Grammar don't matter much

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

Joe wrote: "I can tell you what I don't do, and that's take any grammatical advice from MS Word, haha."

Oh, same here. More times than not, it's wrong.

[Zoltán]

I think the bare minimum is not to shake out the readers and have them staring at the book with a look on their face "Hey! Even I know that's incorrect! And that's something..." In general (methinks :) ), a good grammar should be a goal, but above a certain level, the content will decide. If you are dragged along by the story, a few bumps won't make you stop.

In dialogue anything goes. If it's intentional.

Commas are my arch nemesis as well, whatever language I write in. Those nasty little hobbitses show up and disappear constantly. I set them in line, look the other way for a while and by the time I get back, the place looks like an after party mess.

[Quoleena]

Zoltán wrote: "Commas are my arch nemesis as well, whatever language I write in. Those nasty little hobbitses show up and disappear constantly."

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Unite!

[Davyne]

T.R. wrote: "I generally try to use correct grammar when writing the narrative (at least in third person,) but I do still try to loosen up the rules to make it sound closer to something spoken. With character d..."

I know what you mean! I've written several short stories in dialect, and the hard part (for me) is to get the dialect across without making the reader say "Wha.....?" In dialect, I don't write proper grammar, but what the character would say... without losing the reader (I hope!)...

[Quoleena]

I'm going to blatantly hijack this thread and say:

H to the mother-effin yeah!

BRONCOS, SUPER BOWL BOUND!!!

[M.L.]

I don't think about grammar as a separate item; it's part of the whole deal.

[[deleted user]]

Narrative should be clean; dialogue should be how people talk.

[G.G.]

Morris wrote: "Narrative should be clean; dialogue should be how people talk."

Unless it's first person POV. I don't know why indies should adhere to the clean part when trad pubs don't.
Iced is a perfect example. The story is written from the first person POV of a fourteen year old as if the kid was speaking and that's through out the book. (A very popular series by the way)

[Christina]

Ain't no reason anyone has to stick to anything no matter what.

[[deleted user]]

Of course if it's first person POV, then it reads like dialogue. I was meaning third person.

[Owen]

Quoleena wrote: "Then there are some schools of thought which claim the only way you can begin a sentence with a conjunction is to add a comma after it. "

Cool! I think I just learned what a conjunction is!

I think commas are mostly cannon fodder of grammarians. I grasp "eats shoots and leaves" but beyond that I'm hazy. I scatter them around willy-nilly and the more learned folks take them out for me. All good.

[M. Ray Holloway Jr.]

I feel like I kind of started this discussion with my question, but I do want to clarify one thing. I agree 100% with the idea that as writers, we can break the "rules" of grammar. I have no problem with that at all. Sometimes, my editing program tells me that I need to make a certain change, and I make it. Then I look at the new construct and find myself shaking my head and saying, "That just doesn't work!" I then will change it back to the way I had it in the first place, and find myself perfectly able to sleep at night.

When I referred to grammatical errors in my original post, I was talking about something that pops up in the book that is contrary to the way the author has written in the rest of the book. To me, that has nothing to do with dialect or point of view, or even an author just striking out and doing something his or her own way. They have strayed from the rules that they have been following within their own story. For me, that represents a grammatical error that the writer probably did not intend, and should be brought to their attention. If I point something out, of course they are in no way obligated to change a thing, but if it seems incongruent with their own style....

Well, it is really a judgement call. If I ever bring something to a fellow writer's attention, please know that it is in the spirit of wanting to be helpful, and never a criticism of the person's ability.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

M. Ray Holloway Jr. wrote: "When I referred to grammatical errors in my original post, I was talking about something that pops up in the book that is contrary to the way the author has written in the rest of the book. "

I understood your initial post perfectly. I started this thread instead of hijacking yours. I was interested in hearing if other authors deliberately break the rules of grammar like I do. This is more intended for talking about how we play with grammar in our own writing and not how we react when we find mistakes in others' writing.

[Christina]

Previous post deleted. We've already said it several times, this isn't the place to nitpick the way others write.

[Dwayne, Head of Lettuce]

I'm going to close the thread. I pretty much got what I wanted out of it. Thanks to those who participated in a positive way. Your comments were greatly appreciated!