Category: Musings

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Feeling Peevish

DH Hanni

Through the years I’ve touched upon pet peeves of mine mostly from my POV as a reader. One area I haven’t touched upon are my pet peeves I see as a writer. Sure I’ve given my opinion on annoying writing advice. Admittedly devising a list of writer pet peeves was a little more difficult. Beyond railing against publications and outfits not paying writers for content and charging reading fees, questioning why readers believe everything in a fiction story must be 100% accurate, and any other topic I’ve groused about in detail, what are the things which bug me as a writer?

Abusing Apostrophes: This is my biggest pet peeves. One of the biggest offenders are people adding ‘s to things which are not possessive but are plurals. For example, saying “The patient had multiple EKG’s during her hospital stay” is incorrect. In this context EKG should not be possessive. What does it possess? Nothing. Clearly the sentence states the patient had more than one EKG so it should be written as EKGs.

Another example is when words are abbreviated and pluralized. For example, PJ is short for pajama. When talking about say wearing PJs to IHOP it shouldn’t be spelled PJ’s. Again, what does it possess? When using ‘s really examine the sentence to see what, if anything, is possessive. If you mean to express more than one of something drop the ‘s and just use s.

One more common misuse of the apostrophe when noting decades or a specific year. For example, it is not the 1990’s. It’s 1990s. Does that look a bit awkward? Yes, but English is full of idiosyncrasies.

Another incorrect usage of an apostrophe is when a decade gets truncated. It is not the 50’s; it’s ’50s. Now, like so many rules there are exceptions. Examine if the decade or year in question truly possesses something. Take this sentence: “2016’s American presidential election was a wild ride” correctly uses ‘s when referring to a year. In this case the year is possessive.

Incorrect Usage of They’re/There/Their, You’re/Your, Were/We’re/Where, Two/To/Too, and Then/Than, etc.: We’ve all seen memes making fun of people incorrectly using these words. Some point out in posts and emails the errors. For me personally, when I see Facebook posts, emails, and other forms of communication where these words have been misused, my left eye twitches and it takes a team of oxen to hold me back from typing a correction. Blame how the English language developed.

Here are a few charts to know when to use each:

Though we all struggle with many of these you can see it’s easiest enough to look up a handy graph. There are other commonly misused words I could have added to this list, but I think the point is made. It’s super easy to search for when and how to use these words.

Extra Spaces After Sentences: This one is tricky because it depends on your generation and where you went to school.  However, the accepted industry standard is one space. I repeat ONE space after the period.  Not two. Two spaces used to be acceptable, but times change.  Language and grammar rules evolve and change.  A writer of any kind must be willing to progress unless they really enjoy having their metaphorical hand slapped.  To me it looks as if a writer is trying to pad their piece with the extra space.  It also is unnecessary work.  To me the extra space is noticeable.  See how odd it looks in relation to the rest of this post?

Could Care Less: Oh, dear. Anyone who says this sounds as if they don’t understand what they are saying. When one states they could care less when the intent clearly is you have decided you don’t care anymore. In other words, you should be saying “I couldn’t care less.”

Irregardless: Please someone tell me this still does not happen. I rarely see it pop up so I feel reassured most people have gotten the memo irregardless is not a word. Even Microsoft Word knows it’s not a word as it red squiggle lined it for me twice. The proper word is regardless.

I think the biggest culprit of why people believe this to be a word is how English language continues to change. Think about it how many words start with the ir prefix signaling its meaning is opposite: Irrespective, irreplaceable, irrational, irrecoverable is word. You get the idea. By this logic why can’t the opposite of regardless be irregardless? Because it’s English?

Hyphens: I tend to be a fan of hyphens though they are a confusing mess. Hyphens are fun though I can’t really explain why. I just really like them. Since hyphens are confusing here is a helpful guide as to when and when not use hyphens: *INSERT LINK* http://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/hyphens.asp

My legal last name is hyphenated so it greatly irks me when I’m not allowed to use it when filling out forms. When this happens my last name either is squished together in one long unpronounceable name or a space replaces the hyphen. This is legally and grammatically incorrect.

But I digress. Looking through the above linked list I notice I have incorrectly used the hyphen. I think the reason is because hyphens are so rarely used and I don’t remember them ever being brought up in elementary, junior high, high school, or college. As a result, it’s ignored or used incorrectly. But when used as intended hyphens clarify words and phrases.

