DAY 39Word Count: 25,463
Sentence of the Day: He clenched his jaw instad of shaking her like the empty-headed ragdoll she playacted.
Writing is so subjective. What's fan-freaking-tastic writing to one is a steaming pile of doo-doo to another. What one publisher snatches up, another will reject. What's a writer to do?
Subjectivity or not, there are some basic, can't-argue-with-this kind of rules that make for solid writing...writing that will eventually get you sold. For the next few days, I'll go over the top 3.
RULE # 1:
Know the rules before you break them.
As much as I hate grammar, it is a necessary evil. Vomiting words on a page without punctuation will make your reader sick. If you weren't fortunate enough to have Mother Superior cracking your knuckles with a ruler when you committed a grammar gaffe, then do yourself a favor now, it's not too late. Learn sentence and paragraph structure. Get yourself a good grammar book and/or a grammar guru that's willing to talk you through the basics.
Note: I said basics. Leave the sentence diagramming to English majors.
Once you get a handle on general language construction, that's when the fun begins. Now you can make a statement by bending or breaking those rules to smithereens.
For instance, too many sentence fragments will make a reader reach for a bottle of Ritalin. But if you're writing a fast-paced scene, then you want to ramp up the tension with short, punchy lines.
On the flip slide, if you're trying to slow down a scene or make your reader feel how tired your character is, that's the time to throw in a run-on sentence.
Knowing how and when to wield the grammar scalpel is part of the craft--a part that both readers and editors will notice.
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4 comments:
I like this post. Too many new writers want to ignore the rules totally. What they don't get is that multi-published authors paid attention to those "rules."
We've all read those sentences in a book that stop us and make us drool. They're exquisite and say a thousand words in only 6 or 7. These authors learned the rules when they started writing, and then they learned how to manipulate or break them to suit their work and make it sing.
I'm working on creating a choir in my books. Dunno if I'll get Whoopie Goldberg as a director or St. Peter.
Hah! Go for the gusto...St. Peter, baby.
And yeah, the other thing about new writers is that they think this writing gig is an instant kind of thing. Read a grammar book and bingo, we have a winner. Not so much. As you well know, it takes a LOT of time and writing to figure out this rule/rule-breaking angle of the craft.
Thanks for stopping by, Ane!
Hi Michelle! Great post! I was a "C" grammar student throughout grade school, and I never got the hang of sentence diagrams. But when I got serious about writing stories, my grammar began to improve. Maybe because I started caring about grammar... or maybe it only seems that way because I've been playing with sentences for fifteen years. *Chuckling* You're right, it would be wise to get a grammar book and refresh. :-)
Playing with sentences is a great way to learn, Gwen. Sometimes it takes the hands-on of writing to learn a concept.
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