Grammar and Your Story
Tensing Over Grammar
Some people have amazing stories but won’t write them down because they’re afraid of grammar. Yes, grammar is important, however, it shouldn’t stop you from sharing your words. In this day and age, there are many resources online that offer tutorials on how, why or which verb, noun or preposition you should be using to build your sentences.
Grandma Grammar
Grammar is used to arrange words into proper sentences. Think of it as this: words are the 2x4s for your house and the nails are the grammar. You can’t simply put a few blocks of wood on top of each other and expect the structure to hold itself together.
Punctuation marks such as periods, question marks and commas are your basic “nails.” Periods and question marks end sentences. Commas are used amongst the words.
Here’s a widely used example of how using a comma., or not, can change the meaning of a sentence.
Let’s eat Grandma.
or
Let’s eat, Grandma.
With the absence of the comma in the first sentence, we’re saying we’re going to eat grandma. Probably not.
Consistency
I always say, consistency is your best friend when writing. If you don’t use commas, then don’t use them throughout your manuscript. Don’t start using commas halfway through your story.
The rules of grammar have been broken. Charles Dickens used run-on sentences in his books. Poet E.E. Cummings rarely used punctuation and capital letters. Cormac McCarthy doesn’t like quotation marks. Bernardine Evaristo likes to use emphatic line breaks and commas to structure her stories.
An excellent editor (like me) can help you sort out your grammar struggles. Drop me a line and we can improve your stories together.
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