 

Though this is my personal list of writer pet peeves, I unfortunately have committed some of these myself. Believe me old habits are hard to break. Thank goodness for reviewing one’s work, grammar books and websites, other readers, and editors. I’m know I’ve disappointed myself and annoyed my initial reader when I’ve not followed my own list of pet peeves. It is my hope with my small contribution you, the general public, will not fall into the trap or misused grammar so many do.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: What Fuels Creativity?

DH Hanni

Note: Apologies for being MIA for over a month. Life had been intervening, not in a bad way, for the past several weeks. Things should be calming down enough to allow me to get back on track. Thanks for your patience.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve always been fascinated by creativity. Going as far back as elementary school I would watch behind-the-scenes specials of shows and movies. I was blown away by how special effects, storylines, characters, sets, etc. were created. As I’ve gotten older I am still fascinated by creativity in all areas from music to art to dance and of course, writing. To see other people’s expression is amazing. How did they come up with that? It’s awe-inspiring and intimidating to know someone’s mind works on a different level than mine.

To this day I still love watching special features and listening to interviews with fellow creative types to learn where their inspirations come from. Often I have wondered what sparks creativity and listening to others has taught me it can come from anything. Many joke without coffee or tea the muse will continue to slumber. Others joke without copious amounts of alcohol and drugs they are unable to create.

Beyond those stimuli, what really is the root of creativity? It’s this need, this want to express ourselves in whatever form fits. An individual’s life experiences also spur it acting as a healthy way for us to deal with emotions and events both good and bad. Seeing the world around us and wanting to process how it makes us feel also causes us to create. Some use their art to comment on what they feel is lacking or is too much of in society.

Obvious writing is my creative outlet. What drives it is it the only outlet I feel comfortable with and seem to have some aptitude for. What inspires me to create comes from a variety of sources. Sometimes it’s a show I’m watching. Sometimes it’s what I see going on in the world. Other times it comes from an internal struggle I’m going through. Other times I simply can’t put my finger on where an idea comes from; it just comes.

To me it is vital we all have a creative outlet. It doesn’t matter if anyone sees it and one certainly doesn’t need to pursue it as a career. Not to sound New Agey or full of “woo”, but without a creative outlet of some kind a person risks burying emotions clamoring to be released. Creating something, no matter its format, allows for such a release. Whatever drives your creativity, embrace it.

Front Page, Musings

Weekly Musing: Bad Education

DH Hanni

“Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it.
Then write. If it’s good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out of the window.”

The above quote is attributed to William Faulkner and it’s a great piece of advice for both readers and writers. As a reader, it’s frustrating as hell when you read a poorly written book. Your rage bubbles up, you stop reading the book, or continue reading to see if by some miracle the author gets his or her shit together, or you throw the book across the room. Bad books make you appreciate the good books and the talented authors behind them.

I’d argue as a writer, you gain more benefit from reading bad books rather than good ones and the classics. I’m not saying reading only bad books; just realize they probably provide as valuable of an education as the good books. Yes, great books can show you how to really dig deep into your character’s soul. Show you the power and loveliness of the written word. Show you how to immerse you reader into a world they won’t want to leave.

But bad books have more value, in my opinion, because they don’t intimidate a writer. By being bad they can show you what NOT to do. Analyzing where you believe the author dropped the ball can boost your confidence knowing your writing is better than drivel not even worthy of lining a litter box. Use poor prose to push yourself to do better.

That being said, reading shit novels can also mess with you because you realize an editor, a publisher, an agent somewhere read a draft and went “Yup, we think we can sell this.” Some incredibly bad books have sold stupidly well, making their authors rich, while great books written by more talented authors languish.

As a writer when you read an awful book, carefully examine what about it bugs you. Is it the author’s use (or misuse) of the English language? Is it because the characters are underdeveloped and act inconsistently? Is the plot trite? Are you having problems visualizing the world? Is that world uninteresting? Are the descriptions laughable or confusing?

After asking yourself these questions and others you draw up, look at the answers. Use those to improve your own writing as you revise. If you use beta readers, pose those questions to them upfront so they know what to be on the look for as they read.

Also keep in mind that you don’t have to apply analysis to everything you read. Trashy or bad books can be a joy to read, sometimes more than great books. Reading for the pure pleasure of reading is the same as writing for the sheer joy of it. Not everything written has to serve a deeper purpose and can be for the hell of it. At the end of the day, as long as you read you’re learning whether consciously or subconsciously.