Dwayne’s Comments (group member since Apr 01, 2017)

Dwayne’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

Hey guys? It would be best to do as Amelia is asking and shoot her a PM. This is a public forum and posting your email address puts you at risk as anyone can access this page, including robots.

M.L. wrote: "There's easy-to-read slang/misspelling vs. harder. For example:

Diary, Jan 2, 2018

I'm writin this diary cuz my English teacher Miss Chiswell made me mad, she sed I can't spel worth shitt. I'm go..."

Yeah, I'm thinking of doing something like that, only a bit more subtle. "Got my creative writing asignment back, the one I thought was so great? Teacher dropped me a buncha points for spelling. Wow."

Since I write a lot of books with characters with poor grammar, use a lot of made up words and usually include at least one line written in a foreign language, my spell checker hates me anyway.

Sabrina wrote: "I could never read a book with intentional grammar issues. I understand you could use this tactic for a teenaged diary to make it more realistic and whatnot....however..."

Fair enough.

B. wrote: "As a reader, more than a few errors done on purpose, would put me off. I've never found a book to be error free (not even mine which went through several editors)"

Thank you for your input. It seems I'm not the only one who still finds mistakes in their work even after a dozen edits.

M.L. wrote: "Without reading the specific work, I don't know.

Just adding: In other words, is her topic not to be taken *as seriously* by somehow undercutting her earnestness. Hope that makes sense! :) "

I think I get it.

I've been hesitant to say what the subject is as I don't need to start a debate here about it, but - it's inspired by recent events here in the US.

In my story, a small town is being turned upside down as the long time beloved mayor is accused of raping a woman some years ago. At first my main character is siding with adults who think the accuser is lying and out to destroy the mayor, but as the story progresses she becomes less comfortable with how men and boys treat her and less confident anyone will believe her if she were in serious trouble.

Maybe I shouldn't lighten it up at all. It's been a long time since I've wanted to tell a story so badly but had so little confidence in how to tell it.

J.S. wrote: "I personally could accept it more in YA than children's books."

This is neither. This is very much intended for adults.

Noor wrote: "One last thing, I once read a book about online bullying and the entire thing was written in the form of internet chat board messages."

Yeah, that's similar. This subject's a touch heavier, though.

C.L. wrote: "But if you just spell things a little wrong occasionally people may not pick up on the fact that it is deliberate characterization. If you overdo it the story may become unreadable. There's a fine balance."

I'm becoming less bold about the intentional poor spelling as the comments come in. As said, it's a serious subject matter and it seems almost half of the people responding would be put off by the spelling. I not excited about that. Some of my stories, sure, but this one feels too important.

If I go with it, the misspellings will be consistent and nothing too off-the-wall. (homecomeing, cigaret, unaform).

Ubiquitous wrote: "The general rule of thumb that I like to use is to include enough of the slang/grammar/spelling “flavor” to give the character a voice..."

I do that, too, especially in this series. All these short stories are told in first person and the narrators are small town working class types, so I try to give each narrator a unique voice.

Christina wrote: "But if the diary format *is* the story..."

It is.

Ian wrote: "A young girl might write like that, but the reader may well be confused. Confuse the reader too often and you lose the reader."

Not super worried about this. That will get ironed out in the beta reader stage.

C.L. wrote: "Forrest Gump"

Damn. I feel foolish, now. I have seen deliberate poor grammar in older books, but could not think of any contemporary books in which this is done. I cannot believe I forgot about Forrest Gump as Winston Groom is one of my influences. And you're right, the book is ripe with misspelled words, way more than my little story will have. Of course, maybe there's something to doing it a little over-the-top to clue the reader in that this is intentional. As you pointed out, people often expect Indie books to be poorly written and badly edited.

Jay,

In all your rambling, I'm guessing the answer to what I was actually asking is "no."

As for the rest, I used to keep a journal when I was a kid. It was crazy full of angst, anxiety, glee, etc. I don't know if this is how others journal, but it's how my character does it. In other words, it's not a history book. Thanks for the unnecessary lecture, anyway.

Amelia wrote: "If it's in first person, sure but to a limit. I could handle a few typos and grammar mistakes before putting the book down."

Definitely first person. And the "mistakes" will be limited. Thank you!

Lauren wrote: "Just be sure it does add to the reader's understanding of and appreciation for the lead, rather than just a neat idea or gimmick."

That's why I'm inclined to keep all the "mistakes" at a minimum. I don't want it to feel too gimmicky. Thanks for your comment. I may have to take a look at Daz 4 Zoe.

b

And I think it reads fine with the period. It reads as if she's a little hesitant to talk about the party or she's been distracted and almost forgot about it.

Catherine wrote: "Hurray! "

No links. No self promotion.

Catherine wrote: "Hurray! I'm here to bookwhack!"

Stop it.

Margaret wrote: "I think it would seem very unrealistic if there weren't grammatical and spelling errors. I teach teenagers..."

So grateful for your input. I don't spend a lot of time around teenagers these days, but I know when I was a teenager and later in life when I worked as a camp counselor, etc. the teens I knew didn't care much about spelling and grammar, unless they were writing a paper for school.

Sylvia wrote: "As long as it is part of the dialogue of the person writing it."

Yep. To me, a diary is like a conversation with yourself.