Author Archives: Sabi Writers

A pronoun is a substitute for a noun to avoid redundancy. It serves as a reference to nouns previously mentioned in a sentence. It includes he, she, who, someone, etc. Despite being a well-known part of speech, it can be misused in a sentence. As a professional, understanding the rules of exceptions would guide you in their appropriate usage and avoid common errors. 

1. The basic rule of pronouns states that a singular pronoun is always followed by a singular verb and a plural pronoun by a plural verb.
2. Always put the other person first. It is incorrect to write ‘Me and my sister are going to the market’ rather than ‘My sister and I are going to the market’.
3. An apostrophe is used with pronouns only for contraction purposes, not to show possession. For example, ‘it’s’ means ‘it is’ or ‘it has’. Therefore, when used in a sentence, it should be ‘We have reached its peak’, not ‘We have reached it’s peak’.
4. A singular verb always follows ‘either of’, ‘neither of’, and ‘each of’, irrespective of the noun in the sentence. This is because the three pronouns refer to only one subject. For instance, it is wrong to write, ‘Each of us are writing a story’. The correct thing is ‘Each of us is writing a story’.
5. Never use ‘they’ and ‘their’ with a singular pronoun. For instance, ‘Somebody laughed, and they should be punished’. ‘Somebody’ refers to a single person, while ‘they’ indicates plural. There is no concord between the two pronouns. Breaking this rule could make your writing unclear.

A professional writer adheres strictly to these exceptions to ensure error-free writing. However, if you do not want to go through this rigorous process, Sabi Writers provides a lasting solution. With a team of professional writers and editors only a call away, Sabi Writers will provide you with error-free work.

As professional writers, we know that writing doesn’t just happen. It isn’t the capricious off-loading of the mind into paper. It isn’t the haphazard stringing together of words and sentences to make some preconceived point. 

In reality, writing is a process. It involves well-thought-out, articulated, and synchronised actions and decisions which result in publicly consumable content. Irrespective of how creativity reliant an art or craft is, it must under-go process.

At Sabi Writers, our writing goes through a thorough step-by-step process to guarantee maximum quality, originality, and efficiency. In this post, we’ll be sharing our writing process, the math behind the magic we do. 

The Pre-writing Stage

Every piece of literature known to man was born out of an idea. Nevertheless, the idea is only the beginning; it must first be nurtured, expanded, and developed to the point of maturity where it is translated to a written form.

This development happens in the pre-writing stage. Here, the writer sources for materials, additional information, and other specific elements that serve as building blocks with which he fleshes out the idea. 

After filling out the idea, the writer begins to structure all the information he has gathered. This involves cutting out unnecessary information, deciding which points remain, and piecing together the final picture of the content he wishes to create. 

The Drafting Stage

At this stage, the writer translates his ideas, points and notes into transitional paragraphs that help make his point clear. Here, the writer allows his creativity to run free, expressing himself through words, tone, and style. 

While drafting, the writer is not concerned with grammatical errors, spellings or other errors. Instead, he focuses on letting his creativity run free as any form of editing is premature and will obstruct his flow.  

The errors in a writer’s drafts are not proof of some failing or incompetence; it is relatively normal to have mistakes in your first, second, and third drafts. As you know, writing is a process and drafting is only a part of it. At the end of the process (that is if they are carried out correctly), the work will be in top form. 

The Revision Stage

At this stage, the writer is less concerned about expressing his creativity and more occupied with tailoring the content to match his readership and the prescribed style of writing. 

The writer will ask these questions:

Is my writing clear?

Is it concise?

Are the points expanded enough?

Do my paragraphs transition into one another?

How will the readers interpret this work? 

Is my writing informative or shallow?

Is it professionally delivered?

Is the information provided, credible?  

The Editing Stage

People often feel the revision stage and the editing stage are somewhat similar and therefore, interchangeable. This is not true. While revising is concerned with correcting structural errors, editing is taking a closer look at sentences and words to check for grammatical errors, spelling errors, repetition, punctuation, redundancy, and other minor but inexcusable writing errors.  

