Monday, September 19, 2011

To comma or not, that is the question....

Actually that's not the question, but a part of it! I want to talk about writing rules and how closely everyone follows them.

"Rules were made to be broken....
Well maybe not broken but bent just a little...
I was checking out a blog the other day, can't remember which one and the writer of the blog said,
"You should write by the rules, no exceptions." Okay that was his personal opinion."

Then I was looking into a publisher who said that only proper names for body parts should be used.
So I'm guessing breast are not boobs, and a penis is definitely not a tally whacker!

Then I stumbled upon a blog that said, "why name the body parts at all"
http://www.utne.com/2005-03-01/HowtoWriteaSexScene.aspx?page=3

Every where you turn you will find different rules and different opinions.
I am thinking that we need to stick to the basics, and then the rest,
 well bend them a little to make them work.

Not everyone write's the same and there are times when we can't agree on the rules,
 so maybe we need to bend just a little.

Which comes to my title "To comma or not." Guess this is a debate that has been around for a long time!
 I was taught to write the sentence, The car is red, white, and blue. And yet others disagree. You can check out a discussion on the famous comma here!
http://www.bardsworth.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=83

Below are a couple more links for writing....
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one
I loved Margaret Atwood's rules on the above link! And Roddy Doyle's

So what rules do you stick to, what ones do you bend and what ones do you throw away altogether??

5 comments:

  1. I WRITE , THE WAY I WANT TO WRITE!!!!!!!! IF I FEEL A COMMA GOES SOMEWHERE. SCHOOLS TODAY ARE NOT ALL THAT BIG ON PROPER ENGLISH ETC.... HECK I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW THAT U CAN ADD ' AFTER THE LETTER S !!!!!! I THOUGHT IT WAS A TYPO!

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  2. You're right we should be able to write the way we want to, but sometimes we have to stop and consider what do our readers want and how will agents and publishers feel about our writing styles.....

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  3. I agree with your points about agents & publishers, but I have some reservations about writing what your readers want - at least initially, until you've "established" a (successful!) style. Maybe it would more appropriately be what YOU want your readers to want, what you hope your potential readers want. Now, Stephen King probably doesn't have that problem anymore...
    Writing from the heart, so to speak, will establish your individual style - no matter what the subject is. Of course, some story building blocks have to be respected least the tale fall flat, and correct grammar and sentence structure keeps a story flowing. In my opinion, common useage expressions are perfectly permissible, too, so long as they're not over used and become jargon.
    Let it flow!
    p.s. - I love the Oxford comma. :)

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  4. Grammar has changed drastically over the years. Some people follow rules from 20-30 years ago, while others have written in a more modern prose. It depends on the audience. Write the way you feel comfortable.

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  5. That's what I was thinking Miranda. Also, you can't write the way everyone wants you to write, because everyone has different views and opinions. Evidently the saying is true, "You can't please all the people all the time"

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Leave a comment. I'd love to hear your viewpoint