Dear authors, Voice > Grammar. You're welcome. Love, An editor who adores you. #writingcommunity #authors #indieauthors - ThreadSky

cknightwrites.bsky.social • 137 days ago

Dear authors,

Voice > Grammar.
You're welcome.

Love,
An editor who adores you.

#writingcommunity #authors #indieauthors

Comments

vmconsolo.bsky.social•137 days ago

As someone struggling with the getting better and trying to improve her grammer...thank you this does take a titch of pressure off 😭

patricktbutcher.bsky.social•137 days ago

SACRELIGE! My fifth grade English teacher told me once that I was a good writer but if I never learned how to say exactly what I mean no one would ever know exactly what I mean... I hold it to heart even to this day

ed-from-durm.bsky.social•137 days ago

grammar is a whole bunch of made up times anyways so you might as well break them

pastells.bsky.social•137 days ago

the way I needed to hear this today 💚thank you

johnwhowrites.bsky.social•134 days ago

This hits so hard. 🔥

wikisteff.bsky.social•137 days ago

💜

danielaegan.bsky.social•136 days ago

Where does pacing fall on the list?

cknightwrites.bsky.social•136 days ago

On a different list, really.

danielaegan.bsky.social•136 days ago

I know I have to be difficult. 😝

cknightwrites.bsky.social•136 days ago

One of the things I love about you 🤣

danielaegan.bsky.social•136 days ago

Just let me know whenever you need something derailed!

cpashton.bsky.social•137 days ago

juliettewade.bsky.social•137 days ago

Because grammar=>voice. So if you write like a schoolbook you’ll sound like one.

nonmagicalwitch.bsky.social•137 days ago

people bitching about grammar are really weird to me. Like, as long as we can understand what is trying to be conveyed, that's good communication

austerity.bsky.social•137 days ago

this so much

mikedeangelis.bsky.social•137 days ago

I received my B.A. in English from San Jose State University.

I put my "Voice" in the Captain's Chair DECADES ago.

I did learn the rules and follow them for the most part, but I have never been a slave to them. My heroes are Kerouac & Chandler. They RIFFED. So do I. 😍

chronicleflask.katday.com•137 days ago

You know, it’s funny: I dipped into the dark place to see someone complaining about people not using past perfect tense, and I thought precisely this: it does change the voice. Tossing “had” in gives the sentence a formal, slightly clipped feel. I wouldn’t change it unless it was very unclear.

chronicleflask.katday.com•137 days ago

The example was:

“Maisie went to Target. She tried to bring her friend, Tascha, but Tascha wasn't feeling well.”

And sure, grammar rules might dictate “she had tried to bring” but… is it really unclear without it? Really?

tubbles.bsky.social•137 days ago

That's the sort of thing that brings to mind a Venture Bros scene. Sometimes "proper" grammar just sounds stilted and weird.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOLkslA6XK4

chronicleflask.katday.com•137 days ago

This is a very good example 😄 because voice is 100x more important in dialogue. Do you have a character who says, “is this them?” or, “are these they?” You should know – it should be a conscious choice (and one an editor ought to stay out of).

cknightwrites.bsky.social•137 days ago

I agree completely.

chronicleflask.katday.com•137 days ago

Thanks. Yeah. It’s a balancing act, always. More and more these days I err towards leaving well alone 😆

draconia-karma.bsky.social•137 days ago

Thank you!

jpspalding.com•137 days ago

Had a beta reader go through and remove every contraction from my short story, even when most appeared in dialogue and personal notes. I had no idea why?

cknightwrites.bsky.social•136 days ago

I... What?! I have no idea why that seemed like a good idea even to a reader. Who wants to read that? Yikes. I hope putting them back was easy enough!

jpspalding.com•136 days ago

Oh yes, I always have my master copy and the feedback copy (with track changes) so I’m never directly accepting edits in my own document, I’m always applying them back to the master document selectively. A longer process but I like that it forces me to think about each edit individually.

cknightwrites.bsky.social•136 days ago

Oh thank goodness!

dailydailynow.bsky.social•137 days ago

I just woke up. My sleep brain read it "voice doesn't equal grammar" and went 😢?? And then the rest of me caught up 😅

ilovemoash.bsky.social•137 days ago

Emotions are very important to listen to! Don't let rules and oaths impede them.

zombiepete.bsky.social•120 days ago

I hear you, but I'm reading an otherwise enjoyable novel write now that doesn't use any quotation marks for dialogue.

It's annoying. What is that choice supposed to convey? (It's a first-person, fictional memoir)

zombiepete.bsky.social•120 days ago

*right

🤦

dvwb.bsky.social•137 days ago

Thank god..

vyvre-argent.bsky.social•137 days ago

💜💜💜

beaglejosh.bsky.social•137 days ago

when ever I write a character from a poor southern background and word keeps trying to correct me. Yes I know its not grammatically correct but thats the way they really talk Microsoft

wizardwarsof1439.bsky.social•137 days ago

Grammar is for non-fiction and characters who are the most entertaining of pedants!

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