Month: June 2018

Categories
Punctuation

Apostrophes, Again

https://youtu.be/sScHUorw-Hc

I am really not a grammar Nazi. The English language is living, and rules change as generations make it their own. However, English is hard to learn precisely because there are so many exceptions to rules. Following those conventions that still exist makes it easier to write. You don’t have to stop and try to remember each particular case—you just remember or look up the rule. It’s actually simpler.

And of course, if you use good grammar and syntax, you present yourself to the reader as an educated person.

Use of Apostrophes
This is probably the most broken set of rules we see. An apostrophe has three possible purposes:

  1. To show ownership or possession. For example, Harvey’s book, Vickie’s painting.
  2. To show that a letter or group of letters is being left out. For example, don’t for do not or he’ll for he will.
  3. To indicate plurals for things that usually do not come in plural form. Examples might include A’s as in getting straight A’s on your report card, or “Good things come in 3’s.”

Most of the problems people have are with #1, that is, using apostrophes to show something belongs to someone.

The first difficulty comes when the singular word ends in s. (Also includes an s sound, such as Mrs. Gomez.) You actually have a choice here. Either add a “naked” apostrophe after the final s or add an ‘s at the end of the word. The important thing is that you do it the same way every time. For example, it is correct to write, I went to Chris’ house and gave him Mrs. Gomez’ money. It is also correct to say, I went to Chris’s house and gave him Mrs. Gomez’s money.

What is incorrect is to write, I went to Chris’ house and gave him Mrs. Gomez’s money. Or vice versa.

Plural nouns ending in s just have an apostrophe at the end of the word. My parents’ house sold quickly.

Plural nouns ending in something other than a s add ‘s. The children’s art was fantastic.

It’s versus Its
As an editor and educator, I’m coming to the conclusion this one is hopeless. People just get it wrong over and over. There’s a good reason for the confusion:

Its shows possession and is called a possessive pronoun, like her or his. The cat licked her tail. But if you don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl cat, you might write, The cat licked its tail.

If its followed the other apostrophe rules, it would be it’s, showing possession. The cat licked it’s tail. But that is WRONG. This may be one of the situations in which everyday usage is fixing a contradiction in the rules, and maybe in 10 or 15 years only cranky English teachers will care about its. But until then, even my grammar checker in Word picked up on “it’s tail” as wrong.

It’s WRONG because it’s is not a possessive but a contraction. You only use it’s when you are shortening it is. Any other time you use its. This is not couched in grammatical language, but it works.

If your grammar checker finds and flags it’s, then you have a pretty good idea that you need to lose the apostrophe. If you’re not using a grammar checker, think to yourself, can I substitute it is? If you can, then you need an apostrophe. If you can’t, then don’t use one.

Categories
Editing Paragraphs

Paragraphs

Frontispiece illustration from part 2 of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, by her sister May Alcott. (AC85.Aℓ194L.1869 pt.2aa, Houghton Library, Harvard University, via Wikimedia).

As editors, one of the most common issues we deal with is that of overly long paragraphs. While there are no hard and fast rules, when a paragraph goes on for one or more pages, it’s probably too long. The reader can sometimes get lost, even when the writing itself is otherwise thoughtful and to the point.

My Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a paragraph as “a subdivision of a written composition that consists of one or more sentences, deals with one point or gives the words of one speaker, and begins on a new usually indented line.”

The always useful Purdue OWL notes that, “To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the following: Unity, Coherence, A Topic Sentence, and Adequate Development.” In other words, a paragraph is usually focused on one specific aspect of your article, term paper, thesis, dissertation or book. As an author, it’s important to always think of each paragraph as an organic part of whatever you’re writing. Unfortunately, when students are taught to write stand-alone paragraphs in school, they are taught formulas: Write a topic sentence, give three supporting sentences, and then a conclusion sentence. In reality, it is not necessary to come up with a conclusion for each paragraph in an essay or book chapter; just end the paragraph in a way that completes the thought.

