tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24184031059038360582024-03-05T12:34:33.210-07:00The Story PolisherTips from an editor on avoiding common writing errors. No longer updating, but the advice will never go out of style.Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.comBlogger129125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-69757470589954579402020-02-03T15:29:00.000-07:002020-02-03T15:29:09.195-07:00Welcome to The Story Polisher<i>The Story Polisher</i> is a collection of tips for improving your prose. Most posts highlight common problems that I've seen in ten years of editing stories, and include both bad and fixed examples. Topics cover everything from word choice and punctuation usage to sentence construction and tense errors. If you're new here, I recommend starting with <a href="https://storypolisher.blogspot.com/p/the-purpose-of-polisher.html">The Purpose of the Polisher</a> and <a href="https://storypolisher.blogspot.com/p/window-prose-vs-purple-prose.html">Purple Prose vs. Window Prose</a>.<br /><br />I do not actively update <i>The Story Polisher</i> anymore; once I ran out of fresh topics to address, I saw little use in dragging things out further. But I hope these tips can be useful to you! For more of my projects, including my stories and <i>Star Wars</i> podcast, visit <a href="http://writerinthehat.com/" target="_blank">WriterintheHat.com</a>.Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-9576806320295015022016-02-29T12:33:00.000-07:002016-02-29T12:34:08.045-07:00Danny Potter On Writing and How the Brain Works<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZ_qZ8gp82xWeAymjqczdx-eGf4WjMPjP0LHV2MnkrqkWP6IHq6W4z-GBxs6uvO22FRtsyDuEzZcBsyehGoONr9SLR_uIBaTOpFj3w10Zn8wJjc4wXtXll8paFpwyuz7x4FTWuQ_bD_ez/s1600/shutterstock_310552088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnZ_qZ8gp82xWeAymjqczdx-eGf4WjMPjP0LHV2MnkrqkWP6IHq6W4z-GBxs6uvO22FRtsyDuEzZcBsyehGoONr9SLR_uIBaTOpFj3w10Zn8wJjc4wXtXll8paFpwyuz7x4FTWuQ_bD_ez/s400/shutterstock_310552088.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I recently attended <a href="http://ltue.net/" target="_blank">Life, The Universe, and Everything</a>, a writing symposium in Provo, Utah that focuses on speculative fiction in particular. I had the privilege of sitting on a few panels there and of giving a presentation on the sorts of things I've covered here on this blog.<br />
<br />
My friend Danny Potter, meanwhile, gave a presentation titled "10-ish Things About the Brain Every Writer Should Know." He discussed how the brain works, how it handles information, and how writers can organize their writing to take advantage of the mind's ingrained processes and better communicate with their readers.<br />
<br />
Now let me tell you<span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">—</span>if you're a writer (which I'd wager you are, since you're reading my blog), then this presentation is <i>solid gold.</i> It is packed with useful information that you should know. And that's not just my bias as Danny's friend speaking; his presentation was so well-attended that they had to turn people away at the door because the room was out of standing space.<br />
<br />
Why am I telling you this? Because someone recorded Danny's presentation, and he has now posted it online in its entirety for your edification and enjoyment. Just click on <a href="http://lucidsense.blogspot.com/2016/02/everybody-likes-video.html" target="_blank">this here link</a> to go watch it. You'll be glad you did.Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-47994460607782459952015-06-09T12:15:00.000-06:002015-09-01T11:53:32.641-06:00Timey-Wimey Tenses: Past-Tenseception<div class="MsoNormal">
Finding the most efficient order in which to tell a story
can be a tricky process. Sometimes, a perfectly linear narrative storyline will
suffice—the story begins, progresses through a series of events, and then comes
to an end. More often than not, however, your narrative will have important background
information: events that happened before the book itself began that are
important for understanding the plot. Some stories have only a little background
information to be worked into the narrative; other stories are made up of fifty
percent or more backstory.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When the characters learn a backstory that they didn’t know,
it is usually easy to work into the narrative—the audience learns it in the
same manner as the characters. Luke finds out that Darth Vader is his father,
he wants to find out how this could be true, he asks Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan tells
him (and us) the backstory. Simple as can be. Other times, however, the
characters already know their backstories, and your task as an author is to
find a smooth way to inform your audience of the information.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The problem that often arises with backstory is one of
tense: if your story is already written in past tense, then how do you relate
information that is <i>even more</i> past
tense?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1wB91ob4XebWkC1z7pl0gXCct1SNNo1txDFjA2Xvnss48OrONR30gMc96PbnkGEFBL8i_ar8dHA273n2CPAWrT1bSoMBEyj6RJzlVCn9Phno9ZMvHMl7_OOsD1Ts9JK6knp9XhN8-bSdx/s1600/Docception.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1wB91ob4XebWkC1z7pl0gXCct1SNNo1txDFjA2Xvnss48OrONR30gMc96PbnkGEFBL8i_ar8dHA273n2CPAWrT1bSoMBEyj6RJzlVCn9Phno9ZMvHMl7_OOsD1Ts9JK6knp9XhN8-bSdx/s320/Docception.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because it's timey-wimey <i>and</i> past tense within past tense! Eh? Eh?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Past Perfect Tense</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The answer lies on our <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/06/tricky-timey-wimey-tenses.html" target="_blank">list of the sixteen different tenses in English</a>. Most stories in past tense employ the “Past Simple” tense (Freja <i>picked up</i> the gun and <i>pointed </i>it at the guard). In order to
relate events that happened before the current narrative, you simply need to
switch to “Past Perfect” tense—it’s the tense that uses the word “had” a whole
lot:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Freja studied the
ramshackle warehouse from the pub across the street. There were no signs of
activity around it. <span style="background: aqua; mso-highlight: aqua;">But she <i>had</i> visited every other building on the
list, and <i>had</i> found nothing.</span>
If this wasn’t where the cultists were hiding, then the list was wrong.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most of that paragraph is written in <i>past simple tense</i>: “Freja studied,” “There were,” and “This wasn’t.”
But that third, highlighted sentence is relating events that happened <i>before</i> the rest of the paragraph, so it
uses <i>had</i> to drop into <i>past perfect tense</i>—even further in the past
than the rest of the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many writers forget the <i>had</i>s,
leaving background events in the same tense as the rest of the narrative, like
so:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Freja studied the
ramshackle warehouse from the pub across the street. There were no signs of
activity around it. But she visited every other building on the list, and found
nothing. If this wasn’t where the cultists were hiding, then the list was
wrong.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
See the problem? Now there’s nothing in that third sentence
to indicate that those events happened before the rest of the paragraph—it almost
sounds like Freja sat in the pub studying the warehouse, left and visited a
bunch of other buildings, and then returned. Readers would probably puzzle out
what the writer really meant, but it’s needlessly confusing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, you can use “had” in <i>past
perfect</i> <i>tense</i> to relate events
that happened before the current events of the narrative, but there’s still a
problem: all those <i>had</i>s can really
clutter up your prose. Past perfect tense can become really tiresome to read
and to write if it goes on for more than a paragraph or so. For backstory that
would take any longer than that to relate (anything you might call a bona fide <i>flashback</i>), you’ll probably want to use
another method to share the information.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Past Perfect
Introduction</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One method is to use a few passages of <i>had</i>s to introduce your flashback, and then transition back into <i>past simple tense</i> for the rest of the backstory.
Then, when you return to the “present” events of the narrative, you mark that
transition with the word <i>now</i> or
something similar. For example:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Freja approached
the warehouse empty-handed and alone. <span style="background: aqua; mso-highlight: aqua;">She had learned that weapons and backup would do her no good when she had
gone up against the cult at the apartment complex in Copenhagen. She had been
armed with an H&K MP5 rifle and her 9mm pistol, and had brought along two AKS
squadrons for the raid.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The first
squadron went into the complex through the front doors while Freja led the
second squadron through the rear. They rammed in the doors, forgoing stealth
for speed and surprise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> [More events,
etcetera.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> When her backup
pistol jammed as well, Freya was forced to withdraw with the rest of the
squadron. <span style="background: aqua; mso-highlight: aqua;">It had been an
unmitigated disaster.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>This
time</i>, Freya was armed with only her wits and the small book of spells that Emil
had given her. But with her new understanding of what the cultists were, she
knew she could stop them on her own. She walked up to the warehouse door and
pulled it open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">See how it works? A few sentences of <i>past perfect tense</i> at the beginning (and one at the end) let
readers know that we’re jumping backwards in time. This can still be a little
confusing for readers if you’re not careful with it, but it is far more
readable than umpteen paragraphs of <i>had</i>s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Break and Flashback</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An even clearer method of relating a flashback is to simply
use a line break or chapter break to show your readers that you are switching
gears and to then relate your flashback in the same tense as the rest of the
story. This method is used quite often by many authors. You can find some
professionally-done examples in several books that I can think of off the top
of my head:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Shadow Rising</i>
by Robert Jordan (Book four of <i>The Wheel
of Time</i>)—this is the method by which Mr. Jordan related the history of the
Aiel when Rand went to Rhuidean. Note that he used an in-world method of
delivering the flashbacks; that is, these were memories being projected into
the mind of the protagonist, and we received them as he did.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>The Way of Kings</i>
and <i>Words of Radiance</i> by Brandon
Sanderson—the first two books of <i>The
Stormlight Archive</i> have both featured entire chapters devoted to the
backstory of one of the characters (Kaladin in the first book and Shallan in
the second). These chapters are scattered throughout the book, effectively
serving as a series of flashbacks.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Holes</i> by Louis
Sachar—this book is actually unusually complex compared to most middle-grade
stories. The story continually jumps around between the “present day” events of
the story to the recent background of individual characters to various
historical events that pertain to the narrative. In fact, in this book Mr.
Sachar employs every single method of delivering backstory that I’ve outlined
in this post. If you want to improve your flashback delivery, go read <i>Holes</i> and pay close attention to his
tense usage. In fact, that’s your homework—who doesn’t want to read <i>Holes </i>again, am I right? Go do it.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-85537649566585689122015-06-04T12:28:00.000-06:002015-06-04T12:28:24.201-06:00Timey-Wimey Tenses: Getting Future Tense Right<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/06/tricky-timey-wimey-tenses.html" target="_blank">Last time</a> we discussed the sixteen different tenses of the
English language, all of which you’ve probably used before. Of course, some of
them get used more often than others. All of those “future in the past” tenses,
for example—those are complicated and strange enough that you surely won’t need
to use them often, right?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wrong.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <i>future-in-the-past</i>
or <i>relative</i> tense is used when
speaking of an action or event that will be in the future for a particular
person whose actions are being related in past tense. It’s a bit of a
convoluted notion, and that’s why many people consider it an obscure tense when
they first encounter it—I know I did. But think about it; the vast majority of
stories are written in the past tense, right? So if a story is written in past
tense, and the author needs to discuss actions that the characters plan to
undertake later on in the narrative—in <i>their</i>
future but not <i>ours</i>—then the author
will need to use the relative tense.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FYKZhsJ-eB-3BsDLb38SBsaW6JtaHoSf5jov-NfbkUZyIknfe7puBNupTUxXrgCp0_3gqp4n39mNuJZIeLaeBbQWPK-9g_-K52thfNBB7odExOnez9MYA5UES_XjeGjrQYEkaYz3oP8e/s1600/Timey-wimey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7FYKZhsJ-eB-3BsDLb38SBsaW6JtaHoSf5jov-NfbkUZyIknfe7puBNupTUxXrgCp0_3gqp4n39mNuJZIeLaeBbQWPK-9g_-K52thfNBB7odExOnez9MYA5UES_XjeGjrQYEkaYz3oP8e/s400/Timey-wimey.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes, I am going to use <i>Doctor Who</i> memes for every single post on tense that I ever write. I may even go back to old posts on tense and put pictures of the Doctor in them, because he can go back in time like that.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As it turns out, authors use the relative tense <i>all the time.</i> Here . . . I will grab the
nearest book to me and flip through it; I can almost guarantee that I will find
some usage of the relative tense. The book is <i>The Name of the Wind</i> by Patrick Rothfuss (italics added for
emphasis):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The two talked of
small matters as they worked. And while they moved around a great deal, it was
obvious they were reluctant to finish whatever task they were close to
completing, as if they both dreaded the moment when <i>the work would end</i> and <i>the silence
would fill</i> the room again.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There you go. The story is told in the past tense—“the two <i>talked</i>” and “they <i>moved </i>around”—but the author needed to refer to a moment that was
yet to come for the two characters. The moment is in the future for the
characters but not for us, the readers, so the proper tense to use is the
relative tense.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I often see errors when it comes to future tense in stories,
and it’s usually because writers use the future tense where they should have
used the future-in-the-past tense. The mistake might look something like this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Callie kept
glancing at the clock as she worked. Her shift will finish at five o’clock, and
then she will go hunt down the nightbeast.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Callie’s shift finishing and her hunting down the nightbeast
are events that are in the future for <i>her</i>,
but not for us the readers, since the whole story is in past tense. Therefore,
those <i>will</i>s should be <i>would</i>s:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Callie kept
glancing at the clock as she worked. Her shift would finish at five o’clock,
and then she would go hunt down the nightbeast.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Simple as that. Note, however, that if this had been dialog,
the normal future tense would have been required. If the narrator is speaking
of future events, then you need to use future-in-the-past tense; but the
characters themselves still speak of their future in future tense.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Callie, you need
to take care of this,” Maria insisted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Callie glanced at
the clock. “My shift will finish at five o’clock, and then I will go hunt down
the nightbeast.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The same rule applies to stories told in the present tense:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Callie keeps
glancing at the clock as she works. Her shift will finish at five o’clock, and
then she will go hunt down the nightbeast.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
But if you’re writing a story in past tense, keep an eye out
for situations where the narrator refers to events that haven’t come yet—these will
often require the relative tense.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-16520719797899439562015-06-02T14:13:00.000-06:002015-06-02T14:13:30.278-06:00Tricky, Timey-Wimey Tenses<div class="MsoNormal">
A few months ago we discussed tense in stories—how <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/03/tense-overview-past-vs-present.html" target="_blank">most stories are written in either past or present tense</a> and how <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/03/tense-errors-switching-between-past-and.html" target="_blank">authors can accidentally switch between the two</a>. On the surface, tense is very simple, right? There’s
past, present, and future, and that’s that.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But not really.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without getting too technical, English grammar has this
thing called <i>aspect</i> which alters
tense. There are four different aspects, which can combine with past, present,
and future tenses to produce <i>twelve </i>different
combinations.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But wait, there’s more!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There’s actually more than past, present, and future tense—English
also has what is called a <i>relative</i>
tense, or a “future in the past” tense. This tense can combine with the four
different aspects just like the others, bringing our total of tense-aspect
combinations to <i>sixteen</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m going to briefly describe each of these tenses, but
before I do, I’d like to give a disclaimer: I don’t expect you to remember all
of these tenses. The purpose of this post is not to freak writers out with the
hidden complexities of the English language. I’m not saying that every writer
should be able to identify each of these sixteen tenses by name at the drop of
the hat.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The real purpose of this post is to help English-speaking writers
understand their language a little better—trust me, just being aware of the
existence of all sixteen tenses <i>will</i>
improve your writing. It will help you pick out occasional errors a little more
easily. You’ve used all of the tenses before; their use is instinctual to you.
