Mamie Webb Hixon has been an assistant professor of English and Writing Lab director at UWF since 1982. Known by many names, including the Grammar Grouch, Grammatizer, the Grammar Guru and the Corrector — she is, by profession, a watchdog of the English Language.
As Writing Lab director, Hixon created the UWF Grammar Hotline, a platform that responds to email and call-in questions about the written and spoken word from students and professionals.
Every Monday morning, you can tune into “It’s GrammarTime” on WRNE 980 and Choice 106.9 Radio, where Hixon, as a radio grammarian, gives writing and grammar tips. In 2020, she launched weekly sessions via Zoom called “Grammarcise” for students, professionals and lifelong learners. These sessions are a platform to discuss the fundamentals, nuances and creative potential of the English language in both academic and business writing.
She emphasized the importance of polished writing skills.
“With few exceptions, if your writing is seen as thoughtful, deliberate, edited and highly professional, then, even in your absence, your writing skills will be met with universal approval. On the other hand, if your writing is laced with objectionable errors, you, not your writing, could risk being judged as selectively mediocre.”
Hixon is also the author of two books: “Real Good Grammar” and “Real Good Grammar, Too,” with a pocketbook companion titled “Grammar Shots.” Hixon admits she is always silently correcting someone’s grammar and frequently questioning her own.
It’s Hixon’s belief that “writing begins in isolation but quickly becomes communal when it reaches its reader(s), whether a specific person or a broader, inclusive audience.”
And she emphasizes that in professional work, communication skills, especially writing skills, should reflect the highest level of communication.
She warns of the dangers of AI in writing, stating that it eliminates thought and participation from the writer, thus promoting a kind of plagiarism. However, she also sees the potential benefits of AI, suggesting that it can be used as a tool to stimulate thinking about writing and grammar. Despite the complexities AI brings to her profession, Hixon remains committed to her role as a grammar coach.
If you have questions in your next writing project, remember the Grammatizer is an email or phone call away.
Grammar Guidance from the Grammatizer
1. Make deliberate and intentional language and punctuation choices rather than writing carelessly and haphazardly.
2. Question what you write: Should I write this sentence in passive voice? Is this verb correct? Is it “who” or “whom”? Where should I place this comma — inside or outside the closing quotation marks? Should I use or omit decimals in money amounts? Is a salutation followed by a colon or comma?
3. Switch gears appropriately from your casual T-shirt, or “home English,” to dressy English and tuxedo English for academic and business writing.
4. Know when you don’t know the rules; then look up the rules when you know that you don’t know.
5. Learn and absorb “book language,” the language of reading — by noticing how words, grammar and punctuation are used in good, published writing. Good writers are good readers.
6. Write when you write, revise when you revise; never mix the two. Composing and editing are two different processes; the latter is not part of the drafting or writing process.
7. Don’t allow your supervisor or professor to be the first person to read your writing; YOU should be your own first proofreader.
