Point Counterpoint offers differing opinions of literary interest. This topic discusses the use of good grammar in writing.  Good Grammar

Point

by: Betsy J. Bennett

Winston Churchill is credited with saying, “Your criticism of my grammar is something up with which I refuse to put,” when told he could not end a sentence with a preposition. Ok, so the story is probably apocryphal, but the lesson it highlights is this: no one likes their grammar corrected.

My favorite sign of all time (I have it hanging in my office) says:

The strongest force in the universe is to

                                    Edit

                                    Change

                                    Correct

                                    Revise

                                    Edit

                        Another author’s text.

It’s almost impossible not to. Oh, the delight in finding a better word or what you assume is a more correct grammar for someone else’s text.

Occasionally I buy used books. Nothing makes me laugh out loud faster than finding a used novel that someone has taken the red pencil to, especially when I wouldn’t have made the same correction myself.

I try to make the things I write as grammatically perfect as possible, with the understanding, 1) that I am no editor, 2) I think it’s impossible for me to find obvious mistakes in my own text, and 3) sometimes close enough is close enough.

When I publish professionally, an editor goes over my novels, leaving what I consider (my) blood all over the page. I don’t think he’s always right, but I generally accept that he knows more about his profession than I do. I make all the corrections he asks for. Well, he’s probably laughing now, if he’s reading that. Okay, so I’ve been known to argue, and sometimes win a point (although not usually), but he is the professional and knows who, whose and who’s and complicated things like that.

My advice is if someone asks you to edit their text, and that person is a friend, what they really want is for you to comment on the story-line. They don’t want it edited, they want to know if you “liked it.”

If you know your there, their, they’re’s and your to, two, too’s ask if you can change them. If it’s something serious like a misplaced modifier, you’re on your own.

If your publisher sends your work to an editor, try to be professional and make the changes.

If you’re reading a novel you bought, please feel free to red-pencil, after all I might discover it one day, and the urge to change another’s text is the strongest force in the universe.

Counterpoint

by: Liesha J. Crawford

 

Writers write from the heart, putting their ideas to paper so that the rest of the world might enjoy or even learn something from the writer’s thoughts.  These story lines and thoughts can be deeply personal and take on a life of their own as the words flow from the author’s thoughts.  Sometimes these thoughts fly so fast and furious that one does not pay heed to grammar, spelling, word choice or even story lines that vary from the main plot.  In my years as a teacher, I taught my students that the latter could be called “fluffy white kittens.” (a part of the story that does not fit with the rest of the plot, such as, within a story about dinosaurs, a fluffy white kitten appears).

Every reader of every book (novel or otherwise) is an “editor/revisionist” and is critiquing the work of the writer right down to the last comma and/or period, story line/plot.  Proof of this can be, if they buy the second or subsequent books in a series.  A good editor looks for those small, and sometimes large mistakes that will prevent a reader from purchasing another book from the same author due to small and sometimes large, mistakes that annoy them as they read.  A persnickety editor will catch those “small and sometimes large mistakes” BEFORE they can annoy readers.

If an author is looking for kudos of their work, look towards friends.  If an author is looking for a genuinely honest revision in order to appeal to a wider audience of readers, look towards an editor who will honestly look for those things.  By the same token, a good editor does not just look toward grammar, spelling and punctuation (computers can do those things).  An awesome editor also reads the books for story line and plot, thus understanding how the story and sometimes multiple books in a series flow and flow well.

I think Patricia Fuller stated it best, “Writing without revising is the literary equivalent of waltzing gaily out of the house in your underwear.”