However, writers are advised against self-editing, as there is the tendency for a few errors to elude them. At Sabi Writers, the quality control department is there to edit and proofread as editing is not left to writers in order to ensure the highest quality.  

The Proofreading Stage 

The proofreading stage is where the final draft is reviewed to check for typographical, grammatical, and formatting errors. Proofreading ensures that the content is well written, organised, and easy to understand. Proofreading also ensures the document follows the prescribed style guide.

In summary, proofreading is just a final review of the final draft. This is the last writing process that vets the accuracy of all other processes. In traditional writing and publishing, no material should be published without being proofread.

Remember, no good literary piece comes out great without a process. The process is a sine qua non for all writing. If followed correctly, the writing processes can help to make for a professional and accurate document. 

Thank you for reading.

People hate grammar—that much is common knowledge. But what we tend to forget is that good grammar makes for good writing. For this reason, we will be continuing with our ‘Conquering the Comma’ series, highlighting more uses of the comma, while also pointing out some common comma errors.

Use the comma in a direct address.

The Chicago Manual of Style notes that ‘…a comma is used to set off names or words used in direct address and informal correspondence’.

So we have:

Wendy, how are you?

Mum, will you be home tomorrow?

Also, place the comma before the name if it appears within the sentence or at the end of it.

Are you there, Tim?

I know your brother, David.

Use the comma to set off non-essential elements in a sentence.

Non-essential elements are clauses, phrases and words whose presence or absence does not affect the general message of the sentence.

I cooked the turkey, which took me nearly thirty minutes, before moving on to the decorations.

The trader, seeking higher profit, raised the prices of all her wares.

The rule of thumb with non-essential elements is that the comma is placed before and after the non-essential part.

Use a comma to indicate where a word has been omitted.

In cases like these, the comma helps to clear up confusion while indicating the omission.

Martha has two dogs; John (has) nine.

In that sentence, omitting ‘has’ without the use of the comma obscures the message being passed across.

The sentence becomes more straightforward when written like this.

Martha has two dogs; John, nine.

Use the comma to offset negation.

For example:

I saw a cow, not a duck.

She went to the mall, not the beach.

Some common comma errors:

1. Comma splice

A comma splice is an error that occurs when two independent clauses are joined by a comma without a coordinating conjunction. A comma splice can be fixed by adding coordinating conjunction to the comma or switching the comma with a semi-colon.

Wrong            I went to the mall, she followed me.

    Right                 I went to the mall, and she followed me

• Using commas between correlative conjunctions

Sometimes, the comma is erroneously used between the two conjunctions in a pair.

For example:

He not only broke the record, but he also broke hers.

Although this comma usage often seems correct, it is wrong. This means the sentence above should be written as:

He not only broke the record but he also broke hers.

• Adding a comma before ‘that’ in a clause

There’s the tendency to punctuate them alike because of the functional similarities between ‘that’ and ‘which’, which is  wrong.

Wrong             The man, that bought the car is here.

Right               The man that bought the car is here.

• Using a comma before a verb in a relative clause

Placing a comma before the verb connecting the relative clause to the main clause breaks the flow between both clauses, which is frowned upon in standard grammar.

Wrong             One of the perks of being a mother, is having someone to love.

Right              One of the perks of being a mother is having someone to love.

• The unnecessary comma

Sometimes, we place the comma incorrectly because of the relatable ‘I just felt there should be a comma there’ feeling. Sometimes, this hunch is right, while at other times, it is wrong.

The best way to avoid making such mistakes is by structuring your sentences with grammar rules in mind.

For example:

You either like food, or you don’t.

My dog died, because I starved it.

Both sentences are wrong because they need no comma.

Lastly, the easiest way to get the hang of comma use is by reading and writing regularly. When you see how others use the comma, you get better at using the comma. It’s that easy. Excellent comma use isn’t an impossible dream; it is easier than you think.