Decent grammar is a necessity for well-written stories.

If you tend to make many grammatical errors and sentence structural mistakes, then this is a chapter that can help you!

// CONTENTS PAGE:
1.1 Do-nots
1.2 Common Mistakes

// 1.1 DO-NOTS:
- Basic capitalisation should always be present. 'I' should always be capitalised. The starting letter of the first word in a sentence should always be capitalised. Names should always be capitalised. There are no exceptions, and this is a must for every story (unless your story is somehow 'stylised' but I still think it is only proper to abide by these capitalisation rules).
- That being said, other words should not be capitalised at all. If you need to place emphasis on some words, then you have italics to do the job.
- No tildas or emoticons.
- No 'hahaha' (replace it with 'laugh' or a synonym instead).
- Try not to use two or more exclamation or question marks. Most of the time, one is enough.
^ There is an exception for the above, and that is if you are writing text messages. However, your text messages shouldn't be so incomprehensible like this: hIhiHi s1ssy ^_^ wnna go out n hv sum bubba tea???
Also, there is another possible exception and that is if your story is crack or light-hearted (informal) in tone. Even so, do note that it is highly unprofessional and discouraged.
- There should only be three dots in an ellipsis.
- No usage of script style. Exceptions: Your story is a roleplay or a play.
- No addition of author notes in between lines; leave them at the end of every chapter instead.
- This may be dependent on your preferences, but I personally don't think there's a need to hyperlink or include pictures in the middle of the story. What writers should do is actually describe what is inside the picture.

// 1.2 COMMON MISTAKES:
- Confusion between present & past tense.
NOTE! What's the difference?
Present: Mostly used in dialogue (unless the dialogue is talking about a past event). The present tense is more focused on the present. Don't use this in flashbacks.
Past: Mostly used in flashbacks and description of past events (be it in narration or dialogue). The past tense is more focused on past events. Don't use it in dialogue when the person is not talking about past events.

- Confusion between word forms (e.g. Some people get mixed up between verbs and nouns, like sad and sadness sometimes.)

- Lack of proper punctuation/conjunctions (leading to run-on sentences)
"Although she hates Kpop she likes TVXQ." - WRONG (No comma)
"Although she hates Kpop, she likes TVXQ." - CORRECT

"I knew she liked me before but I didn't know that she has continued to like me even after our breakup and that is really surprising because I am poor while she is rich." - WRONG (Too long of a sentence!)
"I knew she liked me before, but I didn't know that she has continued to like me even after our breakup. That is really surprising because I am poor while she is rich." - CORRECT

- Improper commas (leading to comma splices)
"My mother seems to like cake, she bakes cake all the time." - WRONG (Improper punctuation mark)
"My mother seems to like cake. She bakes cake all the time." - CORRECT

- SVA errors
"She saw her mother cried." - WRONG (When there's a format of Verb Noun Verb, the second verb is always in its root form.)
"She saw her mother cry." - CORRECT

- Sentence fragments (incomplete sentences)
"Though it was not a good idea because she was notorious of her temper." - WRONG (This sentence is a dependent clause.)
"However, it was not a good idea because she was notorious of her temper." - CORRECT

- Sentence structural errors (often arise because of long and complex sentences)
"I stared at the picture not having any memory of who she was though trying to recall her identity." - WRONG (Awkward)
"I stared at the picture not having any memory of who she was. However, I tried to recall her identity." - CORRECT (Always split long sentences up to avoid making such errors!)
 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: While grammar isn't exactly the most important part of a story, it can really detract from the reading experience if the story is littered with grammatical mistakes. I hope this chapter helps for those who are weaker in this aspect!