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Grammar is important
Aug. 13th, 2012 12:15 pmAs a writer, and even as a reader, some of those things you were taught back in English classes, oh so long ago, are important.
As an example, diagramming sentences. Now, most of us weren't fond of this. And I'm amazed that I retain as much as I do. But being able to break a sentence, especially a long complex one, down into its component parts and see how those parts relate can bail you out of a lot of trouble.
I could go looking for references on how you do it "properly", but let's just go with what works.
At heart, as sentence, any sentence, breaks down into three parts. Subject, object and verb. A sentence describes an action (or if you write the way I do, several actions and a lot of modifiers :-)
Subject is who or what is acting. Object is who or what is getting acted upon. And the verb tells you what the action is.
Sometimes the subject or object is implied. "Pick up that trash" has an implied subject of the person being talked to. "The hammer struck" has an object implied (we hope) by context.
Now, of course, in all but the simplest sentences, there are modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, etc) to one or more of the subject, object and verb. Then you get to add in various clauses and the like. Messy, but with some thought, you can figure out where the modifiers attach. That is, what word or phrase they modify.
As a writer, this skill is needed to check out things when things are getting messy. Or when someone complains that something is confusing.
Sometimes, you'll discover that what you wrote is capable of being read more than one way (ie it is plausible to assign modifiers or even pronouns to more than one place/person. In which case you have to de-ambiguate things. This sometimes means making something a tiny bit clunkier. And sometimes it requires rewriting an entire sentence of paragraph.
I'm not sure which is worse. Having these "oops" moment pointed out, or re-reading something after the heat of creation is past and having to puzzle out what you meant. Neither is fun.
And that brings us to why these skills are important for *readers*.
Sometimes, especially with fanfic, but all too often with professionally published works, you'll hit something where you have to sit down and "diagram" the text just to figure out what the author *probably* intended.
So being able to parse a sentence *consciously* instead of the normal "run on autopilot" is a skill that should be maintained. Or developed if you didn't get it from English class (or forgot it from disuse)
If you proof read for folks or beta read, you *will* need this at some point. And as a writer, it helps. If only to get yourself out of corners you've written yourself into. (trust me, been there, done that)
As an example, diagramming sentences. Now, most of us weren't fond of this. And I'm amazed that I retain as much as I do. But being able to break a sentence, especially a long complex one, down into its component parts and see how those parts relate can bail you out of a lot of trouble.
I could go looking for references on how you do it "properly", but let's just go with what works.
At heart, as sentence, any sentence, breaks down into three parts. Subject, object and verb. A sentence describes an action (or if you write the way I do, several actions and a lot of modifiers :-)
Subject is who or what is acting. Object is who or what is getting acted upon. And the verb tells you what the action is.
Sometimes the subject or object is implied. "Pick up that trash" has an implied subject of the person being talked to. "The hammer struck" has an object implied (we hope) by context.
Now, of course, in all but the simplest sentences, there are modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, etc) to one or more of the subject, object and verb. Then you get to add in various clauses and the like. Messy, but with some thought, you can figure out where the modifiers attach. That is, what word or phrase they modify.
As a writer, this skill is needed to check out things when things are getting messy. Or when someone complains that something is confusing.
Sometimes, you'll discover that what you wrote is capable of being read more than one way (ie it is plausible to assign modifiers or even pronouns to more than one place/person. In which case you have to de-ambiguate things. This sometimes means making something a tiny bit clunkier. And sometimes it requires rewriting an entire sentence of paragraph.
I'm not sure which is worse. Having these "oops" moment pointed out, or re-reading something after the heat of creation is past and having to puzzle out what you meant. Neither is fun.
And that brings us to why these skills are important for *readers*.
Sometimes, especially with fanfic, but all too often with professionally published works, you'll hit something where you have to sit down and "diagram" the text just to figure out what the author *probably* intended.
So being able to parse a sentence *consciously* instead of the normal "run on autopilot" is a skill that should be maintained. Or developed if you didn't get it from English class (or forgot it from disuse)
If you proof read for folks or beta read, you *will* need this at some point. And as a writer, it helps. If only to get yourself out of corners you've written yourself into. (trust me, been there, done that)
