Goodreads Authors/Readers discussion
Bulletin Board
>
Punctuation and parentheses...
date
newest »
newest »
I've gotten to the point where the only time a last word preposition bothers me is when it's tacked onto a sentence for no apparent reason. "Where are you going to?" But really, "Why are you doing that?" sounds much better than "What are you doing that for?" even in everyday speech, regardless of rules.
C.M.J. wrote: "Yeah, I really liked the Oatmeal link too. :)R.A., after you've been dragged from house to house to beg candy from strangers is EXACTLY the time to write posts on this thread because they're boun..."
My sugar-high consisted mostly of a slight headache and stomach cramps from chugging soda (which I almost never drink). We ran out of candy to pass out, so I ended up passing out the candy my son had collected. He doesn't really eat candy, anyway, but his father was disappointed in me. I told him he could go get a whole bag for 50% off today if he really wanted to. Is this last sentence acceptable? 'To' is technically a preposition, isn't it? But is it functioning as a prep. in this sentence? See, this is where I stop caring. But now I am curious...
R.A., you should have stopped at the "stopped caring" part. ;)Yes, that last sentence was acceptable.
No, "to" is an infinitive here. The understood part of the verb is "get," as in "if he really wanted to get a whole bag." Now aren't you sorry you asked? :)
Now aren't you sorry you asked? :) This is why I love these threads.
These helpful suggestions just reinforce my conviction that I am far better off paying some who knows this stuff than I am trying to remember the rules of gerunds, prepositions, hanging modifiers or worrying about which their they're there I intended to type. Just because I love to paint doesn't mean I should be the guy to construct the walls or run the electricity
Raymond wrote: "These helpful suggestions just reinforce my conviction that I am far better off paying some who knows this stuff than I am trying to remember the rules of gerunds, prepositions, hanging modifiers o..."I'm right with you, Raymond, only from the other side. I can't come up with an original plot to save my life, but I can tell you how to punctuate yours. I'm only good at writing about things that have happened throughout my day. I rely on you authors to entertain me.
But I believe that's the beauty of it - a good editor helps a writer strengthen his style by showing him the rules he can break and those that he absolutely cannot break- writing is not cooking, you don't season to taste- writing is like baking, you can only be creative while prescribing to a fairly strict use of ingredients - damn there's a blog post in that somewhere
Lol me too- I'm month three on low carbs and starting to dream about carrot cake- I'm starting to think that at 47 I'd rather be fat and happy than attractive and without pasta
So I shouldn't rub it in that I made pasta carbonara yesterday...(Using ellipsis to show that this is still a thread about punctuation)
I understand the need of clear and grammatically correct sentences. But it could be overdone and then the way the author expresses its ideas may be clouded. For example. A particular character may speak to the author in some defective or esoteric way -- slurred, grammar or punctuation. Then the author writes it as is. Too much editing could destroy the intended personality of the character.
I wonder. Some of my SF stories happen in the far future. Where people will not use the same rules, language or even sounds. How can I convey that, while keeping present day editors happy?
Lol...I hate when- I hijack a {thread} I should start one called "round and round she goes" where we start with a topic and see where it evolves to...or...we begin with a topic and monitor its progress- just to remove the "to" in case it's not an infinitive in that sentence and is a preposition.
Humberto said: "I wonder. Some of my SF stories happen in the far future. Where people will not use the same rules, language or even sounds. How can I convey that, while keeping present day editors happy?"Just make sure your editor is clear on the particulars of the dialogue patterns. It doesn't have to be wrecked by oh-so-proper language if it's done well.
Raymond said: "I hate when- I hijack a {thread} I should start one called "round and round she goes" where we start with a topic and see where it evolves..."
I'll be hanging out there if you start one.
Raymond wrote: "Lol me too- I'm month three on low carbs and starting to dream about carrot cake- I'm starting to think that at 47 I'd rather be fat and happy than attractive and without pasta"A study found that people who are socially active are healthier than people who focus on healthy eating habits. As one writer put it (my loose quote, here), 'It's better to eat twinkies with friends than to eat broccoli alone.' So whip up a carrot cake and hang with us. If you really feel guilty, you can bounce on an exercize ball while you eat.
@humberto- I'm a writer not an editor but I think you have to be careful with that approach as it may make for a difficult reading experience. I like Stephen kings approach. He writes it properly but then explains "how" the character pronounced it. Creating new rules of grammar and speech is a linguistic challenge even if you can maintain all the rules throughout you have to consider first and foremost the reader and his or her reading experience- but I'm a writer not an editor
Raymond wrote: "@humberto- I'm a writer not an editor but I think you have to be careful with that approach as it may make for a difficult reading experience. I like Stephen kings approach. He writes it properly b..."I'm with you on that one. I don't think I'd read very far if I felt like I had to translate everything myself. In sci-fi as well as fantasy, there's an understanding that the story has been put into a language the reader can understand. My characters don't speak English, they speak the 'common tongue' and other languages. I do create distinctions between cultures, expressions and so on, but that's for flavor.
@RA I am mostly impressed by fantasy writers - I'm not creative enough to create new worlds- my specialty is destroying this one- I do try to adhere to the Hemingway method of shorter sentences being better, it makes punctuation and other rules of grammar so much easier.
Anytime we can tie carrot cake, pasta and broccoli into a thread, I am happy chickadee. Actually, I nice dish of cavatelli with broccoli rabe and garlic would be even nicer! Red pepper flakes to taste...(dot,dot,dot on purpose- of course.)
Amy wrote: "(dot,dot,dot on purpose- of course.)See? We can focus. Really.
There is probably a limit to a thread titled "punctuation"...
As long as you use punctuation you are not technically violating the thread////
Surely there must be a cookbook thread here where we can talk about cake and pasta.Oh, almost forgot: [brackets are my punctuation of choice for this post]
On the day of the apocalypse you will find me in the Costco bakery section with a spoon - did that sentence require a comma?
In my world, just about all sentences require commas :).It's one of my many failings.
R.A., after you've been dragged from house to house to beg candy from strangers is EXACTLY the time to write posts on this thread because they're bound to contain questionable punctuation and grammar, all fueled by a sugar high!