Tag: Grammar

Other Cool Blogs: SaidSimple – Paragraphs

Erin Penn

Photo by Finn Mund on Unsplash

When should you make a new paragraph?

If you remember, way back in 2016 I talked about the power of paragraph breaks. SaidSimple presents a more in-depth posting with “When to Make a New Paragraph” (last updated 10/7/2021).

The posting shares the standard times when to make a new paragraph – by topic, change of time, change of place, when speakers change, and for dramatic effect.

For me, with the fiction editing, speaker change is an ongoing issue. I’m constantly commenting to my authors – camera change on who is speaking is a paragraph change. Same is true for most of the paragraph changes required – if a television would have a scene jump occur, then a paragraph change is needed on the paper. I know this imagery won’t work for everyone, but it helps some.

Nearly all of us learned the “by topic” rule when writing essays in high school. The rest of the new-paragraph-start rules have been absorbed indirectly – read the posting to solidify what you have learned :

And remember, having everything in one huge page of information is draining on your reader, especially with modern tablets and phones.

White space is your friend. Break things up.

Other Cool Blogs: Magical Words 8/21/2015

Erin Penn

4387649 © Mediaonela | Dreamstime.com

Glad to see I’m not the only one to go on editing rants.

The best part, to me, of John G. Hartness’ post of “Rude Truths about publishing and writing – Part 347” from Magical Words 8/21/2015 is his first point.

Kill Adverbs. Stabby, stab, stab.

Not only does he tell you why to kill them, but how to kill them.

If you got an adverb + verb combo, just make the verb more powerful. Search on “ly (space)” and start knifing the adverbs.

He has three more points – A trident maybe? Anyway, read all of them here:

Editing Rant: Paragraph Lead Words

Erin Penn

84935978 © creativecommonsstockphotos | Dreamstime.com
Another Editing Rant from this year’s slush reading. Below is part of the post-script I added to the form rejection to the author.
(BTW, if an editor takes the time to add a postscript to the rejection, read it and take it for the complement it is meant to be. When the a submission editor takes the time to comment on your submission, at least two things have occurred – (1) they read your manuscript and (2) they liked it enough they would like to see it be the best it can be even if they don’t have the time personally to help make it so.)
Finally, watch out for paragraphs starting with the same word. This may seem strange advice. You may have heard be careful starting several sentences in a row with the same word because it creates a boredom with its repetition. Sometimes you want the beat for emphasis
He ran. He ran faster. He ran as fast as he could. He knew it would never be fast enough.
But for the most part, repetition of beginning words of sentence after sentence is bad.

Paragraphs create a similar boredom, but it is much more insidious because the reader’s conscious mind isn’t the one report it to the like-dislike-bored section of the brain. Their inner eye scans the page ahead as they read, processing information subconsciously – the words at the start of paragraphs stand out during this unconscious reading and register word after word being the same.

This function is related to the human mind ability to read words correctly based on the first and last letters.

FOR EXAMPLE:
It deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm.

Try not to have more than two paragraphs in a row starting with the same word. One of the ways to fix this issue is by varying sentence structure so it isn’t all “noun-verb” or “pronoun-verb” to start a paragraph.

 

Other Cool Blogs: Brand Names

Erin Penn

Photo by Mae Mu on Unsplash

When writing, a delicate balance exists between using brand names – which can date a manuscript if the brand goes away – and clarity of object. Should it be called a tissue or a Kleenex? Is it a Xerox or a copier?

Sometimes brand names are used to specifically “date” a story, for historical purposes. Other times they are avoided to keep the tale in the amorphous time of “contemporary”. Similar to technology choices, brand names can add or subtract from a story.

Did you know Onesies is a brand name? How about Rollerblade and Realtor being Trademarked? It isn’t only the Mouse that fights to protect it’s intellectual property.

Some really good articles on brand names are:

Fowler, Mark. “Can I Mention Brand Name Products in My Fiction?” Rights of Writers. 2010 December 27. http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2010/12/can-i-mention-brand-name-products-in-my.html (last viewed 3/26/2022)

Harrell, Lauren, and Stacy Conradt. “50 Words You Might Not Know are Trademarked.” Mental Floss. 2019 December 25. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/28238/25-words-you-might-not-know-are-trademarked (last viewed 3/26/2022)

Servais, Erin. “Using brand names.” Grammar Party. 2013 January 15. (last viewed 3/26/2022)