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February 2007 - Article: Advanced Techniques: Grammar - By Sandy Tritt
The greatest novel in the history of the universe will never reach
publication if the author does not have a decent command of the English
language. If your grammar needs a brush up, consider taking a grammar course
at your local college, or at least invest in a good grammar text and study
it. Most of the manuscripts I see have decent grammar. However, there are
still some common mistakes that I see too often. Here are some solutions:
• Maintain tense. Changing from past tense to present tense within a scene
is (almost) never acceptable.
• Check spelling. With all the spell check features available, there is no
excuse for misspelling words.
• Don’t always trust spell check. Many spell check editors remove hyphens
between compound adjectives that precede a noun, such as “well-known
writer.” Also be careful not to automatically accept the suggested
alternative spelling, and be sure to proof your work for the use of the
correct word.
• Spell out state names, “okay,” units of measure, people’s names, months,
and days of the week. It is okay to abbreviate titles that come before or
after proper names (Mrs. Smith, Dr. John Doe, MD), BC and AD, initials of
famous people (JFK, LBJ), corporations best known by their initials (TCI,
IBM), organizations (YMCA, FBI), and universities (WVU, UCLA). It is also
okay to use other acronyms, as long as they are generally understood or as
long as the first time they are used the full name is included in
parentheses afterwards.
• Punctuation goes inside quotation marks. “Learning the correct grammar,”
Sandy said, “can be interesting.”
• Use double quotation marks for dialogue. When it is necessary to make a
quote within dialogue, use single quotation marks. “Sandy said, ‘Watch using
single quotes.’”
• Keep your sentences parallel in construction. For example: “Johnny brought
his mother’s diary, handkerchief, and his father’s wallet for show and
tell.” Was the handkerchief his mother’s or someone else’s?
I also see certain words misused with some frequency. These include:
• Lay/Lie. Definitely the most common error I run into. And no wonder. In
present tense, lay means to cause to lie down or to place. It requires an
object. Example: “He laid his hat next to his gloves,” where laid (past
tense of “lay”) is the verb and his hat is the object. Lie means to be or to
place oneself in a reclining position. Example: “He lies on the bed
pretending to sleep.” There is no object, nothing that further explains what
or who lies, because the verb lie modifies the subject of the sentence (in
this case, he). But it is past tense that trips up 80% of the writers I’ve
worked with. The past tense of lay is laid. No sweat. BUT—the past tense of
lie is lay. Ugh! (Any wonder we get confused?) Examples:
Present tense: She lays the book on the table.
Past tense: She laid the book on the table.
Present tense: She lies on the sofa and enjoys the breeze.
Past tense: She lay on the sofa and enjoyed the breeze.
• Alright/All right. Alright is no longer considered an acceptable word. All
right is the only correct spelling.
• Then/Than. Then means a time or accordingly. Than is a comparison.
• Affect/Effect. Affect is usually a verb meaning “to influence.” Effect is
a noun, meaning “result.” Drinking does not affect his personality. If fact,
it seems to have no effect at all.
• Conscience/Conscious. Conscience is a noun meaning having a sense of right
and wrong. Conscious is an adjective meaning to be aware of.
• Further/Farther. Farther refers to actual, physical distance. Further
refers to a thought or idea. “It is farther to Nancy’s house than we
thought.” “The further we go in the discussion, the more apparent it becomes
that the parents are always right.”
• Each other/One another. Each other is used when only two people are
involved. One another is used when more than two people are involved. “Jane
and Michael looked at each other and sighed.” “The Holzen triplets hugged
one another.”
• Have/ Of. Use have, not of, after helping verbs such as could, would,
should, may and might. I should have (not of) known that. I think this
confusion occurs because of the pronunciation of the contracted have: ‘ve.
So, our example sentence could have been written: I should’ve known that.
If your grammar exceeds the seventh grade level, you make take literary
license and “adjust” the grammar as you see fit as long as it serves an
artistic purpose. Such as using sentence fragments like this one for
emphasis. Or starting sentences with conjunctions (like this one). However,
if it doesn’t serve a purpose, use correct grammar so your reader (and
publisher!) will realize that you do understand the proper way of doing it.
There are many websites devoted to grammar and/or spelling, so don’t
hesitate to scan the Net for help if you need it.
(c) copyright 2002 by Sandy Tritt. All rights reserved, except for those
listed here. The article can be reproduced for educational purposes (such as
for writer's workshops), as long as this copyright notice and the url:
http://tritt.wirefire.com are distributed with the pages. For use in
conferences or other uses not mentioned here, please contact Sandy Tritt at
www.InspirationForWriters.com.for permission and additional resources at no
or limited charge.
Keep writing!
Sandy Tritt
Sandy@InspirationForWriters.com
Sandy's website: www.InspirationForWriters.com
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