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What grammar rules I broke? All of them!

Butchered, really.

Reasons differ widely.

When I first moved to the UK with zero English in my luggage, I had no clue about what English was. I started studying it on field, and it was not a breezy task.

Lots and lots of mistakes were made.

Lots of people were left horrified (in retrospective, I’m quite sure they belonged to the Grammar Police to which, today, I say bless your heart).

Years passed, teaching Italian helped grandly because to teach my language, I had to see what these people did with theirs. Little by little English started to make sense – sort of. You guys have to know it does not make 100% sense. I mean, blink – think – shrink –> blinked – thought – shrank. Guys. Seriously. For more on this, I strongly advise you to follow stage_door_johnny on Instagram.

The dictionary had longer and longer breaks.

I started writing. Yes, in English.

Everything was oh, so perfect, grammar-wise – and awful. Totally, completely horrid to read.

I listened harder to how people talked, made subtitles a non-negotiable rule in the house, and started reading as a writer, not as a reader (which took away some of the pleasure, but here we are).

Guess what my writing was missing?

*Drumroll*

Mistakes.

Especially in dialogues, but also for dramatic effect.

A book I absolutely loved studying for this purpose is It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences by June Casagrande, a little guide book that helps you navigate the thin line between right and wrong when it comes to grammar.

I still make TONS of mistake, which is why the help of my editor and friend Daryl Devoré (who also happens to write amazing books as well) is invaluable.

So, here’s my story through mistakes, I look forward to read yours!