Writing Down the Bones: FUMBLERULES

I found this wonderful flyer that I received from my local RWA chapter years ago that talks about grammar and proper sentence structure. It's called Fumblerules a lighthearted guide to grammar and good usage by William Safire.

There are ten of them - now I don't know if I agree with all of them but a lot are things to avoid. Here's the list and my comments.

1. No sentence fragments - the english majors out there will say 'yes, yes. Must stick to that.' But I have learned in fiction you can break this rule - you just have to do it right. I use them from time to time but it always to make a point. I pick my moments carefully.

2. Avoid run-on sentences they are hard to read - I do agree with this one - when I was in high school I was the queen of run-on sentences but learned to control it. Still every once in a while they creep back into my work. I'm so glad for my editor. She catches all those mistakes.

3. A writer must not shift your point of view - I love this one it is a perfect example of shifting from third person to first which can get totally confusing. If you are in third you need to stay there.

4. Do not put statements in the negative form - I do agree with this - double negatives are the worst. My sister had a boyfriend years ago who said this wonderful statement - 'I used to didn't be' - what? I know what he meant but what a way to say it.

5. Don't use contractions in formal writing - this is one I'm not sure of. When I was prepublished we were lucky enough to have an english teacher as part of our critique group. She said the exact opposite - at least when it came to dialog. Contractions are part of our speech and when you have your characters speaking without them it tends make the story read very formal and can pull your readers out of your story.

6. The adverb always follow the verb - no argument from me on this one.

7. Make an all out effort to hyphenate when necessary but not when un-necessary. This one is fun when you write SF or futuristic romances where sometimes you have to make up your own words. Then I have to remember if I hyphenated them from on book to another. To make my life easier I try not to use any hyphenated words.

8. Don't use Capital letters without good REASON.  Totally agree - I used to have a boss who used caps to show his anger - I saw them all the time in e-mails and hated it. He used them so much after a while they didn't mean anything. It was like watching someone yell through a closed window. Using too many caps can do the same thing.

9. It behooves us to avoid archaisms - What? Who talks like that anymore...which is the point. Don't use old archaic words unless you are writing a historical and even then you should keep your reader in mind when you use some of these words - same thing with cliches. It's like beating a dead horse.

10. Reserve the apostrophe for it's proper use and omit it when its not needed. I love this one and most of the time author's get it right. Every once in a while I'll catch someone who forgets when to use its and it's, but it's okay.  We all make mistakes.

Hope this helps - I always love going through these handouts.

Random Thoughts: When my writing is bleah

Have you ever had those days when you hate every word you put on paper? I have. In fact this is the third post I have started because the other two are just awful. I hope to fix them, but just not in the mood right now.

What do you do when you don't like your own writing? Well, you could cry and curl into a little ball, but that won't get the story written. You could get mad and throw the proverbial pen at the wall. Or could could take a deep breath and power through.

Sometimes what you think is the worst piece of drivel to glow on a computer screen isn't so bad when you go back and look at. With a little rewriting you can salvage it. Maybe make it shine.

Don't give up on your writing. Ever. Keep going, keep pushing. In the long run it will make you a stronger writer.

Writing Done the Bones: How Many Times Do You Edit the Book?

Now that is a question isn't it. Once you have it written you start the editing process. You clean it, and polish it over and over. But it just doesn't feel finished. You're tired of looking at it. You just want to send it off but...you don't feel good about doing that.

When is enough enough? I remember being at a program given by my local RWA chapter. The person running it said we're done when we're so tired of editing it we want to throw the book against the wall.

I think that's a good time to stop.

Each book is going to be different. Some of my books only needed a little editing, but the one I'm working on now needs a lot. I think I'm going for my fourth or fifth run through. I tried many ways to cut down the process but have found that writing that rough draft then fleshing it out works the best for me - it just some books need more flesh than others.