Things to avoid when writing a story. Part 1
Others have done it, I know. I still want to do it myself, because... well. Just because.
So here is my first "not to do"-list - it might get more posts as time goes by.
1) Mix up "lay" and "lie"
- It's apparently easy to make that mistake. Since English is not my native language and I had to learn it in school instead of soaking it up along family and friends, it might come to me easier to know the difference. Or not, but anyway:
to lie, lay, lain - meaning to be horizontal on a surface
to lay, laid, laid - meaning to PUT something on a surface (horizontal or not)
Example to "lie": "Dean lies on the floor" - Dean is horizontal on the floor.
Example to "lay": "Dean lays the book on the table" - Dean puts the book on the table.
It gets a bit muggier when you want to use the continuous forms (-ing-form), because now you have the same word expressing two different things:
"Lying" can be "being horizontal on a surface" OR it could be "telling a lie". The rest of the sentence can usually clear any misunderstandings up.
So if you want to express that Dean is still on that floor, you write "Dean is lying on the floor." (see? No lies told in that sentence)
Or you can say "Dean is laying books on the floor" - which would mean that he's putting them there.
There is ONLY ONE exception when you might correctly write "Dean is laying on the floor", and that would be when Dean is a chicken and lays eggs. Otherwise, "to lay" is ALWAYS used with an object that is being moved.
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2) the other male
No. Just... no. In what context could that three words be used correctly? Certainly not when you are writing about two men, HUMAN men.
I often see this used in sentences when there are two men talking, or just two men in a scene together. Something like "Dean was standing beside Bobby and he looked over to him. The other male was drinking a beer."
I actually cringe at that sentence, and I'm sorry for everyone who uses that and now feels offended - don't be, I don't mean anyone personally. But feel free (aka: please do) to take this advice:
That is bad writing.
Again, there's one possible reason to say it like that, and that would be if both characters were actually animals. Cats. Or maybe wolves. Animals are described as "males" or "females", but not humans.
We can say "the other man" (though it's not really inventive, is it?) or just "he".
Would anyone really write "the other female" if it were two women at the bar?
People might be a special kind of animal, but if that's not what you want to express, keep biology away from stories and leave it in the science-department or inside the plot.
If you don't want to be repetitive and use something other than the name of the character or "him"/"he", try to change the sentence.
Examples:
"Dean was standing beside Bobby and he looked over to him. Bobby was drinking a beer."
"Dean was standing beside Bobby and looked over to him. The old hunter was drinking a beer."
"Dean was standing beside Bobby and looked over to him. His bearded friend was drinking a beer."
Or how about just re-structuring?
"Dean was standing beside Bobby at the bar, watching him drink a beer."
(there will be more, I'm sure. see ya...)
So here is my first "not to do"-list - it might get more posts as time goes by.
1) Mix up "lay" and "lie"
- It's apparently easy to make that mistake. Since English is not my native language and I had to learn it in school instead of soaking it up along family and friends, it might come to me easier to know the difference. Or not, but anyway:
to lie, lay, lain - meaning to be horizontal on a surface
to lay, laid, laid - meaning to PUT something on a surface (horizontal or not)
Example to "lie": "Dean lies on the floor" - Dean is horizontal on the floor.
Example to "lay": "Dean lays the book on the table" - Dean puts the book on the table.
It gets a bit muggier when you want to use the continuous forms (-ing-form), because now you have the same word expressing two different things:
"Lying" can be "being horizontal on a surface" OR it could be "telling a lie". The rest of the sentence can usually clear any misunderstandings up.
So if you want to express that Dean is still on that floor, you write "Dean is lying on the floor." (see? No lies told in that sentence)
Or you can say "Dean is laying books on the floor" - which would mean that he's putting them there.
There is ONLY ONE exception when you might correctly write "Dean is laying on the floor", and that would be when Dean is a chicken and lays eggs. Otherwise, "to lay" is ALWAYS used with an object that is being moved.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
2) the other male
No. Just... no. In what context could that three words be used correctly? Certainly not when you are writing about two men, HUMAN men.
I often see this used in sentences when there are two men talking, or just two men in a scene together. Something like "Dean was standing beside Bobby and he looked over to him. The other male was drinking a beer."
I actually cringe at that sentence, and I'm sorry for everyone who uses that and now feels offended - don't be, I don't mean anyone personally. But feel free (aka: please do) to take this advice:
That is bad writing.
Again, there's one possible reason to say it like that, and that would be if both characters were actually animals. Cats. Or maybe wolves. Animals are described as "males" or "females", but not humans.
We can say "the other man" (though it's not really inventive, is it?) or just "he".
Would anyone really write "the other female" if it were two women at the bar?
People might be a special kind of animal, but if that's not what you want to express, keep biology away from stories and leave it in the science-department or inside the plot.
If you don't want to be repetitive and use something other than the name of the character or "him"/"he", try to change the sentence.
Examples:
"Dean was standing beside Bobby and he looked over to him. Bobby was drinking a beer."
"Dean was standing beside Bobby and looked over to him. The old hunter was drinking a beer."
"Dean was standing beside Bobby and looked over to him. His bearded friend was drinking a beer."
Or how about just re-structuring?
"Dean was standing beside Bobby at the bar, watching him drink a beer."
(there will be more, I'm sure. see ya...)