Pet peeves
I have only been reading fan fiction for the last 9 months or so and while 20% of what I read is well executed, 5% of that being my real favorites, I have found that 80% is horrid drivel employing the same grammatical mistakes that we were so often warned about in high school. Some of the more commonly found errors include:
- Confusing their, there, and they're. How hard is this people? Their implies ownership, there is in regards to location, and they're is just a fast way of saying they are. The last one really stumps me since the route word is they.
- Confusing to and too. I don't see this one as often, but it still happens.
- Not closing a quotation or forgetting to start with a quotation mark. Don't you proof read your own work if you don't have a beta? Even microsoft word can catch these mistakes if you bother to use it.
The grammar I can occasionally let slip, yes it's an annoyance but it doesn't take away the essence of the piece, but why do so many fan fiction authors copy their neighbors' horrible bad habits regarding pronouns. Pronouns are allowed. If your piece is written clearly then yes I can tell which "he" you are referring to and which person "him" you mean. There is no need to refer to characters by solely their hair or eye color, or in fantasy pieces the race to which they belong. Do you refer to your friends when talking to someone else as the "pink haired Asian girl" or the "blond, freckled boy" every other sentence? No, you use pronouns. More often than not, referring to people by the differences in their physical appearance is going to come off as racist in the real world, so why would you write that way?
Another huge pet peeve of mine, and used way way too often, is distinguishing characters by calling one "the other man." If you write clearly enough, as stated above, I will know who you are talking about with simple pronouns. And besides, saying the "other" is redundant. If you have two men together, of course the second one will be the "other" one. What's so wrong with just saying "the man" instead? I dare you to go through your written chapters and delete the word "other" evey time it comes up. You will cry at how many times you actually typed it in the first place.
One more writing quirk that author's have picked up in regards to characters' dialog is for one character to say the name of the other character every other line. Yes, you know who you are. Do you talk to people in the real world that way? At most, I will say a person's name at the beginning of the conversation to acknowledge them, at the end of the conversation to say goodbye, and maybe during the conversation once to emphasize a point, but I don't say it every time I open my mouth for another sentence. Read your dialog out loud, or read it with a friend like a script if you have this problem.
I just don't understand how fan fiction writers can employ the same mistakes over and over again. I'd imagine you did read or watch the subject of your fan dom more than once. Is that really how they do it?
Alright I'm getting off my soap box now. Cheers.
- Confusing their, there, and they're. How hard is this people? Their implies ownership, there is in regards to location, and they're is just a fast way of saying they are. The last one really stumps me since the route word is they.
- Confusing to and too. I don't see this one as often, but it still happens.
- Not closing a quotation or forgetting to start with a quotation mark. Don't you proof read your own work if you don't have a beta? Even microsoft word can catch these mistakes if you bother to use it.
The grammar I can occasionally let slip, yes it's an annoyance but it doesn't take away the essence of the piece, but why do so many fan fiction authors copy their neighbors' horrible bad habits regarding pronouns. Pronouns are allowed. If your piece is written clearly then yes I can tell which "he" you are referring to and which person "him" you mean. There is no need to refer to characters by solely their hair or eye color, or in fantasy pieces the race to which they belong. Do you refer to your friends when talking to someone else as the "pink haired Asian girl" or the "blond, freckled boy" every other sentence? No, you use pronouns. More often than not, referring to people by the differences in their physical appearance is going to come off as racist in the real world, so why would you write that way?
Another huge pet peeve of mine, and used way way too often, is distinguishing characters by calling one "the other man." If you write clearly enough, as stated above, I will know who you are talking about with simple pronouns. And besides, saying the "other" is redundant. If you have two men together, of course the second one will be the "other" one. What's so wrong with just saying "the man" instead? I dare you to go through your written chapters and delete the word "other" evey time it comes up. You will cry at how many times you actually typed it in the first place.
One more writing quirk that author's have picked up in regards to characters' dialog is for one character to say the name of the other character every other line. Yes, you know who you are. Do you talk to people in the real world that way? At most, I will say a person's name at the beginning of the conversation to acknowledge them, at the end of the conversation to say goodbye, and maybe during the conversation once to emphasize a point, but I don't say it every time I open my mouth for another sentence. Read your dialog out loud, or read it with a friend like a script if you have this problem.
I just don't understand how fan fiction writers can employ the same mistakes over and over again. I'd imagine you did read or watch the subject of your fan dom more than once. Is that really how they do it?
Alright I'm getting off my soap box now. Cheers.