Arthur Evans

Bobby Knight

Ravenwand, Rising Star! wrote,

First, let me give examples of each:

Someone was in my driveway, honking incessantly. I grabbed my coffee and flung open the door, ready to shout at whoever it was to shut the hell up. It was Henry, standing next to a shiny, candy-apple-red Porsche, dangling the keys and grinning like a fool. "Want to take her for a spin?" he asked. How could I resist?

You really can't imagine it until you've experienced it; the incessant honking of a car horn in your driveway at six in the morning. Saturday morning. You open one eye and your first thought is to kill whoever it is making that awful racket. Don't they know you're trying to sleep through a nasty hangover? You grudgingly get out of bad. By the time you've navigated the stairs and reached the front door, you're so angry you nearly yank it off the hinges. "Stop! Just stop!" you cry. And then you see Henry, standing next to that shiny, candy-apple-red Porsche, grinning like a fool. He twirls the keys on his finger.

"Want to take her for a spin?" he asks.

It's hard to stay mad, under the circumstances.

Someone was in Joe's driveway, honking incessantly. Joe looked over at his alarm clock. 6:00 AM? He tried pulling a pillow over his head, but he could still hear the blare of the car horn through the goose down. Joe pulled on a pair of sweat pants and, grumbling, made his way downstairs. He threw open the front door, ready to confront the rude visitor with a string of epithets that would make a truck driver blush.

"Hey there, Grumpy," said Henry, laughing. Next to Henry was a shiny, new, candy-apple-red Porsche. Joe gawked at it as Henry twirled the keys and grinned. "Wanna take her for a spin?" he asked.

Joe's anger suddenly turned into the glee felt by a six year old on Christmas morning.

With third person, you have to make some choices: limited or omniscient point of view. If limited, you are confined to the thoughts and knowledge of the character. You cannot go "head hopping" through all your characters - you write as if you only know what's going on in the world from that one character's point of view. (It's a little like first person POV in that respect, but you refer to everyone as "he" or "she.") With omniscient, you get to play God; you get to know (and selectively reveal to the reader) everything everywhere. Beware of the head-hopping, though - too much of it can become very confusing to the reader, and sometimes it's just too easy for the writer. It tends to lead to what I think of as "cheating" - making up easy explanations for things, or rationalizing weird character behavior by explaining things that are only happening mentally - that maybe you should make the reader figure out as the story progresses. In some ways, 3rd person omniscient is the easiest to write - but can lead to some of the worst writing on the planet.

Write a scene in first person POV. Now, rewrite that same scene using second person POV, third person limited POV, and third person omniscient POV.

Which one works best? (Your answer may vary, depending on the needs of the scene, and that is as it should be. Put your scenes into a single static item and send me a link via the Feedback box at the bottom of this newsletter, and I will feature them in my next issue.)

tahubley wrote, in response to my last editorial:

I challenged tahubley to write a rebuttal, citing good sources of information – preferably free – available on the Internet. And here is the result:

Some contests designed to help you improve your writing skills or tickle your Muse's funny bone:

Looking for something good to read? Be sure to support your fellow Writing.com authors by buying their books! See http://www2.writing.com/main/authors/action/in_print.

Meg: Writes Daily in 2006 wrote,

Why don't you like Strunk and White?

And a great example of a primary document is the [d]iary of Anne Frank.

I have nothing against Strunk and White's Elements of Style. It's a good primer. But everyone recommends that one – you didn't need me to tell you about it, surely. And, as others wrote in to say, it's not the most entertaining grammar guide available. You have to stay awake through the lesson for the information to sink in. --Holly Jahangiri

karabu wrote,

I have a copy of Strunk & White's Elements of Style and keep thinking I'd learn so much if I could just read throught the whole thing, but I find myself nodding off whenever I try. Thanks for offereing some alternatives!

rose_shadow wrote,

Jessie,

What a great newsletter! I've always been one of those writers who generally gets grammar right without being able to point out in "technical" terms what I did. Every time I've tried to read Elements of Style, I end up falling asleep, so I've despaired of ever understanding what a dangling particple is and how to use semi-colons properly. But the books you've recommended have given me hope .

schipperke wrote,

I enjoy my grammar with a healthy dose of humor. Thanks for linking the books in your article. I own Eats, Shoots & Leaves, another funny grammar book.

bazilbob wrote,

Oooh! Grammar books I've never heard of! But I can't believe you didn't mention Eats, Shoots & Leaves, it's so cool!

--Holly Jahangiri

Carol McKenzie wrote,

Many writers spell "grammar" incorrectly. They spell it "grammer." I had to chuckle when I read in today's newsletter that Serena spelled this word "grammer" even as she told you that part of your information was incorrect.

That is the only correct spelling isn't it, with the "ar?" I couldn't find the "er" spelling in Word Web.

Oh well. It was something that stood out.

Carol McKenzie

Think of the popular "Blooper" shows. (The reason actors don't object too strongly to some of these is that it gets them free publicity and makes them look…human.) If your "bloopers" are embarrassing, proofread more carefully. Otherwise, just smile and say – "Yeah, yeah, I had peanut butter on my fingers when I typed that…" --Holly Jahangiri

Sarahfitz wrote,

Hey Jessie! Great newsletter, as always. I was wondering if you know anything about the correct format for a press release. I would be happy for any information or a shove in the right direction. Thanks!

scribbler wrote,

this is just crazy, as I'm on the internet trying to find a MLA guide I deside to check my mail here at WDC and then I read this newsletter. How strange is that haha.

Serendipitous, indeed! –-Holly Jahangiri

novusfemina wrote,

In response to your answer to spazmom: "Wouldn't it be easier, and serve you better in the long run, to learn and practice the basic rules of good writing?"

Yes, it is much easier to self-edit. However, more often than not, we tend to miss things. For example, most authors at magazines will self-edit a piece they have written 2, 3, even 4 times, but they always have several editors that comb through the piece as well. Sometimes it takes a well-trained eye to catch those mistakes.

I wasn't talking about those sly, sneaky little errors that inevitably appear after the final edit. I was talking about the basic mechanics of good writing. I stand by what I said; it's far too easy for the editor who receives submissions to toss a sloppy manuscript into the trash. Don't be too quick to assume that they need your work so badly they'll spend time and resources to fix a slew of typos and bad grammar. –-Holly Jahangiri

Beth Barnett writes,

Thanks for the plug on one of my academic papers. It is much appreciated. ["Invalid Item"  ] uses ASA style for citations. I don't know if this is different from APA, but in my 400 level Sociology course this was called American Sociological Association style.

Thanks for all of the valuable information in this newsletter.

Write On!
Beth

Brians Next Novel Almost Done! , author of "The Last Page (1)"  [13+], writes,

Thanks for the reminders on subject/verb agreement. Those little buggers can be tricky if you aren't paying attention!

Tigger thinks of Prancer wrote,

Thanks for being so informative, Jessie!

Thank you! I try. –-Holly Jahangiri

Trivia Question, from DB Cooper :

Dr. Von Neuman played a huge role in inventing the computer. He was in a tiny minority of Hungarians for what reason? Hint: The Gabor sisters were also in that Hungarian minority.

I love getting feedback on the For Authors Newsletter – it lets me know you’re reading, and it tells me whether I’m writing about the subjects that interest you. Please keep those questions and comments coming!

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