Writing Tip: Grammer

Chances are that in reading this article you will find a grammatical mistake. I hope not and I plan not, but it is possible.

So how does an author make their novel grammatically correct?

I will get to that in a moment, but think about this: You don’t want your characters to speak or think grammatically correct! Such a character would be stiff, unbelievable. It is better if there speech denotes their age, education, and upbringing. So a rule I follow is that if something is within “quotes” then the rules of grammar can be loosened.

But in general you want your novel to be correct. Misspelled words and other grammatical mistakes can distract from the story. So here are a few suggestions:

o Make use of your Word processing program’s grammar tools
o When your program suggests an error, check it out.
o Use spelling help
o Use grammar help
o Google the problem (program questions spelling but you’re sure it is right, Google it)
o Look problem areas up in a grammar book or online grammar tools.

In writing this article I used my Microsoft Word (2003) grammar.

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