So don’t stress out—just read through the tenses below and enjoy the rush of
new knowledge.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Of course, I’m not saying you <i>shouldn’t</i> memorize all the tenses and how they’re used. I’m just
saying that you shouldn’t feel any pressure to do so—it’s not a requirement for
being a good writer.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b>Present Tenses</b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Present Simple:</b> Juan
<i>walks</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that a person performs an action with some measure
of regularity. Can also be used in dialog to describe an action in the moment
(there she <i>goes</i>).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Nanette jogs two
miles every day.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Present Continuous:</b>
Juan <i>is walking</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that a person is currently in the middle of an
unfinished action <i>or</i> that a person
hasn’t finished a task yet but periodically returns to the task with an eye to
completing it in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Nanette? I think
she is reading right now. Just a second, I’ll check.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’m studying
Italian in school.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Present Perfect:</b>
Juan <i>has walked</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that a person has just completed an action and is
now either ready to perform or is currently performing a new action.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “The suspect has
approached the target and is initiating dialog.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Present Perfect Continuous:</b>
Juan <i>has been walking</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that a person has just spent a period of time
performing an action which may or may not be finished—often used when the
action is now being interrupted. Also used to indicate that a specific action
or portions of a task have been occurring regularly for some period of time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “No, Nanette has
been sitting here with me all day. She couldn’t have stolen the jewels.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Juan has been
studying Italian lately.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b>Past Tenses</b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Past Simple:</b> Juan
<i>walked</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action of indeterminate length or
completeness occurred at some point in the past.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Nanette jogged twice
today.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Past Continuous:</b>
Juan <i>was walking</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action was in the process of occurring
(and then was probably interrupted or something else occurred at the same time).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Nanette was
jogging when she got the call about Juan.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Past Perfect:</b>
Juan <i>had walked</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action was performed and completed before
further actions took place.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Juan suggested
they go out for dinner, but Nanette had eaten already.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Past Perfect
Continuous:</b> Juan <i>had been walking </i>to
the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action was in the process of being
performed when it was interrupted and probably left incomplete.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “The suspect had
been working for hours before we apprehended him. We don’t know yet how much he
got done.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b>Future Tenses</b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Future Simple:</b> Juan
<i>will walk</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action of indeterminate duration or
completeness will occur at some point in the future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Nanette will
pick up the ingredients we’re missing.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Future Continuous:</b>
Juan <i>will be walking</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action will be in the process of occurring
(and will then probably be interrupted or something else will occur at the same
time).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I guarantee you
Nanette will be reading the book when you get home.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Future Perfect:</b>
Juan <i>will have walked</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action will have already been completed at
a future point, when something else may then occur.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Do you think Nanette will have read the
book by that point?”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Future Perfect
Continuous:</b> Juan <i>will have been
walking </i>to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that an action will have been going but will yet
be incomplete at some point in the future. Statements with this tense will
usually focus on the duration of the incomplete task.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Nanette will
have been studying for ten straight hours by the time you get home. She will
need a break.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3>
<b>Relative
(Future-in-the-past) Tenses</b></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s where things get fun. Relative or future-in-the-past
tense generally refers to an action that will be in the future for a specific
individual, but not necessarily for the speaker. This often means that a
portion of the sentence (or the surrounding sentences) will be in past tense,
but the action referred to in relative tense will be yet to happen <i>at that point in time</i>, although it may
have already happened for the speaker. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It gets even more confusing because relative tense takes the
same form as <i>conditional</i> sentences,
were something will only happen if something else happens first.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
… let’s just get to the examples.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBSvfP_cqSupuR4VwQZPNgcnNe4eyQtl7L1rmZrjZQoFR4VqKy_kgcoInf-ieWUzSW9zRP2cJQymtSF9c-cLi2tzgtwFyJ648EdvUQGL-XDfVOVJqYfy_OLO1spowx3yGEY-tJZKzYXfS/s1600/Timey+Wimey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLBSvfP_cqSupuR4VwQZPNgcnNe4eyQtl7L1rmZrjZQoFR4VqKy_kgcoInf-ieWUzSW9zRP2cJQymtSF9c-cLi2tzgtwFyJ648EdvUQGL-XDfVOVJqYfy_OLO1spowx3yGEY-tJZKzYXfS/s1600/Timey+Wimey.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tenses are concerned with the time of events in your story, so things can get a little . . . wibbly-wobbly.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Relative Simple:</b>
Juan <i>would walk</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that someone in the past expected to perform an
action of indeterminate length or completeness at some point in their future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Nanette knew that
she would buy the book.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Relative Continuous:</b>
Juan <i>would be going</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that someone in the past would be, in their
future, in the process performing an action (which would then probably be interrupted).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Nanette figured
that she would be reading by then.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Relative Perfect:</b>
Juan <i>would have gone</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that someone in the past would perform an action that
will have already been completed at a future point, when something else might
then occur. Confused yet?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Nanette realized
that she couldn’t read that night, because by then Juan <i>would have already retrieved</i> his book from her place.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Relative Perfect
Continuous:</b> Juan <i>would have been
going</i> to the store.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Indicates that someone in the past would perform an action that
will have been going but will yet be incomplete at some point in their future.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><b> </b>Nanette knew that on a normal day she
would have been jogging for fifteen minutes by this point in the evening.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You made it! That post ended up a lot longer than I’d
planned, but I hope it was informative. Next time, we’ll discuss a little more
about why all these tenses are so important.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-81998182475183950772015-05-28T15:10:00.000-06:002015-05-28T15:19:54.057-06:00Grammar Basics: What Every Writer Should Know<div class="MsoNormal">
Like every other vocation, writing comes with a plethora of
technical terms—everything from <i>past
perfect continuous tense</i> to <i>non-defining
relative clauses</i>. Unlike many other vocations, however, writing is a task
that can be performed with next to no knowledge of its technical aspects. In
other words, you don’t need to know what a grammatical <i>article</i> is in order to use one correctly. Most people do this instinctually.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s not to say that a knowledge of the technical aspects
of writing isn’t useful and important. Generally speaking, the more thorough a
person’s knowledge of grammar, punctuation, and all of the technical details of
writing, the more precise, legible, and skilled their writing will be. But such detailed expertise is <i>not</i>
necessary to write a good story. That’s why I usually refrain from using
technical writing terms in my blog posts: it’s not so important that you know
what a <i>present participle </i>or a <i>gerund</i> is, it’s just important that you
know how to use verbs that end in <i>–ing</i>.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But there is a minimum level of knowledge that every writer
should have if they want to write for a living. You don’t need to be able to
diagram a sentence, but most editors will expect you to know <i>at least</i> the following terms and what
they mean:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Basic Sentence
Structure: Subject, Verb, and Direct Object</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve gone over the basics of what makes up a sentence
before: a <i>subject</i>, a <i>verb</i>, and (often) a <i>direct object</i>. Every writer should know what each of those terms
means and be able to identify them in a sentence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The subject of the sentence is the thing that is performing
an action. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The verb is the action that is being performed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The direct object is the thing that is being acted upon—the
thing that the verb is affecting.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Koharu sipped her sake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Subject</i> <i>Verb</i> <i>Direct Object</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Remember that not all verbs require a direct object.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Haruto
slept.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Subject </i> <i> Verb</i> <i>
(no direct object needed)</i></span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If a sentence does not have that central subject and verb,
then it (usually) isn’t a sentence—it’s a <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/03/identifying-sentence-fragments.html" target="_blank">sentence fragment</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Adjectives</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An <i>adjective</i> is a
word that modifies a noun, like so:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Koharu was an <i>intelligent</i> woman.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adjectives can be colors (the <i>blue</i> car), qualities (the <i>adorable</i>
baby), materials (a <i>wooden</i> sword),
nationalities (a <i>Japanese</i> car), ages
(the <i>seven-year-old</i> girl), and more.
