Current Project: HIS BABY sequel
Status: waiting to hear...
I have a good friend who used to teach college creative writing. She is intelligent and funny and all the rest and she's also long winded. One time she confessed it was her habit to say things three different times to her students, varying the telling just a little. It was her impression they learned better this way.
It's about then I began to notice something: when she talked to me, she said everything important three times in three slightly different ways. It became a mental game to click them off as she spoke. Eventually, I teased her about it. Another teacher friend used to emphasis the importance of presenting material in several different ways. Some people have to see the written word, some have to hear it spoken, some need the reinforcement of writing the information down, etc...
Which brings me to the number one way I remember certain things and that's by the time honored route of abject humiliation.
For instance, one of my early editors and I were talking one day when she mentioned how little editing I required -- BUT she sure wished I would learn the difference in "then" and "than." She said it in such a weary voice, it froze me cold. I immediately looked it up and to this day I seldom make the mistake. The lesson stuck.
A CP friend once looked at the following at the finish of one of my books: - the end - . She made a note: "Don't go all T.S. Elliot on us, capitalize it." Again, the horror I might be thought to be doing something pretentious halted me in my tracks. LOL, nowadays I might not even pay attention, but at the time, it embarrassed me.
Remember when a stray bullet intended for President Reagan hit (I believe his press secretary), James Brady? I was later reading an article on the man. It mentioned he kept a pair of scissors in his desk and cut out each and every "that" that crossed his desk. I can't remember if this was an illustration of his dislike of the word or a fact, but it really made an impression on me. Now, most of the thats in my books have to work to belong and it came as a huge surprise when my last copy editor -- a new one to me -- went through my manuscript and added a lot of them back in where I had laboriously taken them out. I took them out again, but the lesson I learned here is this -- perhaps it's not enough to take them out, perhaps I need to rework the sentence.
Ditto on something else I read. The writer claimed using the word "said" should be enough. Ditch "reply" and "asked" and "responded" this person said. I also took this advice to heart as it made sense to me. This last copy editor is the only one I've ever had who crossed out half my said (s) and used other words. So, I crossed out her words which seemed silly to me and didn't sound like my voice. My poor editor is going to have to go back and make all the changes.
Then there's the whole its/it's subject. That one came home when a much published author friend made a note at the top of one of my manuscript pages and simply wrote it's=it is. I know, I know, hardly brain surgeon stuff, but it made an impression and I find myself mumbling it to myself every time I use the word.
After I joined this group, some of members talked about the horror of ly words. The first book I wrote after hearing the discussion left the house with no ly words in it. I actually did a search. I tore out everything, right down to the word "really." I was possessed. Then I began noticing how many of the writers I read use these words and how little it really bothered me and I chilled out. I still don't use them a lot, I never have, but it's one of the breakable rules like avoiding run on sentences and never beginning a sentence with "And" or "But" . I got over it.
Looking back I can see most or all of these lessons involve grammar which would not surprise my high-school teachers one bit. How about you? Are there some lessons you've learned the hard (embarrassed) way or are you able to pick up information and use it upon first reading or hearing it?
15 comments:
Alice, as a former teacher, I so get your friends! I, too, say things several different ways, write them several different ways, and I, as well, am long-winded. (Bless my editor's heart, she likes my long-windedness and fights to keep my word count instead of hacking and slicing, which she could very well do.) I never made the correlation between teaching - and having to explain things different ways to get kids to understand - but now that you say it, I definitely see that, yeah, I do that too.
As for lessons. So many of yours are the same as mine. A college prof once went through one of my English papers and red marked all the "that's" in the piece. I do not use "that" unless I absolutely have to, and when I crit someone else's work, I'm usually going through deleting every "that" I see as well, unless it's absolutely needed.
I had a high school English teacher who drove home the point about past tense. When your'e talking about something that happened in the past vs. the present, you use "had". As in, "He had gone to the store." Instead of, "He went to the store." That's a pet peeve of mine now, and something that stands out to me in stark contrast when I read a book.
It took me a long time to write a book that featured a cop, because I once had a CP tell me, "Don't write about cops. You don't do it well." Obviously, we're no longer CPs, but I can attest to the fact that comment really shook my faith in writing anything about anyone even closely related to law enforcement.
And the whole, 'starting a sentence with and or but?" Phhthth. I do it all the time. It's part of my voice. I entered a contest a few years ago where ONE judge marked me down on that, and her marks on THAT one piece of grammar were what kept me from finaling (this was the Daphne, btw). Ticked me off so much, I vowed to continue to write the way I talk. Which often means starting sentences with the dreaded 'and' or 'but'. And you know what? No editor, agent or copy editor has EVER called me on it.
Fun post!
Yup, as a teacher here too, I have to say things a variety of different ways, and I find myself doing this in writing as well, which makes editing all the more fun.
I'll go against the grain and say that I like the word "that." And "Which." They add clarity to a sentence and show what is being referred back to and indicate intentionality whereas merely running two independent clauses together without the "that" creates confusion b/c of the apparent run-on sentence. I don't have a problem with removing "that" when it's a very obvious reference and a short dependent clause, but if removing "that" creates the appearance of a run-on sentence, please put it back in! Or, as you suggest, reword. A lot of times, writers have a lot of "that" statements when they are using passive voices. If you make your sentences active and really focus on showing, the need for "that" is reduced.
