Ask the Editor: Text and Computer Messages in Fiction

 

Ask the Editor is on the 3rd Monday of the month. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and more! I will showcase questions and answers. To ask a question, please fill out the form below. (There will be no Ask the Editor in September due to the awesome Alex J. Cavanaugh's Genre Favorites Blogfest. If you haven't signed up for it yet, you should consider doing so.)

I've been a freelance editor since November 2010. If I don't know the answer, I will find it.  

M. Pax asks, “How would you punctuate and set off a computer or text conversation? Such as lol. Would you use a period after it?

Most books set text messages and computer conversations (emails/IMs) off in a different font or indent differently. Some use italics or bold the lines. I did a bit of research on the topic, but nothing seemed definite on how to set of text/computer conversations. A key is consistency. If you do it one way, then keep it that way later in the book. As for “lol” with or without punctuate, punctuate how your character would. 

For example of a possible text message conversation between my sister and me:

Cherie: Where r u?

Kara: Walmart

Cherie: Ok

Cherie: Be there soon.

You can get a feel of the natural texting. Grammar/spelling rules don't completely apply to texts and computer messages because that's not how a lot of people type, so it is important to show that in a story.

Ask the Editor: Apostrophes, Words ending in S, and plurazing last names with an S

 

Ask the Editor will be on the 3rd Monday of the month. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and more! I will showcase questions and answers. 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, “It deals with using an apostrophe with a word that has an 's' at the end of it. Years ago, I was taught when you add an apostrophe to the end of say, Rains, you do it like this: Rains'. You don't add the extra 's.' Yet these days, I see the extra 's' being added. Have the rules changed again and now it's proper to add that extra 's'? Also, how would you properly pluralize a last name like mine: Rainses, Rains', or Rains's?”

For the first part of your question: With general words ending in -s, you can either do just an apostrophe or an apostrophe + s as long as you are consistent, such as Severus' or Severus's. 

To plural a last name, you never use an apostrophe, since apostrophes show possession or contractions. To plural your last name, though, you'll do Rainses. If you wanted to say someone was going to your home, you would then use the apostrophe and say, "We're going to the Rainses' today."

For a great website on plurals, click here. 

Ask the Editor: Introducing a Character and Run-on Sentences

 

For the summer schedule, Ask the Editor will be on the 3rd Monday of the month. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and more! I will showcase questions and answers. 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.  

Michael Offutt asks, “Is it okay to keep a character that doesn't add to the story as long as you plan to use him for something big in a later book? I don't like to introduce a character and then use him for the something big five minutes later. I like to set the stage. The thing is...it may be asking too much from the reader to expect something of a character that they don't get payoff for immediately.”

It's hard to tell without reading the scene and knowing the character’s importance in book three. My instinct says if a scene doesn't serve a purpose to further the plot, characters, etc., then it should be cut. At the same time, you shouldn't just drop a big character in book three without at least a mention in book two to prepare people. There are several ways to do this. Either put the character in a more important scene and introduce him/her that way or make the scene that character is in more important besides just introducing the character. It is possible the scene is fine as is, though, since it technically does serve a purpose (entering the character into the novel), even though that purpose doesn't truly appear until book three. It's a difficult call to make.

Rachelle Ayala asks, "Hi Cherie, I'm helping to vet books, and I'm noticing a lot of run-on sentences. Is it okay? Or are these indies wrong? I know that in my MS there were a few places you removed the comma if the independent clause was very short, like two or three words.

Am I getting too old? Is the new style to allow run-on sentences?"

The rule generally goes if you have two independent sentences joined by a conjunction you should add a comma before the conjunction. You can do away with said comma if the first part is less than five words long. The reason you don't have to do a comma then is that people don't need to take a pause when it is so short, such as "She smiled and he couldn't help but grin back." 

Stylistically, those types of sentences wouldn't have to have the comma, if the writer feels there is no pause between the two. 

True run-on sentences are when there are two independent clauses not joined by a conjunction, such as "He writes she edits." OR "He writes, she edits." The last one is a comma splice.

The thing about commas is that there are few hard and fast rules about them. True, there are reasons why you don't use commas in places, but the tendency nowadays tends to move toward less commas. Some commas have become more vocative than actually necessary. And those longer sentences with two or more independent clauses could really use the commas to create that pause.

Ask the Editor

 

It's time for Ask the Editor! I'll take your editorial questions. Grammar, spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and more! I will showcase questions and answers. To ask a question, please fill out the form below.

