Insane Dames

Back to Articles Page

Why Grammar Matters

by Sue McKlveen

Recently, a friend of mine told me about a new writing group she was joining. She’d been to one session and described the other members to me. One person in that group had said that ‘grammar doesn’t matter’ and ‘only plot counts’ or something like that.

I was appalled. Yes, plot does count, but if you don’t use correct grammar, you show that you’re a novice as a writer and no one in their right mind would ever consider publishing your book. Even an agent won’t touch you.

Is that the way the industry’s headed? I don’t think so. Competition for writers right now is very strong. Even the published can’t get agents. There are too many competent writers in the world for an agent or publisher to waste time on someone who doesn’t use proper grammar.

On another note, I was critiquing for another writer, and she had various other people looking at her book as well. She was very upset at one person’s feedback, because the woman had corrected everything, even dialogue. She’d taken out all contractions and made all partial sentences complete. All back story had been made into past tense, instead of past perfect, to indicate that the action was back story.

This is also wrong, but in a different way. Yes, grammar rules need to be followed, but there are some exceptions.

Dialogue is to be true to how people speak. For example, you can’t have someone who’s rural and never completed the sixth grade to say something like, "You are not coming with us, are you?" No. You’d have them say the phrase in their jargon, to make it more believable. You’d write something like, "You ain’t comin’ with us, is ya?". It’s more believable, but not grammatically correct.

Phrases are used in writing as full sentences. It adds to the suspense. You can write something like, "Red. The room was covered in blood." Red is not a full sentence, but it makes the reader stop and think.

Contractions are necessary. In technical writing, the author is supposed to take out all contractions to create a formal document. But in creative writing, if a writer doesn’t use contractions, they’re considered an amateur. Use contractions whenever possible, especially in speech. There are some that are awkward, such as ‘it’d’ instead of ‘it would’, so say your contractions out loud to see what’s really spoken.

Back story is a part of the story that explains what had happened in the past. If the book’s written in present tense, then using past tense for back story is more appropriate. It distinguishes the fact that it happened before the time of the story. But if the story is written in past tense, distinguishing the time lapse is tougher. So, the savvy author will write all back story in past perfect. That’s using the word ‘had’ with an active verb to indicate the past. For example, instead of writing, ‘She visited England in 1933.’, the author would write, ‘She had visited England in 1933.’ to show it happened in the past.

In conclusion, grammar does matter. Not only does it show the author isn’t a novice, but it can create different illusions and emotions for the reader, bringing the work alive.

Back to Articles Page