The limiting factor is that they will <i>always</i>
describe a noun.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Adverbs</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Adverbs (the use of which is discussed <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/10/cleverly-avoiding-adverbs.html" target="_blank">here</a>) are words that
modify pretty much everything <i>but</i>
nouns. They can modify verbs, adjectives, other adverbs, phrases, and even
entire sentences. They usually end in <i>–ly</i>,
but not always.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Modifying a verb:</i> Haruto spoke <i>quickly</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Koharu visited <i>yesterday</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Modifying an adjective: </i>Haruto thinks
that he is <i>extremely</i> clever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Your <i>overly</i> worried sister doesn’t think so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Modifying an adverb:</i> Haruto spoke <i>very</i> quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Modifying a phrase</i>: Koharu drove us <i>nearly</i> the whole way. (Modifies the
phrase “the whole way.”)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Modifying a sentence:</i> <i>Eventually</i>, we all decided to go
together.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Prepositions and
Prepositional Phrases</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A preposition is a word that describes the location,
direction, time, or possessive quality of a noun or action. Some examples:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Location: </i>Your coat is <i>in</i> the closet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Direction: </i>Haruto drove <i>to</i> the store.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Time:</i> We’ll eat <i>after</i> the lecture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Possession:</i> We’re going to meet the
President <i>of</i> Japan!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A <i>prepositional phrase</i>
is simply a preposition and the words it is linking to the rest of the
sentence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> My book was <i>on the shelf.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The creatures
came <i>from outer space.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I’ll get this
done <i>before I clock out.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The Queen <i>of England</i> won’t be there, sadly.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Tense and Perspective</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You should know which <i>tense</i>
and which form of <i>perspective</i> your
story employs and be generally familiar with the most common tenses and
perspectives. You can find a handy rundown of tense and perspective <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/07/perspective-and-tense-overview.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Pronouns</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/02/lets-talk-about-pronouns-specifically.html" target="_blank">pronoun</a> is a word that takes the place of a noun or noun
phrase. Examples include <i>I,</i> <i>you, she, this that, these, who, what,
whose, mine, his, </i>and so many more. There are a good ten or so categories
of pronouns, which I don’t expect everyone to learn—just know what a pronoun is
and the basics of how to identify them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, again: I’m not saying that you would not be well-served
in studying your grammar and punctuation—all the elements of writing, really—to
a greater depth than what I’ve covered here. But at the very least, <i>every</i> writer should know the terms above
and how to identify the parts of speech that they refer to. Instinct and
experience can make up for a lack of detailed knowledge, but they can’t make up
for the basics.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFwzePVa83gg11yvs9Pr3belMu5MDRoAuA8Ngtptjfb09OpAeh-38Uxa8VCpfymF5R-kt4iFfHc0oyAHZJAx4JYfJtk7NAs-XyLgAzl0H7gEQrjo7C5VwwqeiUzuHWgdQ1Xr-izICrD2x/s1600/Zuko_and_Zhao_Agni_Kai.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggFwzePVa83gg11yvs9Pr3belMu5MDRoAuA8Ngtptjfb09OpAeh-38Uxa8VCpfymF5R-kt4iFfHc0oyAHZJAx4JYfJtk7NAs-XyLgAzl0H7gEQrjo7C5VwwqeiUzuHWgdQ1Xr-izICrD2x/s400/Zuko_and_Zhao_Agni_Kai.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember what Uncle Iroh taught us all: learn the basics, as they are your greatest ally.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-86263444537745685982015-05-26T13:19:00.004-06:002015-05-26T13:19:50.540-06:00Mismatched Lists, Part Two<div class="MsoNormal">
This is part two of our discussion on mistakes that crop up
when authors write lists; you can find part one <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/05/mismatched-lists-part-one.html" target="_blank">here</a>. In part one, we discussed
mismatched lists of nouns; today, we’ll discuss lists of actions. For instance:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Before he could
go out for the evening, Jeremy had some chores to get done, like walking the
dog, cleaning out the car, and run to the store for snacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Do you realize
how much effort I put into this? I had to research all of the information
myself, tracked down the original designers, and convinced them to help me put
together a matching setup.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Can you see the problem with those lists? The items in these
lists don’t all match. Let’s play a game of “one of these things is not like
the others”:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> walking the dog<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> cleaning out the
car<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> run to the store
for snacks</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8tPF6d5vLvjPPetvB7iyc1IIrll5aRv2aI7WjPE4GKPYe2MCd1lMDfqOK416dlJxm2LSfiU9z82KAw-Yi7z85dZXvPtc4SQ-5g0HZoReNZcOpb1gYKV4vs9CWjPTtBteQbRRAa2FtHmU/s1600/One+of+these+things.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs8tPF6d5vLvjPPetvB7iyc1IIrll5aRv2aI7WjPE4GKPYe2MCd1lMDfqOK416dlJxm2LSfiU9z82KAw-Yi7z85dZXvPtc4SQ-5g0HZoReNZcOpb1gYKV4vs9CWjPTtBteQbRRAa2FtHmU/s1600/One+of+these+things.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The first two items in the list begin with “-ing” verbs (we’ve
discussed those <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/search/label/Present%20participles" target="_blank">several times</a> before), but the final item in the list does not
(it begins with an imperative verb, if you’re curious). That’s a problem—when
you list actions like this, the format of each action needs to match the
others. Partly, we do this because symmetry looks and sounds better. But it’s
often more than that.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The formatting of each action needs to match up with the
portion of the sentence that introduces the list. You should be able to remove
all of the actions in the list but one (any one) and still have the sentence
make sense. Let’s look at the second example above in this manner:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>I had to</i> research all of the information
myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>I had to</i> tracked down the original
designers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>I had to</i> convinced them to help me put
together a matching setup.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That didn’t work, did it? Those second two items on the list
switched to past-tense verbs, even though the introductory text required an
infinitive form of the verb (the basic, “unchanged” form of the verb). We can
fix the sentence in one of two ways: we can fix the second two entries in the
list or we can change the introductory text and first item in the list.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I had to research
all of the information myself, track down the original designers, and convince
them to help me put together a matching setup.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> I researched all
of the information myself, tracked down the original designers, and convinced
them to help me put together a matching setup.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s that simple: items in a list should match one another
in format, <i>especially</i> when it comes
to the tense of the verb.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-90942400790120126982015-05-21T15:14:00.004-06:002015-05-21T15:14:35.541-06:00Mismatched Lists, Part One<div class="MsoNormal">
Lists tend to show up a bit less often in stories than in
other writing like essays or advertising, but they’re often done wrong in any
medium. The basics of list-making are simple: mention a series of items,
events, people, or whatever, separated by commas. You can use an Oxford comma
after the penultimate item in the list or not, whatever you prefer (seriously,
though, use the Oxford comma). Here’s some examples:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Cary’s wife called
to remind him that he needed to pick up eggs, milk, and rice from the store on
his way home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Liesel arose
early that morning, washed thoroughly, dressed in her Sunday finest, took a
moment to apply some makeup, and then headed to her meeting.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are, however, a couple common mistakes that crop up in
lists that I read. We’ll discuss one today and the second next time.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Mismatched plurality</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJ6tCS8j5ESoirOUkMBlwQTVJoX-eAh4U6RsXxjZibQLWH-jo2dN0d21E-xiZwP5NI2TCemhxgstGdq47CTECDiLmBc5Iw1gr2tSHt5BpL1cIDTKe6D-YAvEIIeQl_d1mS82-no2VpZI5/s1600/Odd_One_Out_Gaffer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJ6tCS8j5ESoirOUkMBlwQTVJoX-eAh4U6RsXxjZibQLWH-jo2dN0d21E-xiZwP5NI2TCemhxgstGdq47CTECDiLmBc5Iw1gr2tSHt5BpL1cIDTKe6D-YAvEIIeQl_d1mS82-no2VpZI5/s320/Odd_One_Out_Gaffer.jpg" width="295" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When we refer to a singular item in English, it is usually
preceded by an indefinite or definite article—more specifically, either the
word “A” or the word “The.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Could you hand me
<i>the</i> butter?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Can I have <i>a</i> bite?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When you make a list, you still need to include <i>A </i>or <i>The</i>,
just as you would have if the item was not part of a list:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Incorrect:</i> Could you hand me the butter,
knife, and roll?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Correct:</i> Could you hand me the butter, a
knife, and a roll?</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, if several items in a list would take the same article <i>and they are all in a row</i>, it is
sometimes acceptable to put the article before the first word but leave it off
with the rest:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> To get this open,
we’re going to need a screwdriver, drill, accordion, and some peanut butter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The thieves took
my keycard, jacket, and cell phone.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The problem usually arises in lists that contain any
combination of plural items, singular items, or items that do not have a
plural. Because plural and non-plural-izable words don’t require <i>A </i>or <i>The</i>,
some writers feel like they don’t need to add in <i>a</i> or <i>the</i> for any singular
items in the list:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Incorrect:</i> For the trip, Liesel packed
clothing, toiletries, book, and snacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Correct:</i> For the trip, Liesel packed
clothing, toiletries, <i>a</i> book, and
snacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Incorrect:</i> These apartments feature
granite countertops, hardwood floors, in-home washer and dryer, ceiling fan,
and wifi access.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Correct:</i> This apartment features granite
countertops, hardwood floors, an in-home washer and dryer set, a ceiling fan,
and wifi access.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you’re unsure about whether or not you can leave out the <i>A</i> or <i>The</i>
from an item on your list, just go ahead and put the correct article in. You <i>might</i> be able to leave it out, but you’ll
never be wrong if you include it.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-3688021945977219882015-05-19T12:04:00.000-06:002015-05-19T12:04:40.453-06:00Unintentionally Limited Superlatives<div class="MsoNormal">
A <i>superlative</i> is
an adjective or adverb which expresses that something is of the highest or a
very high degree of a particular quality. Most superlatives use the suffix <i>-est</i> or are made through combination
with the word <i>most</i>: examples include <i>best</i>, <i>smartest</i>, <i>shortest</i>, <i>most clever</i>, and <i>most foolish</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Superlatives are usually limited by clarifying that the
object being described is part of a narrower category. For example:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Gabrielle was the smartest person Jun had
met <i>in his two years at the university</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Jun is the most
stubborn man <i>at this school</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> This place has
the best ice cream <i>in town</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
People almost always limit superlatives in this way to keep
their expressions from being hyperbolic or ridiculous, or simply to be precise.
However, I often see writers doing this <i>unintentionally</i>.
For example:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Prince Samuel
paused, his breath catching in his throat. Across the ballroom stood the most
beautiful woman he had ever seen in a sky-blue dress.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You see the problem, right? The author was trying to convey
two things: first, that this woman was the most beautiful woman that Samuel had
ever seen; and second, that she was wearing a blue dress. But by combining
these two facts into one statement, the author inadvertently ended up sounding
like a Flight of the Conchords song:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9ABAmEl6_Yg/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9ABAmEl6_Yg?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I see these sorts of unintentionally limited superlative
statements with surprising frequency. The obvious problem with them is they
tend to take a serious statement—one meant to convey a character’s awe or
surprise—and turn it into something comical.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how can you fix these sorts of sentences? Contrary to
what many writers seem to think, a comma is <i>not</i> the best way to fix the problem:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Prince Samuel
paused, his breath catching in his throat. Across the ballroom stood the most
beautiful woman he had ever seen, in a sky-blue dress.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now it looks like you’re just saying the same thing, but with poor
punctuation. The best way to fix unintentionally limited superlatives is to separate the
extra description out into its own sentence:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Prince Samuel
paused, his breath catching in his throat. Across the ballroom stood the most
beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her golden hair cascaded in curls over her
shoulders, and she wore a sky-blue dress that sparkled with hidden gems.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Keep an eye out for this in your writing; if you want to hunt
down any superlatives in your story, you can do searches for “most” and for “est
” (with a space at the end) to get it done quickly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QliWWJlnscBAo0I3raB-Rg9mLQDFKwRRpe_UgD9jMvI5Pdj80b1XgmfVVkJKWrC7VIkU-tSQ5pgXQ-LymyS2lrxxqrMtOtwNyK7D9C0wdjpxoVLWUarS2jAnH14JRFdDIzogv3M2fxT5/s1600/FotC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8QliWWJlnscBAo0I3raB-Rg9mLQDFKwRRpe_UgD9jMvI5Pdj80b1XgmfVVkJKWrC7VIkU-tSQ5pgXQ-LymyS2lrxxqrMtOtwNyK7D9C0wdjpxoVLWUarS2jAnH14JRFdDIzogv3M2fxT5/s320/FotC.jpg" width="223" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-33498160829705321222015-05-14T09:58:00.000-06:002016-01-20T15:42:32.884-07:00Punctuation Problems: Proper Parentheses, Part Two<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUx04QqzaHVQw1OQe0azrOyBTKUi2VqmUZ3smDuQ5_saSODy5623BuSKi0FU1GlAiLI-wR28We4QoLWIDFVASEilGE3LkUzzBKAChIRSdtXLBcS6CN0w5eOH3qSC6xS5-G9lgs7sp6By9S/s1600/Parenthesesproblems.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUx04QqzaHVQw1OQe0azrOyBTKUi2VqmUZ3smDuQ5_saSODy5623BuSKi0FU1GlAiLI-wR28We4QoLWIDFVASEilGE3LkUzzBKAChIRSdtXLBcS6CN0w5eOH3qSC6xS5-G9lgs7sp6By9S/s400/Parenthesesproblems.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<b><br /></b>
<b>On Punctuation With Parentheses</b><br />
<br />
