just me having a new year moan
Have been reading a fair bit of fan fic over the holiday break and I have a few new year wishes. They mainly apply to QAF fan fic, but the principles (get names right, etc.) apply across all fandoms. Some I have whinged about before, but my tolerance level for this stuff is low and I keep seeing these things everywhere so I feel like having a bit of a vent.
Feel free to totally ignore.
1. Wouldn't it be lovely if writers could learn the difference between past and past perfect tenses?
I'd find it hard myself to explain the rules, and I certainly can understand why those for whom English is not their first language might have difficulty, but that so many of those who are native English (or American) speakers don't seem to even know that past perfect exists drives me crazy. Do they not read anything other than other poorly written fan fic?
Basically you use past perfect tense to show that something happened before another action in the past. So if you are writing generally in the past tense (i.e. Brian arrived at the airport at 3pm) instead of in the present tense (Brian arrives at the airport at 3pm) and you want to write about things that happened before the point at which Brian arrived at the airport, you use past perfect. That might be an hour before (He had said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm) (you can even abbreviate this to "He'd said goodbye) or it might be months before (Brian had taken this flight to Toronto monthly for the last eight months).
So you have two choices - write things in strict chronological order: "Brian said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm. He arrived at the airport at 3pm."
Or use past perfect tense: "Brian arrived at the airport at 3pm. He'd said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm"
What you can't do (if you want your audience to understand you) is to write "Brian arrived at the airport at 3pm. He said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm."
Because imagine what happens if you leave out the times. "Brian arrived at the airport. He said goodbye to Justin at the loft." What? He was just at the airport. What's he doing at the loft?
If you leave out the final phrase it's even worse. "Brian arrived at the airport. He said goodbye to Justin." It makes it sound as if Justin is with him at the airport. It's not correct, and worse, it's confusing for your reader because they can't tell what order things have happened in.
Drives me totally crazy. Really.
2. "Brain". You can set an auto correct on your spell check that is case sensitive so that if you type "Brain" with a capital "B" it will automatically correct this to "Brian". Please do it. The chances that you will actually want to type "Brain" are really incredibly small.
3. While we're at it, use the damned spell check. It won't pick up all errors (I myself have a dreadful issue with "from" and "form" but it will help - especially if English is not your first language).
4. It's "Mikey". It is NOT "Mickey". Mickey is a mouse. Mikey is a ra ... er ... not a mouse.
5. While we're at it, it's "Kinnetik" not "Kinnetic". We know this because a) Justin tells us when he first suggests it that it's "Kinnetik with a 'k'" and b) because we see it on the office doors in various shots through S4 and at least one in S5 (511 I think).
(Thanks to whoever came up with the icon - no idea who it was, but it's much appreciated.)
6. I don't care what the colloquial usage is in your part of the world, for those who actually speak English (or even American) correctly the past tense of the verb "to drag" is "dragged". It is not, under any circumstances "drug".
7. The only time you should use the term "make due" is in relation to sending out an invoice. If you are writing about substituting one thing for another the correct term is "make do".
Make-do-make-due
8. If you're writing about someone being tired, the word is "weary". If you are talking about someone being apprehensive, the word is "wary". The adverbs are "wearily" and "warily" respectively. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. For Heaven's sake learn the difference. If I read one more "Justin looked at him wearily" I will not be held responsible for the quality of the feedback the author receives.
9. If you are talking about a person, the correct pronoun is "who" not "that". So it should be "Kip was an adman WHO worked for Ryder" not "Kip was an adman that worked for Ryder".
10. Lay and lie - these are complicated. I trip over them myself. But usually the term you want is "lie". "Brian and Justin lie side by side as the sun rises over Pittsburgh" (not BJ lay side by side). Unless you're writing in the past tense, when it becomes "Brian and Justin lay side by side as the sun rose over Pittsburgh" (not BJ lied side by side" - unless they're telling untruths to each other, and especially not "BJ laid side by side"). I did say it was complicated.
If you need a good resource to help with these, try this:
Should it be "Lay" or "Lie"?
11. Don't be afraid of complex sentences. If you have the grammar right, they will work much better than the "John is jumping. Betty is jumping too." approach. Believe it or not, readers will get it if you say "John and Betty are both jumping when Spot approaches and tries to join in, but they don't want a threesome so they don't let him." (Feel free to substitute another verb if you wish.)
Okay - I think they're the main ones driving me nuts at the moment. Oh, one last one, making it an even dozen.
