It Might Sound Stupid, But...

[KFelidae]

[b]It Might Sound Stupid, But...[/b]

This is a basic guide to everyday writing rules that many fanfic writers forget, ignore, or possibly don't even know about. Things you SHOULD know, if you're going to write. At all.

[b]Spelling Errors[/b]

Now, the thing, I'm sure, everyone sees far too often in fanfiction is a spelling error. They don't usually affect the reading too much, as the reader is usually smart enough to figure any typo on their own. However, when writing a story more centric on an uncommon world (and with uncommon words associated with it), it's very important that spelling errors be kept to a minimum. There are very simple ways to reduce, or eliminate, spelling errors.

The first of which, and the easiest, is the spell-checker. Almost all writing proggies have a spell checker. Microsoft Word, Wordperfect, ect. all have them. WordPad, however, does not. For a program that lacks a spellchecker, it is possible to simply copy/paste your work into another program and check it there (most email programs have a spellchecker), or you can take it on the web and have it checked there. http://www.spellcheck.net is one.

The next easiest, althought it does require social skills, is the proof-reader. Proof-readers are people whose "job" it is to read over a work and find errors in spelling and punctation. A friend who has an equal or higher reading level than you should be sufficient. Older siblings are good, too. They can point out, or even correct, spelling mistakes before the work is put up, and also check for any other errors they see.

[b]Paragraphs[/b]

For some reason, the proper use of paragraphs in conversation and situation has been eluded by the school system. They'll teach you all you need to know about essays and formal letters, but once two characters start speaking, hoo boy, do they run tail quick.

The basic rule in paragraphing is this - if a thought is changed within the writing, make it a new papragraph. So if I was talking about kittens, and then for some reason, decided to change my topic to racecars, well, before I started on about racecars, I'd make myself a new paragraph, THEN go for it. This applies to speaking, as well. If two characters are talking, their individual statements should always be in seperate paragraphs. They are different thoughts had by different people. They should not reside in the same space.

[b]Speech[/b]

As stated in Paragraphs, when two people speak at the same time, their individual statements should always be seperated by paragraphs. But how do you set up something for your character to say?

Let's say I wanted to show my muse, Jim, saying hi. In a fic, it'd go something like this:

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!"[/i]

Obviously, I want everyone to know it's Jim. This is the first time he's spoken, so I put his name at the front of the sentance. Jim is, of course, our subject.

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!"[/i]

Also, I want people to realize that he's doing something before/in the act of saying it.

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!"[/i]

Next, we have to seperate the 'narrator' talking with what Jim's saying. This is where those little periods-with-tails come in. You know "," these things.

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!"[/i]

Next, we add in Jim's actual statement, and surround it with these little fellas, showing everyone that it's a verbal sound.

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!"[/i]

Finally, we add in HOW the hello is said. An exclaimation mark shows excitement.

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!"[/i]

Complicated? It's not. Just remember, when someone says something, you need a subject (Jim) and a speech part ("Hello!"). The action is optional, though it helps to add 'spice' to a fic. You could just as well write:

[i]Jim said, "Hello!"[/i]

Now, if we're having Jim say two things, we don't have to keep writing 'Jim said'-this and 'Jim said'-that. If we want him to say something else, we can add it on afterwards:

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!" He grinned happily before adding, "Scared ya', huh?"[/i]

The second time, we only have to put down "he", because "Jim" is implied by the previous part of the sentance. We only have to state the character now if another comes into the conversation. So let's bring in Namor.

[i]Jim appeared out of thin air and said, "Hello!" He grinned happily before adding, "Scared ya', huh?"[/i]

[i]Namor snarled at him, "No!"[/i]

Namor's a new speaker, so to avoid confusion, we don't say "he". By stating his name, and seperating their statements by a paragraph, their speech doesn't get confused. If we want to switch back to Jim, we'd do the same thing, adding in his name beforehand to make sure everyone knows it's Jim, and not Namor, talking.

[b]"!", ".", and "?"[/b]

Them little thingies at the end of sentances ain't just for looks, you know. But one of them NEEDS to be at the end of every sentance to show that it's ended, or else one sentance would run on into the next, creating the dreaded run-on sentance.

The exclaimation mark (also called the exclaimation [i]point[/i]) is used at the end of sentances that are said with excitement or zest. This means that if a character says something, no matter what it is, with any sort of zeal, there's probably gonna be an exclaimation mark after it. Some examples are:

[i]"Oh, wow!"

"You jerk!"

"Ouch!"[/i]

A period is used at the end of sentances that really don't have much emotional modification done to them. For instance, I'm neither excited nor worked up about this sentance I'm writing, so I'll just end is with a plain old period.

[i]"Well, now."

"Okay."

"Over there."[/i]

A question mark is the thing you use when you're curious, questioning (obviously), or confused about something. Asking a question is always ended with a question mark.

[i]"How far?"

"Why?"

"Can you explain?"[/i]

In addition to these, I'm sure you've also seen this --> . . .

They're called ellipses, and they can signify a number of things. The most commong useage is "trailing off". When a person is speaking and they are either distracted by something or simply choose to let a sentance hang, the ellipses are put where the sentance stops.

[i]"I thought I put it. . ."[/i]

The implied entire sentance would be, "I thought I put it over there." But the sentance stopped in the middle, and was not finished. We show the unfished bit of the sentance by using the ellipses. People do let statements hang intentionally. Somebody saying, "Well..." uncertainly is dropping it off for someone else to pick up.

Ellipses can also be used when someone only catches the tail-end of a statement. Let's say Bob walks into a room, and hears this:

[i]"...and he didn't even pay me!"[/i]

It isn't a complete sentance, but the ellipses in front of it show that there's something missing that SHOULD be there. Just like how the ellipses showed that there was something missing at the end of a sentance, so too can they show something missing at the beginning.



Well, that's all for now. Perhaps more later.



-KF

[PhunkYMunkY]

Nice tips and very good information...

...It's spelled 'Sentence'.

...And yeah I admire that you have gone through the trouble of making this.. Well done ^_^

(Edit: 'Exclamation mark' ^_^ )

[KFelidae]

[quote="PhunkYMunkY (Gray Roberts)"]Nice tips and very good information...

...It's spelled 'Sentence'.

...And yeah I admire that you have gone through the trouble of making this.. Well done  ^_^

(Edit: 'Exclamation mark'  ^_^ )[/quote]
:lol:


-KF

[SilentSoul92]

*sigh* ^_^ anyway, I see you went through a lot of work. Hopefully no one is so bad at writing they need to do every single thing on the list. Still, good job making this.