Ask the Editor will be featured only today this month. For the summer schedule, Ask the Editor will be on the 3rd Monday of the month.

I've been a freelance editor since November 2010. If I don't know the answer, I will find it.  

Don't forget that Defying Gravity is still free through Friday!

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Ask the Editor: Further v Farther, Em dashes, and All Right v Alright

 

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.  

Sue Roebuck asks, “I always thought I was quite good at grammar until my novel was recently edited by the publisher (gulp). I never realized the difference between "further" and "farther". I think I know the difference now, but do you have a quick way of remembering the difference? And why don't editors like hyphenated words (like no-one for example)?”

Ah, the “further” vs “farther” thing got you too! I had the hardest time with those two as well when I was writing Once Upon a December Nightmare. The thing I learned is when you mean “more” it is “further,” but “more in distance” is “farther.”

Farther = More in distance, physical distance, think FAR

Further = More, figuratively

For further information, please click here. You won’t have to go much farther to find out more about “further” and “farther.”

Christine Rains asks, "When you're writing dialogue and the character speaking gets cut off in mid-sentence, what is the proper way to indicate this?

I've always used a dash.

Example: "What the h-"

Recently, I was told that's incorrect. I should be using an em dash or a double dash.

Example: "What the h--"

All these changing rules sometimes confuse me!" 

Yes, the em dash is the correct way to write a sentence such as “What the h—” In Microsoft Word, it automatically creates an em dash when you type the two dash marks and continue the sentence. By the way, if at all possible, you want it to look like an em dash (—) instead of two dashes (--) together.

But we’ll look into this a bit further. There are three types of dashes: the hyphen (-), the en dash (–), and the em dash (—).

Hyphens (-) are used to separate compound adjectives, verbs, or adverbs. You create a hyphen by using the minus key in Windows-based keyboards.

Example: According to Jurassic Park, the T-rex has a movement-based vision.

En Dash (–) is used to express a range of values or distance. In MS Word, you can put an En Dash either from the menu by clicking the symbol for it or the key-combination, Ctrl + Num -.

Example: The Ravens lost to the Steelers by 21–27.

Em Dash (—) is used to set off abrupt parenthetical elements, to cut off dialogue and thoughts mid-sentence, and to separate the final part of a sentence that is logically not part of the sentence (similar to a colon in this context). In MS Word, you can type two hyphens together to get an Em Dash.

Examples: What the h—

We arrived at McDonalds—don’t we always go there—and got a Shamrock Shake and a Caramel Mocha with fries.

For more information on these dashes, click here. 

 

Marta Szemik asks, “When do you use “all right” vs. “alright”? Is “alright” just an informal way of saying “all right”? 

All right means adequate, permissible, or satisfactory.

For example: His story was all right.

Alright is a misspelling of “all right.” Yeah, most grammar sources agree that “alright” is not a word.

But “alright” is used a lot. Most people know what it means, so it is one of those words that is in flux right now. So in general, it is best to stick with “all right.”

All right?

To read more on the “all right” v “alright,” click here. 

Ask the Editor: Starting a Sentence with "But" and Accept vs Except

I'm at Hart Johnson's blog today talking about the inspiration behind Defying Gravity.

 

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, “I’ve always been told it’s improper to start a sentence with “but.” BUT I see it a lot. (I usually change the “but” to “yet” when editing.) Is it a stylistic choice or is it proper in some instances?”  

It depends on what you are writing. Is it nonfiction? An essay? Fiction? Not using “but” to start a sentence is formal writing, such as essays, theses, most nonfiction. In fiction, the rule not to use “but,” or “and” for that matter, to start a sentence is thrown out the window. True, you don’t want to overuse it, but stylistically it is not only used, but also can be encouraged.

Jessica G. asks, “I can never remember if I should use “accept” or “except.” Is there a tip for their proper usage?

Accept means “to receive, take in, approve.” It’s a verb. Example, “I accepted the extra piece of cake.”

Except means “but not” or “with the exclusion of.” It is a preposition, but there is the case where except can be a verb to mean “reject” as in “The club admitted the group, but excepted Jill because she’s under age twenty-one.”

Knowing this may help some, but is there a quick tip to remember?

Yes, focus on the beginning letters and their meanings.

If you accept, you approve it.

If you except, you exclude it.

 

I found this great site that gives a trick to remembering it as well as a quiz.