Parenthetical statements come in two varieties: small statements <i>within</i> a sentence, or longer statements of one or more sentences.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When inserting a parenthetical statement into a sentence, don’t move any of the sentence’s punctuation into the parentheses or adjust the grammar of the sentence to account for the text in the parentheses. You should be able to completely remove the parenthetical statement from the sentence and still have all grammar and punctuation flow correctly:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Original</i>: While I was speaking with Ludwig, I was also texting my wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Wrong:</i> While I was speaking with Ludwig (my step-father,) I was also texting my wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Right:</i> While I was speaking with Ludwig (my step-father), I was also texting my wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Original</i>: I don’t dislike Ludwig, but I don’t really enjoy his company, either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Wrong:</i> I don’t dislike Ludwig (or his children,) but I don’t really enjoy their company, either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Right:</i> I don’t dislike Ludwig (or his children), but I don’t really enjoy his company, either.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As a good rule of thumb, if the parenthetical is <i>within</i> a sentence, two things should be true: first, you should not begin the parenthetical with a capital unless it is a word that is normally capitalized (like a name); second, you should never have any punctuation at the end of the statement <i>inside</i> the parentheses. The only exception for this is if the statement is a question or an exclamation, in which case you can end it with a question mark or exclamation point, respectively. Note, however, that the question mark or exclamation point will not end the sentence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> Wrong:</i> Ludwig is really smart (He is a physicist.) and kind of socially awkward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Right:</i> Ludwig is really smart (he is a physicist) and kind of socially awkward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Wrong:</i> I don’t really get Ludwig (and probably never will;) he doesn’t really get me either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Right:</i> I don’t really get Ludwig (and probably never will); he doesn’t really get me, either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> Right:</i> The other day, Ludwig wore lederhosen (seriously . . . <i>lederhosen</i>?) to my baseball game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Original:</i> But he bought me ice cream afterward, which was nice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Wrong:</i> But he bought me ice cream afterward (my favorite!) Which was nice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Right:</i> But he bought me ice cream afterward (my favorite!), which was nice.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If, on the other hand, your parenthetical statement is a sentence or more, then simply insert the entire thing into your paragraph as you would any other sentence, only with parentheses around it:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible.) But my mom really wants me to come.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note that, as always, the entire parenthetical statement could be removed from the paragraph without a problem:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. But my mom really wants me to come.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is why you should make sure that none of the information <i>outside</i> the parentheses refers directly to any of the information <i>inside</i> the parentheses—otherwise, the parenthetical wouldn’t be able to be removed without affecting the flow of information.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible.) But my mom really wants me to come, so I may need to get permission from my Band Director.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Without the parentheses, that paragraph wouldn’t make sense:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. But my mom really wants me to come, so I may need to get permission from my Band Director.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In such cases, you’re best off moving more information into the parentheses or getting rid of the parentheses altogether.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go, but my mom really wants me to come. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible. I may need to get permission from my Band Director.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go. (I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year, so that seems like it would be irresponsible.) But my mom really wants me to come (so I may need to get permission from my Band Director).</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> My mom and Ludwig are planning a big vacation to Germany this summer, so that he can show us where he grew up. I’m not sure I want to go, since I’d have to skip out on band camp. I’m a section leader this year—skipping seems like it would be irresponsible. But my mom really wants me to come, so I may need to get permission from my Band Director.</span></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-13597030668688265152015-05-12T13:29:00.000-06:002015-05-12T13:29:21.209-06:00Punctuation Problems: Proper Parentheses, Part One<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Short Version<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When writing a story, use parentheses as sparingly as
possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Long Version</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are some forms of punctuation that are generally
frowned upon in professional writing, such as the interrobang (?!), repeated
exclamation marks, and emoticons. Using parentheses to create parenthetical
statements, on the other hand, is perfectly acceptable punctuation usage. So
why do I recommend that you do so sparingly?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the greatest challenges of writing is getting your
thoughts to flow smoothly from one to the next without any hard-to-follow leaps
that will be difficult for readers to follow. You want your story to flow
naturally and logically, A to B to C to D and so on rather than G to W to T to
G again. If this is done well, readers can breeze through hundreds of pages at
a time without ever having to pause and figure out what is being said—your thoughts
will flow as naturally through their minds as their own thoughts do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, if you read <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/search/label/Parentheses" target="_blank">this post</a>, you know that parentheses are
specifically supposed to be used to insert information into a sentence or
paragraph that is no more than loosely related to the topic at hand—“flavor”
text that might be interesting, might be funny, but isn’t actually <i>needed</i>. In other words, parentheses are
intended to insert information that will specifically <i>interrupt</i> the smooth, logical progression of thoughts that most
writing is intended to achieve. It is hard enough to manage such smooth prose
normally; but if you’re adding extraneous thoughts left and right, it’s going
to be even more difficult. So use parentheses as sparingly as possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What qualifies as “sparingly” will vary depending on the
style of story you’re writing. If your story is being narrated—either in
<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/08/overview-first-person-perspective.html" target="_blank">first-person</a> by one of the characters or by an <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/09/overview-third-person-omniscient.html" target="_blank">omnipotent third-person narrator</a>
with its own personality—then you’ll be able to use more parenthetical
statements than in other situations. In these situations, parenthetical
statements can be used to mimic the often-erratic nature of speech and oral
storytelling, to give your protagonist or narrator more of a realistic and engaging
personality. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/08/overview-third-person-limited.html" target="_blank">Third-person-limited</a> and <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/09/overview-third-person-omniscient.html" target="_blank">narrator-less third-person-omniscient</a> stories,
however, aren’t narrated by characters. In those sorts of stories,
parenthetical statements will be more likely to interrupt the flow of the
narrative—I would go so far as to recommend avoiding parentheses entirely in
such stories, if at all possible.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO_SG1qmJDIM6VOPMhG5f1-Guj4KO6RAopXBD1B6-pDcnpQL8Jp1dIgkrCtRirvNY9X1FFXviFPRqp6ppeaAMmhcrRVt_D9a3ugcoxcLobZu0J7GvMF9qIaRMFIwJ_z4T7NVNwThtgZKq/s1600/parentheses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQO_SG1qmJDIM6VOPMhG5f1-Guj4KO6RAopXBD1B6-pDcnpQL8Jp1dIgkrCtRirvNY9X1FFXviFPRqp6ppeaAMmhcrRVt_D9a3ugcoxcLobZu0J7GvMF9qIaRMFIwJ_z4T7NVNwThtgZKq/s400/parentheses.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Found this nice little explanation <a href="https://jaescope.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/parentheses-poster/" target="_blank">here</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-68155054441344780852015-05-06T13:18:00.001-06:002015-09-01T11:52:48.689-06:00Punctuation Problems: Breaks<span style="font-family: inherit;">There is a set of punctuation marks that are used to separate thoughts in writing, which I like to refer to as Breaking Punctuation. They are the comma ( , ), the em dash ( — ), the semicolon ( ; ), the colon ( : ), parentheses ( ), and the period ( . ). Each of these has a subtly different meaning from the others, which we’re going to break down here.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Period</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The period is the ultimate and strongest form of breaking punctuation, which is why it’s known as a “full stop” in the UK. It is placed at the end of the sentence to indicate an end to that statement and a transition to a new one.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Comma</span></h2>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA3YEUw_5ZdnJ93fCFwQDy7FOjijOnL6xKOy4WfljTdcjz2RS2ynQ5hx3kU103o7f4NcSEHHa_Oyvk9_zlQnhc_oRk9l3e2MROLZWzZY4kKDx5r-mh-RQcb3g3A6V5pOXvPyvc_vHkjSh/s1600/2014-09-09-helpathief.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCA3YEUw_5ZdnJ93fCFwQDy7FOjijOnL6xKOy4WfljTdcjz2RS2ynQ5hx3kU103o7f4NcSEHHa_Oyvk9_zlQnhc_oRk9l3e2MROLZWzZY4kKDx5r-mh-RQcb3g3A6V5pOXvPyvc_vHkjSh/s1600/2014-09-09-helpathief.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://buttersafe.com/2014/09/09/help-a-thief/" target="_blank">Buttersafe.com</a>, everyone.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The comma is used to provide a bridge between very closely related statements or between sequences of incomplete statements. You’ve probably noticed that proper comma usage can be very tricky to master, and you’re not alone in that experience. We’ve covered some of the depths and complexities of comma usage in <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/search/label/Commas" target="_blank">several posts</a>, but for now what you need to know is this: the comma connects closely related thoughts, and the period separates finished, more-or-less unrelated thoughts.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Semicolon</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The other forms of breaking punctuation fall on a spectrum between the comma and the period. The semicolon is halfway between the two; it generally separates statements that could be broken into individual sentences, but which the author wants to be connected in the mind of the reader. Use it sparingly—it tends to create sentences that are very long and difficult to follow.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Colon</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The colon serves the specific purpose of introducing information; it can only be used if the text preceding it says something along the lines of, “I am going to tell you this.” So, for instance:<br /><br /> Gary picked up all of the items on the list: a pickaxe, a jump rope, and</span>—for some reason—<span style="font-family: inherit;">a huge container of lard.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> This is what I was sent to tell you: that you must put an end to your company’s project, or your world will be destroyed.<br /> You have chosen the greatest hamburger of all: the Beefinator.<br /><br />Remember: the colon should only be used if the text before it is somehow introducing the text that comes after it.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Em Dash</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The em dash is the jack of all trades. It swings back and forth between the comma and the semicolon and the colon. It can be used in place of a comma to provide a little more emphasis to the pause between related information, or in place of a semicolon to provide a little more connection between statements. It can also serve as a sort of weak colon, separating an initial statement from another that provides more connected or explanatory information. Often, I’ll simply use it to create variety when I’ve already used several commas or semicolons. But be careful about using it too much—the em dash is wide and easily noticeable, and a cluster of them in the same area of the page will tend to stand out garishly.<br /><br /><br /><br />In summation, the comma is weakest form of <i>breaking punctuation</i>, used to separate closely related information; the semicolon separates weakly related or unrelated statements; the colon separates introductory text from the information it’s introducing; the em dash can serve as a strong comma, a weak colon, or a weak semicolon; and the period is the full stop that means that the previous statement is complete and we are moving on to something else.<br /><br /><br /><br /><b>P.S.</b><br />It may seem like there is considerable overlap between the uses for these breaking punctuation marks—that’s because there is. Often, you’ll be able to use either a period or a semicolon; in other cases, either a colon or a semicolon or an em dash would work. What punctuation you choose should depend on how connected you want the information it breaks apart to be, on how much you’ve already used each form of breaking punctuation, and on how you want the sentence or sentences to flow. That is the reason for this post—to let you know how the breaking punctuation can be used, so that you know what your options are when you have more than one.<br /><br /><b>P.P.S.</b><br />If you want some helpful homework, go back over this post again and pay particular attention to the breaking punctuation. You’ll notice that I’ve used each form of breaking punctuation at some point, and in just about every way they can be used. Find each point where I’ve used a breaking punctuation mark, and make sure you understand why I chose that particular mark at that point in the text. Good luck!</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-20877556711642841492015-05-04T11:10:00.002-06:002019-01-31T22:28:34.833-07:00Subject-Verb Agreement, Part 3: Miscellaneous Problems<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve previously discussed <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/04/subject-verb-agreement-part-one.html" target="_blank">subject-verb agreement</a> and <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/04/subject-verb-agreement-part-two.html" target="_blank">some of the ways writers get it wrong</a>. Today, we’ll cover a few more common, miscellaneous
errors, and then we’ll put this subject to bed for a while.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Indefinite Pronouns</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An <i>indefinite pronoun</i>
is a pronoun that refers to a non-specific person, object, or place; examples
include <i>anyone, everyone, someone, no
one,</i> and <i>nobody</i>. Although many of
these words seem to refer to multiple people (such as <i>everyone</i> and <i>anyone</i>),
they are in fact singular nouns.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> No one <i>has</i> arrived yet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Somebody <i>needs</i> a hug.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Everyone <i>is</i> here.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizJb42a_lm-yGPE-XcR0nxtA2pXiHfmcS7_Vkm0fxJfYNzD5CxCuQTl-f8O2ayaIFsTMQvNvjDItHDqgF4RycDcpqb2Wo1y9UMY87l42J8h1LrnDFGPFIPbfNETlvHbVYTbmewssJnwlY/s1600/Indefinite.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizJb42a_lm-yGPE-XcR0nxtA2pXiHfmcS7_Vkm0fxJfYNzD5CxCuQTl-f8O2ayaIFsTMQvNvjDItHDqgF4RycDcpqb2Wo1y9UMY87l42J8h1LrnDFGPFIPbfNETlvHbVYTbmewssJnwlY/s1600/Indefinite.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Photo from <a href="http://iro.clubefl.gr/category/grammar-time/indefinite-pronouns/" target="_blank">My English</a>.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>However,</b> a difficulty
commonly arises when indefinite pronouns and other pronouns are used together:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Someone has left
his keys behind.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The trouble is that <i>someone</i>
has no implied gender, but English lacks an animate, non-gender-specific
pronoun. (<i>It</i> is not gender specific,
but it also is not generally <i>animate</i>—by
which I mean that <i>it</i> doesn’t
generally imply a sentient being.) This is a sensitive issue for many people
who feel that masculine pronouns such as <i>he</i>
or <i>his</i> should not be used by default
for an unidentified or nonspecific person. There are many suggested workarounds
for this problem. You can use the compound pronoun <i>his or her</i> (or <i>her or his</i>,
if you prefer):<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Someone has left <i>his or her</i> keys behind.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If that feels awkward to you, then you’re not alone in that
feeling. Another suggested workaround (the most common solution that people use
in their day-to-day speech) is to use the pronoun <i>their.</i> While <i>their </i>is
technically plural, it is an increasingly acceptable practice to use it as an
indefinite singular pronoun in these sorts of situations:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Someone has left <i>their</i> keys behind.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note that the sentence uses <i>has</i> and not <i>have</i>—despite the
use of the plural pronoun <i>their</i>, <i>someone</i> still remains singular.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The final (and usually best) solution is to simply rewrite
the sentence to avoid the pronoun altogether:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Someone has left
some keys behind.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Each</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Like the examples above, <i>each</i>
is always singular. Writers are often confused because <i>each</i> has a tendency to be followed by a prepositional phrase ending
in a plural word:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Each</i> of the cars comes equipped with
GPS.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The phrase “of the cars” does not change the plurality of
the subject—<i>each </i>is the subject, and
it is always singular.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Neither and Either</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Again, <i>neither </i>and
<i>either</i> are both singular, despite the
fact that they refer to two things:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Neither of the
lawnmowers <i>is</i> working.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Either way <i>works</i> for me.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Portions</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Words and expressions that indicate a portion of a greater
group or whole are sometimes singular and sometimes plural. These include <i>half of, a part of, a percentage of, a majority
of, all, any, more, most, </i>and <i>some</i>,
as well as fractional expressions like <i>one-third</i>.
