‘My Name is a Number’ Wrap Up

We have, in a small way, written a story here.

The original story idea that appeared in Little Nuggets in our Heads on Tuesday March 26^th has been gradually expanded to form a short story.

There is now a decision to make.

If we decide to proceed with it we can now examine the grammar, punctuation, spelling and syntax to see if it flows properly.

Up to this point we were concerned, primarily, with the story but, inevitably, there were parts as we wrote it that needed the touch of a rough polish to make it more readable for us.

Are the things now mentioned—grammar, et al, important?

Yes. They really are.

In spite of the way things are written on Social Websites and in SMS format, there is a need to try and make the reader understand the emotion that it was written in without using colloquial and slang phrases; we may reserve those, used sparingly, for the character’s speech.

Remember that people read things differently to the way that it was in your head when you wrote it. Part of the ‘polishing’ process now means you have to read it again and change some of the way you have written it, change some of the words and, maybe, insert more descriptives.

But.

Beware dangling modifiers (dangling participles).

“I am going to see the old banana lady.” Means what? Are we going to see an old lady that sells bananas or are we going to see a lady that sells old bananas?

In normal syntax for an English person reading in English we would assume that the sentence refers to an old lady selling bananas but it is an assumption and not a positive fact. For someone who has English as a second language—no matter how fluent they may be in English, the sentence may be confusing since their syntax (in their native language) may be different.

Similarly there are ambiguous statements that may need to be resolved:

“Can a cow jump higher than a house?”

Well... yes. It can. Houses cannot jump at all.

Dangling modifiers and ambiguous statements are often hard to find. This is because we have written the story and we know what it was that we wanted to say.

Some time ago I posted the idea that people will stick to their own ideas of what is right and wrong and will only accept evidence that supports their view; anything that is offered that opposes their ideas will be rejected, they will find some way to discredit it no matter how strong the evidence is for that opposition.

It is the same for writers. We are convinced that what we have written is some sort of Holy Gospel; it must, at all costs, remain inviolate! The writer knows best.

It is sad to say that, often, the writer does not know best.

We need an independent viewpoint.

We can, of course, use the spell check on our computer programme to do most of the donkey work when it comes to certain aspects of grammar, punctuation and spelling but remember that certain programmes do not like, for example, ‘passive voice’. There will also be potential problems with spell check that will find ‘hat’ acceptable when you meant ‘that’.

Then go through the story again and take out all those ‘very’s. The word ‘very’ has no place in our stories. Ever. Anywhere.

Take out any gratuitous bad language. Is it necessary to the plot? Sometimes you may use it in speech because that is how people do speak but there is no place for it in the text.

Except for rare instances (as in our story here) numbers are always written down in text form. We do not say that ‘there are 12 members in the troop’ we say that ‘there are twelve members in the troop’.

Delete abbreviations. Don’t use ‘can’t’ in the text—use ‘do not’ and ‘cannot’. If you are having trouble making ‘do not’ flow then reword the sentence.

Careful reading is a must. Careful reading by a third party is also a must. Asking your Mum to read it will avail you little because she will hand it back to you and, in a voice filled with awe, say, “That is brilliant, dear. You must get it published instantly!”

A professional third party read is a must. There are professional proofreaders and editors. The best ones, as in all cases in every profession, are not cheap. You must cut your clothe according to your purse or hope that a publishing company or agent will take up your story and get these things done on your behalf.

Finally, we have to read the story critically and examine whether it is worth pursuing. Not every story that falls out of our heads is going to dominate the literary market. Some might not even make it as far as the waste paper basket.

This one will make it to the bin. No further.