Rant over. Nice blog, Alice.
Eli -- I remember you telling me you didn't write about cops, from the cop's POV, because you weren't any good at it. I had no idea that gem of wisdom (not) came from a CP. Lordy, if we all stuck to writing things we knew very well, our books would be so boring.
I read an article written by a very well known mystery writer (pre Internet saturation, btw) who talked about how uptight writers get when talking about different facets of law enforcement because they don't understand every detail of how everything works. We're talking things like does this county in Illinois have a Police Chief or a sheriff or a... His point was, who cares? Make it work for your story, stay consistent, and don't worry about it.
I'm not sure if I agree with him, but it did serve to loosen me up a little. And pre Internet, it was tricky to find out every detail -- frankly, it still is difficult which probably explains why my stories always take place in fictional towns...
No editor has ever called me on And of But beginnings, either. I imagine if you were to overdue it, it would be a different story.
Thanks for checking in!
Wavy, I love your rants and I agree with you on the clarity which is why I mentioned rewording the sentence. I actually left in a couple of the copy editor's "thats" because I agreed they helped. And there were a couple of "thats" in the blog, one following my dishing using the word! LOL.
The run on sentences the woman pointed out were in dialogue, sometimes, and read like this: "You weren't even supposed to know I was here, man, the boss is going to kill me." Yes, it could be two sentences, but I don't want it to be two sentences. The speaker was distraught and talking fast and that's the way he spoke.
I never thought about the three times mentioned editing process. Yikes.
Alice, it's interesting about the "three times" teaching thing. There's a series of very good technical "how to" books called "Head First" books that take this approach. They're some of the best books on learning how to do things like write javascript or html that I've read.
My bugaboo has always been "lay" and "lie." I know the difference, but if I think about them too long I can thoroughly confuse myself! And I don't think there's a thing wrong with starting a sentence with "and" or "but" every now and then. Ha! :-)
I remember having a section on grammar each school year when I was a kid, but quite frankly, I learned more about English grammar when I took two semesters of college German. (And bonus--I can still remember how to say, "Das ist auzgezeichnetes bier!" ("That is excellent beer!") a critically important phrase if you ever plan on travelling to Germany during Oktober). LOL
My word verification is barfo. lol
I'm always amazed with the there, their, and they're problems. And it's and its.
And I like to start sentences with "and" and but. :)
Whoops! I may still be able to say it, but looks like I've forgotten how to spell it. The word is "ausgezeichnetes," not "auzgezeichnetes."
Of course I have embarrassing grammar lessons--but I'm not going to confess them and go through that humiliation again. LOL!
My edits are watching for too many dashes in sentences--(like this) when I should make them two sentences or use different punctuation. I also have a tendency to repeat one word a lot of times, so I watch for that as I make edits.
I used to delete all "thats," but I've tempered my zeal in doing that!
I also have to be careful that I don't start a lot of paragraphs with the hero or heroine's name. Again, something I catch when I do edits.
In fact, I do one pass through my stories looking for a number of these type of things. But it's not something that stops me cold if I miss something.
Interesting post, Alice. Since I see lots of partials in all stages of the writing phase, I secret away all the things that annoy me and try not to do them myself- 20 ly words on one page, 15 that, 10 then, Every third sentence ending with !, eyes bouncing around the room, and my least favorite- using the characters names all the time with never a pronoun.
Now the things that I have a tough time with are lie-lay and past-passed. When at all possible I find a different way to word a sentence than have to use one of those words. Because I know I"ll use the wrong one!
LOL, Debbie, lay and lie are bugaboos for me, too.
I took two years of high school Spanish and can remember very little but my friends in French class taught me how to say "Shut your big mouth" in French and I can still remember that (though I would no idea how to spell it.)
Kendra, we But and And starters seem to be in good company! barfo, huh? Hm---
Genene, you're right, these kind of errors don't stop you cold. They're annoying, but they're not deal breakers and a decent copy editor can take care of a lot of it for you. I imagine you're like I am, though. I don't want someone else catching my mistakes (although every once and awhile, I'll get an edit where I have to face the cold hard fact THAT using the same word five times on one page isn't a good thing.)
Oh, Paty, the things you mentioned all drive me crazy, too. Beginner mistakes although there is one perennial NYT best selling mystery/thriller writer whose characters address each other by name so often I want to rip out their throats. "Pat, listen to me, I wouldn't tell you this if I didn't have to." "John, I know." Ack!
I forgot to mention the eyeball thing. That one came home to me when I was in a CP group and one member was reading aloud. She said something along the lines of "His eyes slid down the table..." and all of us snickered at once as we pictured this guy popping out his eyes and rolling them down the table like a pair of dice.
Glad you're back to the land of the Internet.
I've heard of the 3 time rule, which is very useful in advertising copy, but maybe not so much in fiction. I've been caught for being redundant a few times, even though the redundancy was on purpose. My bad.
My bigges buggaboo is my homonym abuse. I think I have a phonics brain worm. I know the difference between words, but my fingers insist on typing something else. I know someone has soul and not sole. I realize the difference between aloud and allowed even though I type it wrong. I'm hopeless.
Now Karen, that is a unique problem! Aloud and allowed! Snort.
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