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Slight Grammar Review, Class
Nov. 2nd, 2008 04:57 pmOkay. I have to say this, really I do. I love the fact that people write fiction and post it on the internet; it's amazing that our society has developed this thing that lets me read so much for free. And so I realise I probably shouldn't then complain about people's spelling and grammar, but somehow I still feel like I have the right to demand that writers take a good look through Strunk & White or something.
~Homophones--these are really not that hard if someone will take three seconds to think before using their/they're/there, its/it's, and a few others each time. Plus, be consistent. So frustrating when authors use 'they're' properly once, then next instance use 'they'll' because they're not paying attention.
~Appositives--as a quick reminder to those who have understandably forgotten this bit of arcanery, an appositive is when you set something off with commas. For instance, the sentence 'He looked out over the horizon and reached, one hand out in supplication, for absolution.' contains the appositive 'one hand out in supplication'. I'm so tired of people not closing their appositives, creating comma splices.
~Missing out words--I know often when one types up a fic post, one is in a hurry, but seriously, this doesn't negate the need to read it carefully before clicking Post. I see lots of entries that contain sentences missing entire words or even groups of words, and that not only makes the story more difficult to understand, it takes the reader out of the story while she has to figure out what those missing words are.
Similarly, I see he and she getting mixed up by accident, and it can be humourous, but mostly it's annoying. Again, easily solved by checking post carefully or getting a careful beta/editor.
ETA: Ooh, I was just reminded how much this one bugs me: 'discrete/discretely' refers to a solid, concrete concept in literature or describes sets of numbers in maths. 'Discreet/discreetly', on the other hand (or foot), is what fic writers usually want, and means to perform an action in a covert or politely unnoticeable manner.
Anyway, I really just felt like I couldn't keep this in any longer; it's not meant in a mean spirit at all, and lord knows I respect the hell out of all the writers out there. Just, please, make sure you take the time your awesome stories deserve and go over them a lot right before you click that post button!
~Homophones--these are really not that hard if someone will take three seconds to think before using their/they're/there, its/it's, and a few others each time. Plus, be consistent. So frustrating when authors use 'they're' properly once, then next instance use 'they'll' because they're not paying attention.
~Appositives--as a quick reminder to those who have understandably forgotten this bit of arcanery, an appositive is when you set something off with commas. For instance, the sentence 'He looked out over the horizon and reached, one hand out in supplication, for absolution.' contains the appositive 'one hand out in supplication'. I'm so tired of people not closing their appositives, creating comma splices.
~Missing out words--I know often when one types up a fic post, one is in a hurry, but seriously, this doesn't negate the need to read it carefully before clicking Post. I see lots of entries that contain sentences missing entire words or even groups of words, and that not only makes the story more difficult to understand, it takes the reader out of the story while she has to figure out what those missing words are.
Similarly, I see he and she getting mixed up by accident, and it can be humourous, but mostly it's annoying. Again, easily solved by checking post carefully or getting a careful beta/editor.
ETA: Ooh, I was just reminded how much this one bugs me: 'discrete/discretely' refers to a solid, concrete concept in literature or describes sets of numbers in maths. 'Discreet/discreetly', on the other hand (or foot), is what fic writers usually want, and means to perform an action in a covert or politely unnoticeable manner.
Anyway, I really just felt like I couldn't keep this in any longer; it's not meant in a mean spirit at all, and lord knows I respect the hell out of all the writers out there. Just, please, make sure you take the time your awesome stories deserve and go over them a lot right before you click that post button!
