All of us as writers try to find our voice, but at times
this conflicts with what we learned, – and taught – in those dreaded English Grammar
classes. I have found 3 books particularly helpful in releasing me from that
straitjacket, and recommend them to writers of essays, short stories and
novels.
It is easy to look things up in the timeless “The Elementsof Style” by William Strunk and E.B. White. The first chapter, on ‘Elementary Rules of
Usage’ includes reminders of when to use the singular verb form, and how to
avoid dangling modifiers. Chapter 4, ‘Words and Expressions Commonly Misused’
includes examples such as ‘state’ which should be used in the sense of “expressing
fully or clearly”, as in “He refused to state his objections”, and not simply
to make a change from ‘say’ or ‘remark’. The fifth and final chapter, ‘An
Approach to Style’ ends with the observation that “Style takes its final shape
more from attitudes of mind than from principles of composition.” All of us who
write can find gems in this handy reference book.
It’s also available in a Kindle Edition.
“The laws of grammar come and go,” says Patricia T. O’Conner
in her book “Woe is I - the Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in PlainEnglish”, another favourite of mine. In a readable style, she takes a logical
approach to the rules of grammar. She advises us, in chapter 9, which laws of
grammar should be followed and which are passé, for example splitting the
infinitive. I was trained never to put another word between ‘to’ and its
related verb. Then came “To boldly go where no one had gone before”. Nothing
wrong with that, says O’Conner – be guided more by the sound of your sentence
than following a rule.
One would not expect a book on punctuation to be
entertaining, but I enjoyed “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” by Lynne Truss. In her
enlightening chapter “That’ll Do, Comma”, she quotes Sir Ernest Gowers, “The
use of commas cannot be learned by rule”.
She also gives examples of the effect
of changing the position of the comma. “Go, get him surgeons”, and “Go get him,
surgeons” have different meanings; as do “Verily I say unto you, This day thou
shalt be with me in Paradise”, and “Verily I say unto you this day, Thou shalt
be with me in Paradise”.
A final note to writers, it’s easy to be so taken up with
rules of grammar that creativity is stifled. To prevent that happening, when
writing your first draft, turn off your inner editor and let your writing flow.
After writing that, you can turn the inner editor back on. Then you can
battle out with a critique group partner, or an editor, your interpretation of
rules of grammar.
1 comment:
Thanks, Daniel. Look out for part 2.
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