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Tips on Writing 7/7/2016 5:02:16 AM
English language is hard for some. Even professional writers need editors before submitting their books to a publisher. Here's a few tips that might help you master the language a bit better. Punctuation – keep your sentences simple as possible; when using a compound sentence you don’t always have to separate them with a comma, but usually you do before a conjunction. Dialog is encased in double quote marks; another quote, when quoted by the speaker, is encased in single quote marks; ironic and made up words are enclosed in single quote marks. Thoughts may be in quote marks but the more common way of writing them is to Italicize them. Elipses in non-fiction indicates the absence of some words, in fiction it can be used as a pause in speech. Em dashes are used at the end of a sentence when thought escapes the speaker or when the speaker is being overridden by another person. Use periods and question marks for regular speech; only use exclamation marks for shouting, not to add emphasis. Periods and commas go inside the final quote mark. Start your quote mark in one paragraph and end it when the speaker finishes talking. If his comments go into a second paragraph, do not end the first paragraph but do add a quote mark at the beginning of the second paragraph. Rarely will you continue into a third or fourth paragraph unless you are writing dialog as a speech.
Incorrect Phrases – Who or That. Who is for a person; that is for an object. The man who lied, not the man that lied. Eyes don’t dart across the room. His gaze traveled around the room or he looked around the room. Likewise, his eyes roamed over her naked body is incorrect. He let his gaze travel over her body. The eyes are flesh and a fixture inside his skull. Don’t throw a character’s eyes in someone’s direction, let him cast a glance.
Attribution – Let the reader know who is speaking with he said/she said. Occasionally use such words as whispered or muttered. Some publishers will let you get away with he growled but most want you to use the word said with little variation and always implying a part of speech. Words like he growled or he spat are more literate if held for a separate action. “I hate this,” he said, and spat on the ground in disgust. Or “I hate this,” he said. He spat a wad of tobacco on the ground nearly striking a fuzzy brown spider. In conversation between two characters, set up the pattern of them taking turns with them speaking by using their names – Big John said and Little Joe replied – then you can drop the names, but don’t carry on lengthy conversations without adding the names again to remind the reader who’s who. When using attribution, as in John said, end the sentence with a comma, a quote mark, then John said – period. If no attribution; i.e., the quote stands alone, end with a period.
