 Short Stories: January 02, 2008 Issue [#2148] |
  Short Stories
This week: Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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“I'm a failed poet. Maybe every novelist wants to write poetry first, finds he can't and then tries the short story which is the most demanding form after poetry. And failing at that, only then does he take up novel writing.”
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I'm Robert Waltz , and I'm your Guest Editor for the week.
I'm a technical kind of guy by nature. My background is in engineering, not writing - so I tend to approach writing from a technical, rather than creative, point of view. So while I have this soapbox to stand on, let's talk about:
TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Spelling, grammar and punctuation may not be the most important aspects of writing, but their proper use is important to a reader's understanding of the flow and meaning of a story.
Let's take an example from my work. I design roads. A road has one basic purpose: to deliver a vehicle from one point to another. What happens between those two points is a function of several conditions, including the existing terrain and how much traffic it's expected to bear. The road design itself involves choosing the pavement width, horizontal and vertical curves, road slope, signage, pavement markings, and drainage devices.
This can be considered a metaphor for story writing. A short story delivers the reader from one point to another, and what happens between those two points is a function of what the author wants to get across in the story; the story writer can consider herself the designer of the reader's journey. Between Point A and Point B lie an enormous number of possibilities, but the design needs to follow certain conventions.
Words and phrases are the design conventions of story creation. Using the right words makes the journey smoother, more enjoyable, just as using the right conventions for curvature and pavement width makes the driving experience less nerve-wracking - and part of word choice involves putting the words together in a way that is easy for the reader to navigate; in other words, using standard conventions of spelling and grammar make it easy for the reader to forget she's on a road and just concentrate on the journey.
Similarly, punctuation helps with word flow and directs the reader to the important parts of a story or scene. I wouldn't design a road without signage or pavement markings that direct a driver to the proper destination; similarly, lack of signage - punctuation - in a story leaves things too ambiguous, while incorrect signage can lead to bad accidents.
"But," I've heard, "what's really important is the content of a story. Those other rules were made to be broken!" I won't argue that content is important, and if you're writing a blog, or writing just for your own amusement or therapy, you're free to do exactly as you wish. But most of us write for others, and perhaps even wish to be published.
"But that's what editors are for!" You do not want to overwork editors. You don't have to be perfect - no one is - but the less work the editor has to do, the better your relationship with him will be. Also, while I've never tried to get published myself, I understand that publishers stop reading MSs that are full of typos. The bottom line is that if you don't seem to care enough to learn and use the conventions of your art, no one else will care, either.
"I don't half two no how too spell! That's what spell checkers are four!" While that sentence alone should explain why spelling checkers are insufficient to the task, I'll spell it out: the above sentence makes it look like an ignorant person wrote it (no matter who actually wrote it (it was me)), and it would pass a spelling checker with flying colors. Few people want to read writing that appears to have been done by an ignorant person.
"I can't be bothered to remember all those silly rules! You don't have to. The fact is, I don't know a dangling participle from a split infinitive. However, if you take the time to study how published writing is put together, you can get a really good idea of how grammar and punctuation should work without concerning yourself with the names for all the different parts of speech.
Now, this doesn't mean your first draft should be a textbook example of comma uses, fragment avoidance and perfect spelling. Far from it - in my opinion, a first draft should ignore all that stuff and concentrate on content. However, before you put the work up for public view - including here on writing.com - do yourself and your readers a favor and give it a once-over for spelling, subject-verb agreement, tenses, run-ons, fragments, word usage (e.g., "its" when you mean "it's"), proper punctuation and so on. Then, your readers and reviewers can concentrate on how enjoyable the journey is, not whether all the signs are in the right place. |
In looking around the site, I found several examples of short stories that seem to reflect a great deal of care on the author's part in editing for spelling, grammar and punctuation.
And if you're looking for a story contest that doesn't take spelling, grammar or punctuation into account for first drafts, be sure to enter:
(And then feel free to edit your entry when the contest is done!) |
Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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| Waltz's First Law of internet communication states that any internet posting that points out another person's spelling, grammar and/or punctuation mistakes is bound to have spelling, grammar and/or punctuation mistakes. I don't claim to be perfect, but I do hope I have gone over this enough to catch the worst errors. If you find any I missed - or have other thoughts on this subject - feel free to give me some feedback below! |
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