The plurality of these phrases usually depends on the “whole” of which they
refer to a portion—if the whole is a plural word, then the portion will also be
plural, but if the whole is a singular word, then the portion will also be
singular. For example:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Most of the <i>workers</i> (plural) <i>are</i> upset.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Most of the <i>water</i> (singular) <i>is</i> tainted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> One<i>-</i>third of the <i>vehicles</i> <i>were</i> faulty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> Two<i>-</i>thirds of the <i>estate</i> <i>was</i> lost.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note, however, that the phrase “more than one” is singular:</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> More than one
pilot <i>has</i> tried that stunt.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-22353700472889321372015-05-01T14:49:00.002-06:002015-09-01T11:53:20.554-06:00Avoiding Repeated WordsToo many repetitions of the same word in a short space, such as within a single paragraph or even withing a single sentence, can be distracting to your readers and throw off the flow of your prose. Take a look at the following example:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The wall was too tall to climb, but only just; it was short enough to seem climbable but tall enough that a fall from anywhere near the top would kill you. Raek studied the wall carefully and realized that the top of the wall was covered in a slimy-looking green moss that would make climbing impossible. But if he couldn't climb it, how would he get over the wall? The wall was between him and the chalice. He had to get past the wall.</span><br />
<br />
Notice how the words "the wall" get repeated over and over again? Six times in one paragraph. Some variation of the word "climb" appears four times as well. It feels awkward and clunky.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbM7wa56brqcIgyHKalVzNpreFNs76VYIdlpDdBkDPiLCCUMp62pnMzYBay2wtieywWzf0f8DuvGMZg4-fw8yAi4SHGquzihHl_sId8Jocox3pgK2_Eq5o8WDZAlQnvTV2ZBimapbOyFA/s1600/Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbM7wa56brqcIgyHKalVzNpreFNs76VYIdlpDdBkDPiLCCUMp62pnMzYBay2wtieywWzf0f8DuvGMZg4-fw8yAi4SHGquzihHl_sId8Jocox3pgK2_Eq5o8WDZAlQnvTV2ZBimapbOyFA/s1600/Cake.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No matter how good the word is, too much will make your readers sick. <i>Don't be a Trunchbull.</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Cleaned up, that paragraph might look like this:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The wall was too tall to climb, but only just: it was short enough to seem scalable but tall enough that a fall from anywhere near the top would kill you. Raek studied the wall carefully and realized that the top was covered in a slimy-looking green moss that would ensure that anyone clinging to the rock would lose their grip. But if he couldn't climb the wall, how would he get over? It was between him and the chalice; he had to get past.</span><br />
<br />
This version is smoother, with just three uses of "the wall" and two of "climb." Some of the repeated words were removed by heavily re-writing the sentence, some were simply not necessary to begin with and could be removed without changing anything else, and others were replaced with synonyms ("scalable" in place of "climbable").<br />
<br />
That final method, using synonyms, is one of the easiest ways to avoid repetition:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The <i>manor</i> loomed above her, at least three stories tall. The entire <i>edifice </i>was wreathed so thickly with crawling ivy that it was difficult for her to tell what the <i>manor </i>was made out of.</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In this example, we've used <i>edifice</i> in place of <i>manor </i>in one spot, to avoid using the word "manor" three times in two sentences. The variety of descriptive words helps the prose to flow more smoothly.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The same thing can be done to avoid repeating a character's name too often. Take this example from Brandon Sanderson's <i>Mistborn </i>(emphasis added):<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> "Fears?" Kelsier asked, turning to look up at <i>Sazed</i>. Despite Kelsier's above-average height,<i> the Terrisman</i> was still a good head taller. I'm not sure if he fears anything, <i>Saze</i>."</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Notice how the author avoided repeating Sazed's name by referring to him as "the Terrisman." It is the same method of avoiding word repetition.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Some cautions:</h3>
<h2>
</h2>
<h2>
Don't use too many synonyms</h2>
<div>
In the example above, we used <i>edifice </i>in place of <i>manor</i>. Here are a few other words we could possibly have used: building, structure, dwelling, residency, or mansion. But if you look at that example again, you'll notice that I chose to use the word "manor" twice rather than replace it with one of these words. Why?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Too many synonyms can become confusing to the reader; it becomes difficult for them to keep track of what they all refer too. It also calls too much attention to the fact that you're trying to avoid repeating yourself, which can pull the reader out of the story. Usually, you don't want to use more than one synonym for a given word in a section. So in the first example, I might have described the manor simply as a <i>building </i>when the characters were far away and still approaching it. Then, when they have drawn close and I am describing the manor's appearance, I use <i>manor</i> and <i>edifice</i>, but no more than that. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h2>
Make sure that it is clear what your synonym refers to</h2>
<div>
Another hazard of using synonyms is that they are not always as clear as the author thinks. We'll take the example of <i>manor</i> again. The Merriam-Webster dictionary lists the following words as synonyms for the word "manor": castle, chateau, estate, hacienda, hall, manor, manor house, manse, palace, and villa.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The problem with most of these words is that they evoke a completely different image than the word "manor." Take this example:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Amy was relieved to finally leave the <i>manor </i>behind. As they drove away, she turned and looked out the back window as the <i>palace </i>vanished behind the trees.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That didn't work at all, did it? Using <i>palace</i> almost made it sound as though there were two buildings, as if Amy left one building and is now looking at another. Don't use synonyms unless it is clear what they're replacing.<br />
<br />
One more caution on using synonyms as placeholders for a character's name (as in the <i>Mistborn</i> example above) can be found in <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/11/perspective-errors-name-placeholders.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.</div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-14485576637317494782015-04-29T13:19:00.000-06:002015-09-01T11:53:54.353-06:00Controlling Your Dialog Tags<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzbTP5XxkalBSSK6jVDXg9T31sSCGgy3dX3jiEBjtoCkDsxyKY2TWEdFR2Pl75qLY_ElRURP3IgMIIea2lx3k7H-s5Qjs3LaJEF7Mz0nC8l0OX1wh1WJhuVApyv41Udwk3DvoLl_-WcV0/s1600/vader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJzbTP5XxkalBSSK6jVDXg9T31sSCGgy3dX3jiEBjtoCkDsxyKY2TWEdFR2Pl75qLY_ElRURP3IgMIIea2lx3k7H-s5Qjs3LaJEF7Mz0nC8l0OX1wh1WJhuVApyv41Udwk3DvoLl_-WcV0/s1600/vader.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/08/variety-in-dialog-tags-two-schools-of.html" target="_blank">A while ago</a>, we discussed the two prominent schools of thought regarding dialog tags; today we'll go over the kinds of dialog tags you should <i>always </i>avoid. These fall into three classes: grandiloquent, repetitive, and non-dialog.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Grandiloquent</h3>
<div>
<i><br /></i>
<i>Grandiloquent</i> means "overly high-minded, pompous, or pretentious, especially in language," and it is a condition that afflicts many new authors. My preferred term for this behavior is <i>highfalutin. </i><br />
<br />
The amount of grandiloquence you employ should vary depending on what you're writing. If you're working on a very flowery, "literary" type of story, then you'll want to be a little more eloquent, as florid prose is a hallmark of that genre. In any other genre, however, you'll generally want to ensure that your prose calls as little attention to itself as possible<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>you want your readers to almost forget that they're reading and simply absorb the story, which they can't do if they have to stop and think over highfalutin language.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here are some grandiloquent dialog tags that I often see crop up in novice writing:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"Dialog," he opined. < Just use <i>said.</i></div>
<div>
"Dialog," she queried. <<i> asked,</i> unless maybe the character is a computer.</div>
<div>
"Dialog," I ruminated. < <i>reflected, remembered, </i>or <i>recalled </i>could all work here.<i> </i></div>
<div>
"Dialog," it pontificated. < <i>said, lectured.</i></div>
<div>
"Dialog," John soliloquized. < <i>said </i>or<i> reflected,</i> depending on the context.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The line between being precise with your word choice and being too highfalutin is very fine<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>generally, I recommend leaning toward simpler language if you're ever in doubt.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Repetitive</h3>
<div>
<br />
Novice writers have a tendency to repeat themselves, and one way that they do this is often in dialog tags. Take a look at the following example:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"Welcome to the Nodsdown Fair!" the young woman greeted.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Here, the tag <i>greeted</i> is redundant<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>the dialog itself already made it very clear that the woman is greeting someone. The tag is only there to let us know who is speaking, so <i>said</i> would be more efficient here. Some other frequently-repetitive tags are <i>cursed, pontificated, lectured, rambled, hinted, joked, agreed, elaborated, </i>and <i>explained.</i></div>
<div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
Now, you might have noticed that some of those words can be found on my list of possible tags from the last post. Sometimes these words aren't redundant, and sometimes they are. It's an even finer line to walk than the grandiloquent line. Just be on the lookout for any redundant tags in your writing, and when in doubt<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>err on the side of simple.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<h3>
Non-Dialog</h3>
<div>
<br />
The final type of dialog tag to avoid is tags that don't actually describe the manner in which the dialog was spoken. Take this example:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"I think I can do that," John smiled. "Give me the stick."</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<i>Smiled</i> doesn't actually describe the dialog<span style="font-family: Garamond, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>you can't smile words. This kind of construction usually arises from writers who are trying to cut out extra words and go a little too far. Cutting out excess words is good, as long as the remaining words still accurately state what they're intended to. Our example can be rewritten in several ways:<br />
<br />
With dialog tags:<br />
"I think I can do that," John said, smiling. "Give me the stick."<br />
"I think I can do that," John said with a smile. "Give me the stick."<br />
<br />
Without dialog tags:<br />
"I think I can do that." John smiled. "Give me the stick."<br />
John smiled. "I think I can do that. Give me the stick."<br />
<br />
Some other words that I often see used as tags which don't actually describe the dialog are: <i>nodded, shrugged, blushed, snorted, </i>and <i>ground</i> (as in "he said while grinding his teeth").<br />
<br />
(I'll also mention <i>laughed, coughed, scoffed, chuckled, gasped, sobbed, grunted, sighed, </i>and <i>cried.</i> These <i>can </i>be acceptable, as they describe the sounds coming out of a character's mouth simultaneous to the dialog. No, we don't actually laugh words, but we can speak while laughing. But try to use these sparingly.)<br />
<br />
<br />
I also want to place special emphasis on my personal, most-hated non-dialog dialog tags:<br />
<br />
"Dan here couldn't hit a baseball if it was the size of a pumpkin!" Mike jabbed.<br />
"Maybe I should practice with your head," Dan returned.<br />
<br />
I <i><b>hate</b></i> "jabbed" and "returned." Don't use them, not ever. They fall into both the repetitive and the non-dialog categories; what's worse, they always tend to be attached to back-and-forth teasing that isn't <i>nearly</i> as clever as the author wants to believe it is. Please do not use these words as dialog tags.<br />
<br />
<br />
<h2>
P.S.</h2>
<div>
Many authors use the word <i>sang</i> to mean "shouted jubilantly." While this usage is not uncommon, it can be a little confusing; after all, it is possible to <i>literally</i> sing words. I recommend avoiding it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Crowed</i> can be used to mean the same thing, and I don't like it. There's nothing technically wrong with it; that's mostly just me.</div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-84550325611387654822015-04-27T13:03:00.000-06:002015-04-27T13:03:13.425-06:00Subject-Verb Agreement, Part Two: Collective Nouns<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/04/subject-verb-agreement-part-one.html" target="_blank">Last time</a>, we discussed a few common things that cause
writers to make mistakes with their subject-verb agreement. Today we’ll discuss
a few more.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Collective Nouns<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A <i>collective noun</i>
is a word that defines a group as a single unit—words like <i>team, family, staff, crowd, audience, band,</i> and so forth.
