When I signed up to be part of the handout committee this summer, specifically the grammar handouts, I figured it would be a pretty easy task, and I would also get the chance to brush up on my grammar skills. Turns out, I was in for a lot more than I bargained for. I decided my first handout would be on articles (the, a/an), knowing that it's a troublesome area for many our clients. The rules are simple enough... "the" is used for specific nouns , and "a" is used for non-specific nouns... so making a handout on them should be too, right? Well, not exactly. After all, the point of these grammar handouts isn't just to copy rules and examples from a handbook... it's to explain the rules in a way that makes sense. That's where the hard part comes in though. it's surprisingly difficult to phrase grammar rules in a non-grammar way, which we decided was the most effective way of explaining them on these handouts.

Trying to make these handouts clear has made me realize just how hard communicating can really be. Although I do think it's easier to explain things in person, being able to point out specific examples on the client's paper, maybe it's not quite as easy as we think. As writing consultants though, communicating is the most important aspect of a session. After all, that's what writing is all about- communicating ideas clearly.