. The Microsoft Grammar Checker is so afraid to offend that it sort of goes overboard. Not only that, it assumes that everyone has a short attention span and only went to Grade eight in school even though they give a rating of up to Grade 12 for paragraphs (I write from a Grade 9 t Grade 12 level) and assume that no one will try to improve.

I used the Microsoft Grammar Checker because I did not take the academic course during the last two years of high school. That is where you learn most of the college vocabulary. I know because our sons took the Academic route and not the business English because I read some of their essays. So I sort of missed out. I had to go to work after high school.
I do know a bit of grammar but even though I do, I am rather unsure and have to check it all the time, but I would rather not use Microsoft Grammar checker that much.

maybe this one also it is free..and says it helps with punctuation.
http://www.essayrater.com/?gclid=CKCzgMi2950CFdA65QodwkZ8qA

I did try the spell checker, and it seems to have something wrong. For instance, when one writes a conversation like, He said, "she felt rather cold, so I turned up the heat just a little," it suggested using a colon after said. But maybe it is when it is inside a paragraph. I will check again just using a quote. So http"spellcheckerplus is incorrect or it is not for American or British English.

That would be something to look for. I know they have a book, but what I want is something online so I can put the phrase in and see if it is correct and also an online rule book that gives more then just two or three examples. I know there is an online dictionary I like that gives several examples, but I have not found a grammar checker yet.

there's a link to download the book there

Okay. I will look into it.

I used the Mozilla Firefox for my spelling but I would not mind something to help with grammar, especially the numbers bit. I also find that depending on what country, there is a difference in the grammar rules. I did find one for Open Office, but it has not been perfected yet.