Technically speaking, such nouns are singular and can be pluralized like any
other noun: <i>teams, families,</i> etc.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When it comes to subject-verb agreement, however, collective
nouns don’t always act singular. Take these two examples:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The jury <i>is</i> delivering <i>its</i> verdict.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The jury <i>are</i> taking <i>their</i> seats.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the first example, the word <i>jury</i> is singular; in the second, it is plural. Why the difference?
Well, in the first example, we’re referring to the jury as a single unit doing <i>one</i> thing—we’re focused on the action of
the group, and not the individuals <i>in</i>
the group, so <i>jury</i> is treated as a
singular noun. In the second example, we’re thinking of the individuals within
the group—several people taking several seats, rather than one unit taking a
seat. In this sort of usage, it is acceptable to treat the collective noun as a
plural. Here are some other examples:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The audience is
losing its energy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Remind the
audience to look beneath their seats to see if they won a prize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The class is
behaving well today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The class are
preparing their presentations for tomorrow.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, if the examples of collective nouns used as plurals
seem odd, that’s because they are—in the United States, at least. Many of them
would sound more natural if an actual plural noun were substituted for the
collective noun:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The jury members
are taking their seats.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The students are
preparing their presentations for tomorrow.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Proper collective
nouns</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A <i>proper noun</i> is a
name or title of some sort; a <i>proper
collective noun</i>, therefore, is a name or title that refers to a group.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Bands and other musical
groups:</i> Generally, musical groups should take the form of verb and pronouns
that suits the form of their name.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The Red Hot Chili
Peppers <i>are</i> amazing in concert.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Queen <i>is</i> still my favorite band.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Companies and other
organizations</i>: The names of companies should generally be treated as
singular.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Marvel <i>has</i> announced <i>its</i> next few movies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> General Motors <i>hasn’t</i> sold as well as expected.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note, however, that it is not uncommon to use plural construction
with companies whose name is a series of names (with or without a word like “associates”
at the end).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Williamsen,
Ovard, and Associates <i>have</i> had a
great year.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Sports teams:</i>
Generally speaking, sports teams are treated as plurals, no matter the form
their name takes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> The Utah Jazz <i>have</i> been performing well since <i>they</i> changed <i>their</i> lineup.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But when we refer to a team by the location where it
resides, however, it usually takes the singular:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Chicago <i>is</i> just destroying anyone that comes
against <i>it</i> on the court.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
(Note that these guidelines are for US usage. In the UK and
many other places, it is more common to use the plural whenever the actions of
a group are being described.)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VVKbLbUiAmhzrlIQop0HMUcXQkmZ88xq2n0QU21IAyRDrbp8WbkT9G-_dQ6FxGAISv9-eoDC_g2olFi_ksoc3279EwXHuwgPXxwQtTcvVSM-Erf5VuW3fZoYn7hPqxUZtS6gpmB0cEpa/s1600/Borg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4VVKbLbUiAmhzrlIQop0HMUcXQkmZ88xq2n0QU21IAyRDrbp8WbkT9G-_dQ6FxGAISv9-eoDC_g2olFi_ksoc3279EwXHuwgPXxwQtTcvVSM-Erf5VuW3fZoYn7hPqxUZtS6gpmB0cEpa/s1600/Borg.jpg" height="245" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Also note that these guidelines are for existing collective nouns; if you're writing speculative fiction that delves into the notion of <i>collective</i> in a far more literal or complicated manner, then you're on your own when it comes to figuring out how to properly determine where to use the plural or the singular. Good luck.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-7007157591040963322015-04-24T11:51:00.001-06:002015-04-24T11:51:29.972-06:00Subject-Verb Agreement, Part One<div class="MsoNormal">
On the surface, <i>subject-verb
agreement</i> is a simple topic: almost every sentence requires a subject and a
verb, and that verb (and everything else in the sentence) should be properly
conjugated to match the subject. In other words, if your subject is singular,
your verb should be singular; if your subject is plural, your verb should be
plural; if your subject is first-person, then your verb should be first person;
and so on.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> INCORRECT: My
brother <i>are</i> ski instructor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> CORRECT: My
brother <i>is</i> <i>a</i> ski instructor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> INCORRECT: My
sisters <i>is</i> detective.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> CORRECT: My
sisters <i>are</i> detective<i>s</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> INCORRECT: I <i>are</i> a writer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> CORRECT: I <i>am</i> a writer.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9wP4cDsp40t-JpDA98MoCG6_3z81o7qwkc7n-kqvDOwY5v5CZwVFgnelZ1z31vJVfomjrgA1R-XB2Bu6f1ilowhTvYIZ6LwOvysaWTSNnJP1AFfQ-C0xlE9uDPwnjckGeiGUX2zDARup/s1600/Cheeseburger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA9wP4cDsp40t-JpDA98MoCG6_3z81o7qwkc7n-kqvDOwY5v5CZwVFgnelZ1z31vJVfomjrgA1R-XB2Bu6f1ilowhTvYIZ6LwOvysaWTSNnJP1AFfQ-C0xlE9uDPwnjckGeiGUX2zDARup/s1600/Cheeseburger.jpg" height="400" width="323" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ninety-five percent of the time, subject-verb agreement is
just that easy—you have a subject, you properly conjugate its verb without even
thinking, and you move on. Every now and then, however, complications creep in.
Usually, these difficulties arise because of a long or confusing sentence
structure has made the subject of the sentence unclear.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> As I watch, a
strange blue substance full of floating, glowing spheres <i>spread</i> across the window.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve italicized the verb in that subject, but where is the
subject? It’s not <i>spheres</i>—the glowing
spheres are inside the subject, which is the <i>substance.</i> <i>Substance</i> is
singular, not plural—so it doesn’t <i>spread</i>,
it <i>spreads</i>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> As I watch, a strange
blue substance full of floating, glowing spheres <i>spreads</i> across the window.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another frequent cause of subject-verb disagreement is <i>compound subjects</i>—when more than one
subject is performing a single action in unison. Compound subjects are treated
as a plural subject, even if the individual subjects are singular:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> INCORRECT: My
father and mother <i>tells</i> me to behave
myself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> CORRECT: My
father and mother <i>tell</i> me to behave
myself.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Note: </b>A <i>compound subject</i> will always be two or
more subjects joined by the word <i>and</i>.
If the subjects are joined by a phrase such as <i>together with, as well as, </i>or <i>along
with,</i> then the first subject determines the conjugation of the verb:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> My wife, <i>together with</i> her sisters, <i>is</i> going on vacation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> My wife <i>and</i> her sisters <i>are</i> going on vacation.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The conjunction <i>or</i>
also doesn’t create compound subjects; if two potential subjects are paired
using the word <i>or</i> (or <i>nor</i>), the verb should agree with
whichever subject is closest to it:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Either my cousin or
my friends <i>are</i> going to pick me up
after work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Neither my
friends nor my cousin <i>is</i> going to be
able to pick me up.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
So remember to keep an eye on any particularly long and
complicated sentences and any sentences with compound subjects to be sure that
the subject-verb agreement is intact. Next week, we’ll cover other situations
in which problems with subject verb agreement commonly arise.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-76271633816965361872015-04-22T12:57:00.001-06:002015-04-22T12:57:56.853-06:00Avoiding Over-Capitalization<div class="MsoNormal">
A few weeks ago we discussed <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/04/on-capitalization.html" target="_blank">proper capitalization</a>, and I
mentioned that I would discuss the capitalization of words you make up for your
story. These could be devices or technologies that you thought up, magical
spells or items, or fictional illnesses and conditions. They could be unusual
offices in a fictional government, brand names from a science-fiction universe,
aspects of an alien culture, or places in another world. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The majority of words that require capitalization are proper
nouns—names, titles, and the like; and, in most stories, the majority of
made-up words will also be proper nouns. This means that a particularly complex
science fiction or fantasy story can often end up with a high density of
capitalized words.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Now, many experienced writers and editors advise that you
avoid having too many made-up words in your story (I gave you that advice in
<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/09/proper-nouns-and-information-overload.html" target="_blank">this post</a>). Unfortunately, one of the easiest and most common methods of
avoiding made-up words is to take a common English word and capitalize it to
show that it is significant. So instead of calling the council that rules your
fictional society the <i>Shoraki</i>, you
might call it the Council. Thus, while this method <i>does</i> avoid creating extra made-up words, it doesn’t cut down on the
number of capital letters. This can sometimes lead to paragraphs that look like
this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Thuum reached
into the Golden Cask and removed the Sword of Ramunothet, grinning from ear to
ear. When he presented this to the Council, everyone would see that he was the
greatest of all the Hunters. And best of all, Norrikis would be forced to serve
him as his <i>Du’Shan.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Cradling the
sword in the crook of his arm, Thuum turned to leave and paused. Standing in
the door to the Temple was a black-shrouded figure—an Ayelet Assassin. The man
raised a gloved hand, revealing a Zurasha Gem in his palm. The gem began to
glow as the Assassin focused his <i>Mentalis</i>
within it.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Yeesh</i>, am I right?
That might seem like a deliberately exaggerated example, but it’s not—I have in
fact encountered similar paragraphs in the wild.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are many ways to avoid excessive amounts of
capitalization: you can re-word a title or sentence to remove the need for a
capitalized word; you can insert more action in order to further space out any
capitalized words; or you can just decide that this is <i>your</i> world and these are <i>your</i>
made-up words, so you can just <i>not</i>
capitalize them if you don’t want to. It’s up to you, after all, to decide
whether your made-up words are proper nouns that require capitalization, common
nouns that don’t, or once-proper nouns that have reached such a level of
ubiquity in the culture that they no longer require capitalization.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s what that example might look like after some toning
down:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Thuum reached
into the golden cask and removed the Ramunothet’s sword, grinning from ear to
ear. When he presented this to the council, everyone would see that he was the
greatest of all the Hunters; and best of all, Norrikis would be forced to serve
him as his <i>du’shan.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Cradling the
sword in the crook of his arm, Thuum turned to leave and paused. Standing in
the door to the temple was a black-shrouded figure—an Ayelet assassin. The man
raised a gloved hand to reveal a Zurasha gem in his palm, which began to glow
with focused <i>mentalis</i>.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve gone from twenty-four capital letters to ten.
