Every 1st and 3rd Thursday, I'll take your editorial questions. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and more! I will showcase questions and answers (with permission) once I get questions as well. To ask a question, please fill out the form below.
I've been a freelance editor since November 2010. If I don't know the answer, I will find it.
Christine Rains asks “Hi! ;) I was wondering about this lately. Might not
be an editor question exactly. Might just be personal opinion.
I've had people when critiquing my
stories correct the grammar and structure of dialogue. My opinion is that
people - well, most people! - don't speak with proper sentence structure or use
words properly. It's part of their character. I can see correcting the rest of
the text, but not dialogue unless it's something glaringly wrong.
As an editor, do you want grammatically
correct dialogue or is there some other rules when it comes to such things?”
When I first
started editing, I’ll admit I wanted to fix the grammar in the dialogue, but
that’s just not the way people talk. It’s one of the things that irked me when
I was studying foreign languages. The teachers would expect perfect dialogue
instead of natural dialogue.
In writing,
dialogue should be true to the character. Sometimes editors will ask for a
cheat sheet, so to speak, on quirky things a character will say that aren’t
grammatically or structurally correct. That way they don’t fix them. Yet, if
you are going to have a character not know the different between “who” and “whom”
or the like, then you need to be consistent.
As an editor,
I will fix typos and grammar things that look more like a mistake than a
character’s way of speech. If I have a question about it, I’ll comment on it.
After all, you want your characters to be understandable, but no, they don’t
have to have perfect grammar or structure.
As for the
non-dialogue text, if it isn’t a character’s thoughts, it should be more or
less grammatical, but even then there are stylistic cases that change that.
Writers should remember when it comes to editors, we’re trying to do our best
to make the story the best it can be, but in the end it is the author who
decides whether the advice is true to the character/story or not.
10 comments:
Thanks to both you and Christine. Often the grammar or lack thereof is what creates the 'voice'.
Very informative post! My biggest thing in dialogue is not using complete sentences. Who speaks like that? Glad it's okay. My biggest hurdle is my minor use of German in my next 2 books. And they speak in slang too. I feel your pain about foreign languages, Cherie. And don't get me started on my white trash maid in my sequel. Now I'm tackling a little Scotish dialect in my prologue. Oy Vey!
Fascinating tidbit! Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks for answering my question. :) I have a follow up question: Is there a place for semi-colons in dialogue? I never use them. They feel unnatural to me.
what a greaaat post love your blog =) follow
Great advice!
I've wondered about this as well. I wonder if that's part of the reason my characters are occasionally grammar-savvy nerds . . . LOL.
Good to know :) I like when dialogue flows, seems natural, and is is easy to follow. I've always admired authors like Twain who can pull off strong regional accents and slang in dialogue (which is something I would have great trouble with if I tried). Stephen King does a good job doing the same thing (only this time with Maine). I guess that's one of the advantages to writing about a place you've live most your life.
This was a very helpful tip! Thanks to both of you!
What a great thing to do, Cherie! I will remember this.
I totally agree with the dialog part. I hate reading a story where the dialog is so stilted and stiff. And IMO writing dialog is the most fun part of the process.
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