While it is common to quantify the number of sentences a paragraph should have (for example five, as mentioned above), in practice, this is not a hard and fast rule. Paragraphs of one or two sentences, depending on circumstances, can be more than adequate, though your professor might think otherwise. One of the most common uses of short paragraphs comes when dealing with dialog.

Screenwriters and playwrights don’t think twice about writing dialog in a rather straightforward manner, without any modification other than setting the scene. In writing prose, whether fiction or nonfiction, some sort of commentary is usually added. This can be as simple as something like “he said” and “she replied.” To illustrate a more literary approach, here’s a random sample from Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women:

“That is the prettiest wedding I’ve been to for an age, Ned, and I don’t see why, for there wasn’t a bit of style about it,” observed Mrs. Moffat to her husband, as they drove away.

“Laurie, my lad, if you ever want to indulge in this sort of thing, get one of those little girls to help you, and I shall be perfectly satisfied,” said Mr. Laurence, settling himself in his easy-chair to rest, after the excitement of the morning.

“I’ll do my best to gratify you, sir,” was Laurie’s unusually dutiful reply, as he carefully unpinned the posy Jo had put in his button-hole.

It’s not uncommon in modern fiction for writers to use even shorter paragraphs for dramatic or poetic effect, such as this excerpt from Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief:

Just as the Führer was about to reply, she woke up.

It was January 1939. She was nine years old, soon to be ten.

Her brother was dead.

In this instance, each paragraph, despite its brevity, represents a complete thought, which would not be the case if all three were merged into one.

There’s nothing wrong with writing paragraphs of different lengths, whether short or long. Just make sure and be careful to make sure they contribute something to the overall impact of what you’re writing. In any case, if you’ve created long paragraphs that seem to go on and on, look for places to break them up.

Categories
Structure

Back to Writing Basics

Christine de Pisan - Portrait of a Woman
Christine de Pisan. Portrait of a Woman

I recently edited a piece for Martha, a friend of mine. It was good and I hope she publishes it. It was a bit of an unusual story, since it was entirely monologue, talking to herself as if in real time about an abusive work situation and her unfolding understanding and the strength to walk away from it. The actual workplace events occurred over an extended time, but really everything took place in the narrator’s mind, and her voice was powerful and unique, raw and direct.

When she asked me for feedback, I was a little perplexed at first. It is stream of consciousness, and appears to be a spontaneous outpouring of thoughts. She asked me if I just thought it was a mess, since there was no timeline for what was described. How can I make comments about someone else’s lived experience? And what could I tell her that would preserve the immediacy and power of her prose?

In trying to formulate some sort of possibly meaningful feedback, I realized that the internal dialogue did, in fact, follow the familiar narrative structure. The writer started with her hurt and despair (beginning), relived some of the abuse (middle), and came to the awareness that she did not have to be manipulated into doubting herself—and could move on from the job (end). It then became very clear to me what would make the already strong work stronger: paying attention to the narrative structure while preserving its immediacy.

Rather a “Doh!” moment for me, I have to confess. The tried and true “rules” of writing are tempting to dismiss, but they always provide a touchstone. Once I realized there was indeed a narrative structure, I was able to plug into another one of my go-to’s for my own writing: using all the senses, and being specific, so that the reader can place themselves into the scene we have created. Even though Martha’s piece was all in the mind, she was still thinking about events in the physical world of space and time. It makes me think about the nature of memory and the relationship to the present moment.

Whether I’m struggling with my own writing or scratching my head trying to figure out what to say to an author, there are a few basic principles that are good places to start:

  • What’s the point? Is everything in the piece relevant to the point?
  • What is the structure? Even the most deconstructed postmodern writing has some sort of narrative. Deviations from the structure are best when carefully and intentionally done.
  • If there are descriptions, do they bring in as many of the five senses as possible? Are they detailed and specific?
  • Trust yourself, trust your voice.