Hopefully, we can all agree that the second example is much more pleasant to look
at and feels a little less like an over-done cliché. So keep an eye out for
over-capitalization—remember, neither everything of significance in your story nor
every word that you make up needs to be capitalized.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZxJNXZJ-25vM0o0SQoOsnm72MVIlQS8_McwU4ftmMfJkXtj_xAJToBSJ4_GnF5sFW_nkoZsYVM0CvI-qe18FNmwNwDFxemGyl83J2KCdnpPMHWYrrPLG6CO8bs8NDmehl5tBM5cyXN5o/s1600/caps-lock1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ZxJNXZJ-25vM0o0SQoOsnm72MVIlQS8_McwU4ftmMfJkXtj_xAJToBSJ4_GnF5sFW_nkoZsYVM0CvI-qe18FNmwNwDFxemGyl83J2KCdnpPMHWYrrPLG6CO8bs8NDmehl5tBM5cyXN5o/s1600/caps-lock1.jpg" height="320" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is more or less pertinent to the article, right? Eh, close enough.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-535025160058732782015-04-20T13:16:00.000-06:002015-09-01T11:54:21.536-06:00"Looking With Eyes"—Avoiding Redundant Description<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>(A busy day cut down on my available writing time, so I'm afraid I have to post my first-ever rerun today. There'll be a new post up Wednesday.)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77t9sgChFnxc0OrGUl1s4GuvW80kCyuB_zANgZjH_V8EpyB5sy9bnn7AmVPz9NBz7q5-VHXdQ-5H1jrGA2_T717d0CM7-lErEs84rL_lzsFFp6HMVvdPC5LWiCtsh8NZKkTF6dMqJqIh-/s1600/Iris_-_right_eye_of_a_girl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg77t9sgChFnxc0OrGUl1s4GuvW80kCyuB_zANgZjH_V8EpyB5sy9bnn7AmVPz9NBz7q5-VHXdQ-5H1jrGA2_T717d0CM7-lErEs84rL_lzsFFp6HMVvdPC5LWiCtsh8NZKkTF6dMqJqIh-/s1600/Iris_-_right_eye_of_a_girl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some sample sentences from works I've edited:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Derek surveyed their surroundings with his cloudy gray eyes.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">She kissed the envelope with her full lips, leaving a bright red lipstick mark behind.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">He grasped the sword hilt in his shaking hands.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What's the problem here? Take a moment to look again.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The problem is that each of these sentences contains an awkward, redundant phrase. In example one, the phrase "with his cloudy eyes" is unneeded<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>how else would someone survey their surroundings, after all? In the second example, <i>of course</i> she kissed "with her full lips." That's the body part that kisses. In example three, we already know that he's grasping with his hands, so telling us that is redundant and unnatural.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So why do writers do this? If you'll look at our example sentences, you'll notice that each of the named body parts is preceded by an adjective: <i>cloudy</i> eyes, <i>full</i> lips, and <i>shaking</i> hands. These adjectives are the reason the authors included the redundant phrase. </span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In example one, for instance, Derek is being introduced to the audience for the first time. The author wanted the readers to know that his eyes were a cloudy gray, but didn't simply want to say "Derek's eyes were a cloudy gray." And that was a good goal<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>this <i>is </i>a more interesting way to find out what the character looks like<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">—</span>but you can usually do better than an otherwise-redundant phrase<span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 16.8666667938232px;">.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here are some examples of how these sentences could be reworked.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Make the body part the subject of the sentence:</b> Just about every sentence needs a subject, after all, so it's unlikely to be redundant.</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Derek's cloudy gray eyes surveyed the surroundings.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Her full lips kissed the envelope, leaving a bright red lipstick mark behind.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">His shaking hands grasped the sword hilt.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Give the body part something else to do:</b> Add a phrase or sentence that further describes the action of the original sentence.</span></div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Derek surveyed their surroundings; the blinding light made his cloudy gray eyes water.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">She kissed the envelope. Her full lips left a bright red lipstick mark behind.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">His hands shook uncontrollably as he grasped the sword hilt.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Try to work the adjective in somewhere or somehow else:</b> This can be the trickiest solution, but also often the most subtle and graceful.</span></div>
</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Derek surveyed their surroundings. Lina studied his eyes; they were intense and focused as he searched, the same cloudy grey as the water beneath the boat.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">She kissed the envelope, leaving behind full red lipstick marks.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">He grasped the sword, trying to keep the point from wavering. It didn't work.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">P.S.</span></b></div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Remember that specifying that a character performed an action "with" something is fine if it wasn't clear how the action was performed. For instance:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> He sliced the steak with a worn shark-tooth knife.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is a perfectly acceptable way to describe the knife. It's not redundant because there is more than one tool for slicing steak, so it's natural to explain what the character is using to slice.</span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
</div>
</div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-36456856350189237692015-04-17T13:39:00.000-06:002015-04-18T22:35:36.004-06:00Punctuating Dialog: Here's How It's Done<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve read quite a few manuscripts of late that had trouble
punctuating their dialog correctly, so let’s go over that very quickly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>1. You should always
have some sort of punctuation immediately before your closing quotation mark.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It can be a comma, a period, a semi-colon, question mark,
exclamation point, em-dash, or ellipses; it can be almost any form of punctuation,
but there must be punctuation of some sort. What you don’t want to do is this:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I haven’t seen
Aziz since class yesterday” Nora said.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There should be some sort of punctuation between <i>yesterday</i> and the closing quotation mark
(a comma, in this case), and in all similar scenarios. There is almost no
situation in which you’d be justified leaving out that closing punctuation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2. If the dialog is
followed by a dialog tag, then you cannot close the dialog with a period.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The <i>dialog tag</i> is
that short little bit that identifies who is speaking: some variation of <i>she said, he asked, I shouted</i>, etc. If
there is a dialog tag after your dialog, you cannot end the dialog with a
period:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> INCORRECT: “I
haven’t seen Aziz since class yesterday.” Nora said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> CORRECT: “I haven’t
seen Aziz since class yesterday,” Nora said.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note that this rule only applies to periods. Other ending
punctuation such as question marks and exclamation points should not be
affected by the dialog tag:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I think Aziz has
been kidnapped!” she shouted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “What makes you
think that?” he replied.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Note also that exclamation points and question marks in
dialog <i>do not</i> end the sentence, so
the dialog tag is not capitalized—as discussed in <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/07/capitalization-dialogue-tags.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>3. If dialog is
interrupted, end it with an em dash. If it trails off, use ellipses.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “We don’t have
any reason to think—” he began.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I just <i>know</i> something is wrong!” she interrupted.
“He could be hurt, or . . .”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ellipses in dialog is a subject more thoroughly covered in
<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/08/ellipses.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>4. If the dialog tag
interrupts a sentence, then it should end with a comma. If it comes at the end
of a sentence of dialog, it should end with a period, even if it is followed by
more dialog.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “Nora,” Aziz
whispered, “please come after me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’m calling the
police,” Nora said. “I don’t care what you say.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
You’ll find more on this topic in <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/07/dialogue-tags-periods-vs-commas.html" target="_blank">this post</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElXZr1KKTYxcvmN2etJSsPckr5_7dc7fSWk6aG8tkLW0rf7jH5hfWm5nOY6Zt6sEopr37l7qsDRxq6Wo4W9izzyITFN6YzcJYOgCYtiRGSYyQNbmJq4qlKmxMqS-WbOvJSh7mRrFsgErw/s1600/shutterstock_155804522.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElXZr1KKTYxcvmN2etJSsPckr5_7dc7fSWk6aG8tkLW0rf7jH5hfWm5nOY6Zt6sEopr37l7qsDRxq6Wo4W9izzyITFN6YzcJYOgCYtiRGSYyQNbmJq4qlKmxMqS-WbOvJSh7mRrFsgErw/s1600/shutterstock_155804522.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you're wondering, Aziz <i>was</i> totally kidnapped, but Nora saved him in time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-5316052262752756232015-04-15T12:33:00.000-06:002015-04-15T12:33:00.089-06:00Some Thoughts On Thoughts<div class="MsoNormal">
One of the greatest advantages that print mediums like
novels or comics have over many other story-telling methods is an unparalleled ability
to get into the heads of characters, to hear their thoughts and understand
their reasoning and their view of the world. In more visually oriented mediums
such as film or video games, the most common method of sharing the thoughts of
a character is by means of narration or voiceover, both of which can slow the
pace of the story and detract from the action. In comics, on the other hand,
thought bubbles can be given equal prominence with dialog bubbles; used
sparingly, they can convey thoughts without slowing the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEj_yHBwulHoUoL2IGt2oiS8vABwbURrLGzhlTCWb4YrD_5vJgjyel_NH26A35PaZ_Q9pR45gU_NZuY_23AOC_dBGUQxNJlqn3kLieiZHGoZdYO5Y-20H46krESXag8g1eauL3WMvK34Hr/s1600/tb2bubble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEj_yHBwulHoUoL2IGt2oiS8vABwbURrLGzhlTCWb4YrD_5vJgjyel_NH26A35PaZ_Q9pR45gU_NZuY_23AOC_dBGUQxNJlqn3kLieiZHGoZdYO5Y-20H46krESXag8g1eauL3WMvK34Hr/s1600/tb2bubble.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Moonstone from <i>Thunderbolts</i> gives us a an example of good use of the thought bubble.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it is in prose that thoughts can really shine. In prose,
the audience can spend the entire story in the mind of the perspective
characters. Characters’ thoughts and emotions are readily available, often
acting as a filter through which the entire story and its world are related.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’ve already discussed <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/search/label/Character%20through%20description" target="_blank">how a perspective character’s personality, education, and background should influence how the story is told</a>.
But we haven’t really discussed <i>thoughts</i>—how
should you format a phrase that the character thinks, but never voices?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Option 1: No
Formatting</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Your first option is not to format a thought any differently
than anything else—simply set it apart with some variation of the phrase, “she
thought.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’ve sketched
out the runes properly, but I still can’t get the spell to work,” Santtu said. “Your
spellbook must not have the spell right.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> No, you’re just
an inept and arrogant idiot, Pinja thought. Out loud, she said, “Well, let’s
try it together, then.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In this example, the thoughts are simply conveyed in the
same manner as dialog, but without any quotation marks.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Option 2: Italics</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Italics are my preferred method of formatting thoughts, as
they help the lines stand out a bit more from the surrounding prose and dialog.
I particularly recommend italics if you’re writing a very thought-heavy story.
When you have long passages of internal monologs, it can be easy to lose track
of where the thoughts begin and end if they’re not set apart by italics.
Italics also make it easier to have lines of thought without tags:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’ve sketched
out the runes properly, but I still can’t get the spell to work,” Santtu said. “Your
spellbook must not have the spell right.”<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i> No, you’re just an inept and arrogant
idiot,</i> Pinja thought. Out loud, she said, “Well, let’s try it together,
then.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I already told
you, it doesn’t work.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Neither do you.</i> Pinja knelt and began
sketching out the runes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Not An Option:
Quotation Marks</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’ve seen quite a few people format lines of thought with
quotation marks, just as they would dialog:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’ve sketched
out the runes properly, but I still can’t get the spell to work,” Santtu said. “Your
spellbook must not have the spell right.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “No, you’re just
an inept and arrogant idiot,” Pinja thought. Out loud, she said, “Well, let’s
try it together, then.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I strongly recommend against this practice, as it is
needlessly confusing. You don’t want your character’s thoughts to get confused
with what they’re actually saying to other characters.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Many people use both quotation marks and italics for
thoughts:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’ve sketched
out the runes properly, but I still can’t get the spell to work,” Santtu said. “Your
spellbook must not have the spell right.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>“No, you’re just an inept and arrogant
idiot,”</i> Pinja thought. Out loud, she said, “Well, let’s try it together,
then.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is less confusing, but it is also redundant. The
italics already serve to set the line of thought apart from the rest of the
prose, and they do a better job of it than the quotation marks, so don’t worry
about using both.</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The one exception to this that I’ve seen is if you have two
or more characters who are capable of communicating telepathically. In this
case, quotation marks can be useful to help set apart telepathic thoughts from
normal ones.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-32782006742433695292015-04-13T12:06:00.000-06:002015-04-13T12:06:33.702-06:00Repetitive Sentence Structures<div class="MsoNormal">
Many writers tend to prefer certain types of sentences over
others. It’s not usually a conscious preference. It’s simply a particular
format or type of sentence that comes naturally to a writer, one that they tend
to use frequently because it is comfortable and instinctive. But it is possible
for repeated use of similar sentence formats to make prose dull and repetitive. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is similar to the problem covered in <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/11/when-long-sentences-get-out-of-hand.html" target="_blank">this post</a>, only now we're talking sentence structure instead of length. Here’s an example:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Smiling, Raul
opened the door to the house. With a gasp, Yasmin stepped inside, staring at
the transformed entryway. Rose petals covered the floor and brilliant glass
lanterns hung in rows from the ceiling. Taking her hand, Raul led the way along
the rose-petal path.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are four sentences in this example, and three of them
follow a similar format: short opening phrase, comma, and the rest of the
sentence. Try reading that out loud; it gets tiring, doesn’t it?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjz2zQf1MR3KaOx5XpFXF-QcyG5grbG2UmHk9cjOD97hz53kGe1jhqb5OxBQMxAfB5S2iLAydyy9bQmNsQ-PEsYVbp7ZyvluZqyxpTqX2FzIrCcM0AaSyVQ0wSQxIY6sgIbJBJsswPvj0B/s1600/FourCourse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjz2zQf1MR3KaOx5XpFXF-QcyG5grbG2UmHk9cjOD97hz53kGe1jhqb5OxBQMxAfB5S2iLAydyy9bQmNsQ-PEsYVbp7ZyvluZqyxpTqX2FzIrCcM0AaSyVQ0wSQxIY6sgIbJBJsswPvj0B/s1600/FourCourse.jpg" height="192" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Which four-course meal looks more appetizing?<br />Sentence structure is like food; variety is usually preferable to repetition.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is no hard and fast rule as to how much is too much
when it comes to repeating sentence formats. Sometimes a paragraph can function
just fine with several sentences of a similar style; other times, even just two
similar sentences in a row will be too much. But it is safe to say that the
more complicated the format of a particular sentence, the longer you should
wait before using a similar format again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The tricky thing about this problem is that it will be different
for every writer. The sentence formats that come most naturally to me won’t be
the same as the ones that come naturally to you. This makes it a bit harder to
spot, since I cannot give you specific structures to look out for.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As is often the case with hard-to-spot problems, your best
bet for this one is to gather together some discerning readers and ask them to
keep an eye out for this problem. Reading your prose out loud will also make
this problem easier to catch.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once you’ve identified a repetitive passage, it will usually
be pretty easy to fix. Here’s an edited version of our example above:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Smiling, Raul
opened the door to the house. Yasmin stepped inside with a gasp, staring at the
transformed entryway. Rose petals covered the floor and brilliant glass
lanterns hung in rows from the ceiling. Taking her hand, Raul led the way along
the rose-petal path.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Simple, right? In this case, we only needed to alter one
sentence to make the passage read more smoothly. Remember: repeated sentence
structures grow bland and tiresome—try to get in the habit of varying things up
regularly.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>P.S.</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay, I was wrong—I remembered one specific type of sentence
structure that tends to get repeated frequently which you should look
for. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Be careful to avoid beginning a series of sentences with the same pronoun
(or its possessive form). For example:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> Raul dropped to
his knees, clutching his stomach. He didn’t know what was causing it, but he
suddenly felt like he was going to vomit out entire organs. He crawled slowly
into the bathroom. His muscles spasmed with the pain, slowing him. He groaned
with the effort of moving. Finally, he reached the toilet. He lifted the lid
with shaking hands and positioned his head over the bowl, but nothing came out.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
See the problem? That paragraph had seven sentences; four
began with the word “he” and one began with an introductory phrase followed by “he”
as the subject. Plus, the second sentence was a compound sentence with “he” as
the subject of the second portion <i>and</i>
the subject of the embedded clause at the end. That’s seven phrases beginning
with “he” across seven sentences. Keep an eye out for any series of sentences
that all begin with the same pronoun.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-232669537944132862015-04-10T11:48:00.000-06:002015-04-10T11:50:55.273-06:00The Unclear Character<div class="MsoNormal">
Last time we discussed “<a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-un-set-scene.html" target="_blank">the un-set scene</a>”—when a scene is
unclear because the author has failed to establish a minimum level of basic
details about the setting. Today, we’ll cover a similar problem that can arise
with characters: “the unclear character.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Not all characters will require the same amount of
description—sometimes a very basic, even vague, description will suffice, while
other times a more thorough amount of detail will be necessary. Tolkien
described most of his characters, such as Gandalf and the hobbits, with great
precision. Dan Wells, on the other hand, has pointed out that he wrote several
books starring his character John Wayne Cleaver without ever telling us what
color John’s hair was. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
An excellent example of these opposing situations can be
found in <i>Twilight</i> by Stephanie Meyer.
