Hatrack River Writers Workshop: Gramatical Broohaha

This is topic Gramatical Broohaha in forum Open Discussions About Writing at Hatrack River Writers Workshop.

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Posted by urodela1 (Member # 7907) on :

I'm often at loggerheads whether to construct a sentence in which strict gramatical principles are applied or maybe go out and hang a few prepositions. They do tend to kick up a fight when you start knotting that rope.

Not that these are mutually exclusive or that proper grammar needs to be clunky, but writing phrases like "Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee" leave a bad taste in my mouth. I wonder if Hemingway felt the same way when he penned that one.

On a related side note, I'd just like to express my appreciation to feend a forum were the abcents of spelczech does not led to...well, the murdered english so prevalent elsewhere. lol

Sincerely,
Urodela1

Posted by DebbieKW (Member # 5058) on :

The rules of grammar exist to enable clear communication. I'm very fond of grammar. However, even I don't insist that proper grammar be used all the time, especially when writing dialogue or a person's thoughts. People don't always speak grammatically. The problem for me is when improper grammar leads to confusion or is used so often that it gets distracting.

For example, an occasional sentence fragment is fine. However, if you have four sentence fragments in a row, three of which could have been connected into one grammatical sentence, I find it distracting and disjointed. It's often confusing, too, because I have to pause and figure out which thoughts are meant to be connected together.

Improper placement of commas also is a major cause of confusion, at least for me. I guess, to me, it really depends of what grammar rule you want to break and how it affects the reader's understanding and immersement in the story.

Posted by JeanneT (Member # 5709) on :

I'll refer you to John Donne's Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, specifically meditation 17.

[This message has been edited by JeanneT (edited April 12, 2008).]