Her descriptions of her male lead and love interest, Edward, are extremely
detailed, which is appropriate in a romance novel aimed at teenage girls. Her
descriptions of her protagonist Bella, on the other hand, are generally vague;
this allows readers to picture the details of Bella’s appearance however they
like, which in turn allows Bella to serve as an audience self-insertion avatar,
increasing readers’ involvement in the story and romance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
No matter how much or how little you choose to describe your
characters, there are a few basic details that your audience will need to
clearly picture your narrative:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgvLEY6-MxnAh0thPrCT7BUQAZYwCaM3N_0onIylgxq2gbl8jd6hyphenhyphenikcedux2jDWIzVGe9RU-4AnjVEw2yLstMeHqKLwrHQOTIaL1cIXa6Elrt5RKuFd-MH2IiWVwjVV791BEaxL_TECg/s1600/Mr_and_Mrs_Human_Being.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitgvLEY6-MxnAh0thPrCT7BUQAZYwCaM3N_0onIylgxq2gbl8jd6hyphenhyphenikcedux2jDWIzVGe9RU-4AnjVEw2yLstMeHqKLwrHQOTIaL1cIXa6Elrt5RKuFd-MH2IiWVwjVV791BEaxL_TECg/s1600/Mr_and_Mrs_Human_Being.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictured: characters without these basic, <br />
distinguishing characteristics.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Gender:</b> Gender is
one of the most basic elements that people use to categorize one another.
Whether the gender of your characters is male, female, or something else, it
will be helpful to your audience if they know where your characters fit along
that spectrum. You don’t want your audience to be picturing a character of one
gender only to discover later that they were completely wrong.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Age:</b> Not everyone
acts their age. Some children are unusually mature, while a disturbing amount
of adults never quite seem to grow out teenage behavior. This is part of the
reason that it is important to make clear what the ages of your characters are
early on. I’ve read many stories where the protagonist’s behavior led me to
believe that they were a child, only for me to discover later that they were
supposed to be an adult.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Unusual aspects of
appearance:</b> I once read a story written in third-person limited perspective
from the point of view of an old man. It was four pages before the author
mentioned, out of nowhere, that the old man had a peg leg. That’s the sort of
thing that would be a large part of a person’s life, don’t you think? It’s the
sort of thing that should be apparent from very early on in the story. Don’t
drop major details about a character’s appearance late in the story.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Species:</b> This is basically the same as "unusual aspects of appearance," but it's worthy of extra note. If a character is <i>not</i> a human being, you should generally make that clear up front.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That’s pretty much it. You can give more detail, of course
(and usually you <i>should</i>), but you
shouldn’t generally give less than this.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Note:</b> These rules
apply particularly to perspective characters. If we’re in a character’s head,
we should know what they know, including details about themselves. If you want to
hide details about a non-perspective character for later on, however, you can
usually do so. <o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-71948004149222585192015-04-08T12:59:00.000-06:002015-04-08T12:59:24.572-06:00The Un-Set Scene<div class="MsoNormal">
Awhile back I wrote a post on <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/10/description-how-much-is-too-much.html" target="_blank">how to decide when you’ve over-described something</a>. Today, I’d like to discuss the opposite problem,
specifically as it relates to scenes.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As they read, most people will picture the events of the
story in their minds, almost like scenes from a movie. An author’s task is to find
a balance between too much description and too little description. They must describe
a scene vividly enough for the majority of readers to picture it clearly, but
not with such long-winded detail that a large number of readers might get bored.
But often, authors fail to set a scene almost entirely.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not talking about neglecting to mention the color of the
carpet or the type of trees in the forest; I’m talking about forgetting to
mention that the action is taking place inside a room of some sort or that your
characters are in the forest. It’s surprising how many new writers don’t think
to mention where a conversation is taking place. They might, for instance,
mention that three characters are sitting at a table eating nachos while they
argue, but they won’t tell us where the table is. It could be in a kitchen, a
dining room, a bar, a restaurant, a cafeteria, or a break room, but the
audience doesn’t know for sure until halfway through the conversation when a
waiter comes in to ask them if they want dessert.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwHaKpc9LzwlpWzw5J-lNGBx2vF7Bebdx9gI1qNuPo2-tTPPewefn162cMNVZCOdg62n-CSmh17gOUyI_4F8hlKfOJbYZT4YBwSwJ8QZAVGbpwNlwy8ZXhbhekfCjvMAfLlpfkZGZ-8Ux/s1600/the-matrix09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTwHaKpc9LzwlpWzw5J-lNGBx2vF7Bebdx9gI1qNuPo2-tTPPewefn162cMNVZCOdg62n-CSmh17gOUyI_4F8hlKfOJbYZT4YBwSwJ8QZAVGbpwNlwy8ZXhbhekfCjvMAfLlpfkZGZ-8Ux/s1600/the-matrix09.jpg" height="166" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This is often called “White Room Syndrome,” because for all the audience can tell, the action is taking place in a blank white room. Great for the Matrix, but not so much for most other stories.</span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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So, how little is too little when it comes to description?
Here’s a few basic bits of information about setting that you should generally
try to get across to your readers within the first few paragraphs of a scene:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Where is the
immediate action taking place?</b> Are your characters indoors or outdoors? If
they’re indoors, what sort of room are they in—a kitchen, a bedroom, an office,
a parking garage, a space station control center? If they are outdoors, what
sort of terrain is around them—forest, plains, a lake, a river, red-rock desert,
the void of space? What is the weather like? Give your readers a few words to
set the backdrop to the action.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Where are your
characters at in that space?</b> Are they clustered around a table in the
corner? Is one of them sitting on the ground against a rock while the other two
climb a tree at the edge of a clearing? Are they strapped into seats at their
stations on the bridge of the space ship? Give some basic information about
where your characters are in relation to the setting and to one another.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Whose setting is
this?</b> Does the room, house, car, spaceship, or even the field or the
planet, belong to one of the characters? Are they trespassing? Are they simply
out in the unclaimed wild? This can be cleared up with a simple adjective—they sat
in <i>Calvin’s </i>kitchen or he ran through
the <i>king’s</i> forest. Are your
characters masters, owners, regulars, visitors, strangers, or interlopers in
this place?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>What time of day is
it?</b> I don’t mean the exact hour and minute, but rather a general sense of
time as it relates to the scene. Is it day, night, dawn, or dusk? Is it dark
out or light out? A daytime conversation in the park will have a completely
different feel than the same conversation in the same park in the middle of the
night. If it is pertinent, you might want to give readers a sense of the season
as well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>If this is the first
scene of the story, then what time period is it in?</b> Ever read a story that
you thought was taking place in a medieval setting, only to have someone drive
up in a car? Or a story that seemed modern until someone mentioned the warpgate
to Jupiter? It’s pretty disconcerting. Try to give your readers a clear sense
of the era (and by extension, the genre) right from the get-go.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>If this is not the
first scene of the story, then where is this setting in relation to previous
settings? </b>The importance of this information varies from story to story.
You could write an entire story that takes place in an unnamed city without it
ever being a problem—the character could move from their apartment to work to a
bar to a seedy nightclub without you needing to explicitly state where are
those places are in relation to one another. However, if you jump locations and
characters from scene to scene this may become important—if the last scene was
the King of Rohan at Helm’s Deep, and then you jump to the hobbits sneaking
into Mordor, it could be helpful to let your readers know that they’ve moved
several hundred leagues away.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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And that’s really it. You can add more detail to the setting
than what I’ve listed above, but you probably shouldn’t have less. Imagine that
you’re sketching the scene out with a pencil—these are the most basic lines
that you’ll need for it to be clear that you’re drawing a <i>scene</i> and not just a person, a place, or a thing. For more tips on
writing description, check out some of the posts listed <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/search/label/Description" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/search/label/Spicy%20Description" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2418403105903836058.post-5902694001663761082015-04-06T11:34:00.000-06:002015-04-06T11:34:37.043-06:00On Capitalization<div class="MsoNormal">
A hallmark of amateur writing that will quickly cause most
editors to lose interest in a manuscript is improper capitalization. This
includes both capitalizing letters that shouldn’t be capitalized and <i>not</i> capitalizing letters that should
have been capitalized.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On the surface, this is a simple issue—we all know to
capitalize proper nouns (names) and the first word of a sentence. But there are
all sorts of unusual or complicated situations that can arise when you’re
composing something as substantial as a novel. For instance, I have often seen
sentences like this:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’m an English
Major, but my girlfriend is a Chemistry Major.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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There are two things wrong with that sentence. First, the
word <i>major</i> should not be capitalized—many
people simply feel like it’s supposed to be capitalized since it’s paired with
the capitalized subject of the major (English and Chemistry in this case), but
it should be lowercase. But wait! That’s not all. <i>Chemistry</i> shouldn’t be capitalized in that example, either. The only school subjects that should be
capitalized are languages—English, Spanish, Russian, etcetera—because they are
adjectives derived from proper nouns (England, Spain, Russia, etcetera). So the
above example <i>should</i> be written like
this:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> “I’m an English
major, but my girlfriend is a chemistry major.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxeXt-ZN9qQFm39XTF7Fv0nhxq-p4SB4ZZWLsqq8nRBOTCesR8nRHyI6v61KrjPL_BJEtHE_r8XO3kZe1SZGhVTcXf9_pPdXU3YpcclsRH3JE8vORZk98PNo90LPgb-2WXbYTCHcKbbF7/s1600/star_trek_into_darkness.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxeXt-ZN9qQFm39XTF7Fv0nhxq-p4SB4ZZWLsqq8nRBOTCesR8nRHyI6v61KrjPL_BJEtHE_r8XO3kZe1SZGhVTcXf9_pPdXU3YpcclsRH3JE8vORZk98PNo90LPgb-2WXbYTCHcKbbF7/s1600/star_trek_into_darkness.png" height="137" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thank you to <a href="http://xkcd.com/" target="_blank">xkcd</a> for almost always having a relevant comic for my needs.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Now, I could fill pages and pages with all the little rules
of which words should be capitalized and which words shouldn’t. I’m not going
to, however, because Jane Straus has already done a fantastic job of that over
at <a href="http://grammarbook.com/">GrammarBook.com</a>. If I were to write a full post on capitalization, it would
basically be a near-word-for-word copy of hers, so I’m not going to waste the
energy. I’ll just recommend that you go check out <a href="http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/capital.asp" target="_blank">her post on capitalization</a>—read
the article, bookmark the page, and reference it often.</div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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That post will also be a handy guide for helping you decide
whether or not to capitalize words that you make up—if you’re writing science
fiction or fantasy, for instance. Check back here in the next week or two for
additional guidelines on that particular subject.<o:p></o:p></div>
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And don't forget to check out my post on <a href="http://storypolisher.blogspot.com/2014/07/capitalization-dialogue-tags.html" target="_blank">capitalization in dialog tags</a>.</div>
Christopher Baxterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14255333873728521772noreply@blogger.com0