12. If you can't get your head around the grammar stuff, find a beta who can. There is little point in having a beta who is as grammar-challenged as you are.
Sorry to be such a grump, but I'm really tired of leaving individual feedback and getting a "it's just fan fic, get over it" type response. If it's worth writing at all, it's worth trying at least to write well, and get better over time. Or maybe not if all you're looking for is people telling you it's all wonderful when actually it's a mish mash of good ideas and bad writing with the bad sometimes so distracting that the work becomes unreadable.
.
Feel free to totally ignore.
1. Wouldn't it be lovely if writers could learn the difference between past and past perfect tenses?
I'd find it hard myself to explain the rules, and I certainly can understand why those for whom English is not their first language might have difficulty, but that so many of those who are native English (or American) speakers don't seem to even know that past perfect exists drives me crazy. Do they not read anything other than other poorly written fan fic?
Basically you use past perfect tense to show that something happened before another action in the past. So if you are writing generally in the past tense (i.e. Brian arrived at the airport at 3pm) instead of in the present tense (Brian arrives at the airport at 3pm) and you want to write about things that happened before the point at which Brian arrived at the airport, you use past perfect. That might be an hour before (He had said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm) (you can even abbreviate this to "He'd said goodbye) or it might be months before (Brian had taken this flight to Toronto monthly for the last eight months).
So you have two choices - write things in strict chronological order: "Brian said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm. He arrived at the airport at 3pm."
Or use past perfect tense: "Brian arrived at the airport at 3pm. He'd said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm"
What you can't do (if you want your audience to understand you) is to write "Brian arrived at the airport at 3pm. He said goodbye to Justin at the loft at 2pm."
Because imagine what happens if you leave out the times. "Brian arrived at the airport. He said goodbye to Justin at the loft." What? He was just at the airport. What's he doing at the loft?
If you leave out the final phrase it's even worse. "Brian arrived at the airport. He said goodbye to Justin." It makes it sound as if Justin is with him at the airport. It's not correct, and worse, it's confusing for your reader because they can't tell what order things have happened in.
Drives me totally crazy. Really.
2. "Brain". You can set an auto correct on your spell check that is case sensitive so that if you type "Brain" with a capital "B" it will automatically correct this to "Brian". Please do it. The chances that you will actually want to type "Brain" are really incredibly small.
3. While we're at it, use the damned spell check. It won't pick up all errors (I myself have a dreadful issue with "from" and "form" but it will help - especially if English is not your first language).
4. It's "Mikey". It is NOT "Mickey". Mickey is a mouse. Mikey is a ra ... er ... not a mouse.
5. While we're at it, it's "Kinnetik" not "Kinnetic". We know this because a) Justin tells us when he first suggests it that it's "Kinnetik with a 'k'" and b) because we see it on the office doors in various shots through S4 and at least one in S5 (511 I think).
(Thanks to whoever came up with the icon - no idea who it was, but it's much appreciated.)
6. I don't care what the colloquial usage is in your part of the world, for those who actually speak English (or even American) correctly the past tense of the verb "to drag" is "dragged". It is not, under any circumstances "drug".
7. The only time you should use the term "make due" is in relation to sending out an invoice. If you are writing about substituting one thing for another the correct term is "make do".
Make-do-make-due
8. If you're writing about someone being tired, the word is "weary". If you are talking about someone being apprehensive, the word is "wary". The adverbs are "wearily" and "warily" respectively. THEY ARE NOT THE SAME. For Heaven's sake learn the difference. If I read one more "Justin looked at him wearily" I will not be held responsible for the quality of the feedback the author receives.
9. If you are talking about a person, the correct pronoun is "who" not "that". So it should be "Kip was an adman WHO worked for Ryder" not "Kip was an adman that worked for Ryder".
10. Lay and lie - these are complicated. I trip over them myself. But usually the term you want is "lie". "Brian and Justin lie side by side as the sun rises over Pittsburgh" (not BJ lay side by side). Unless you're writing in the past tense, when it becomes "Brian and Justin lay side by side as the sun rose over Pittsburgh" (not BJ lied side by side" - unless they're telling untruths to each other, and especially not "BJ laid side by side"). I did say it was complicated.
If you need a good resource to help with these, try this:
Should it be "Lay" or "Lie"?
11. Don't be afraid of complex sentences. If you have the grammar right, they will work much better than the "John is jumping. Betty is jumping too." approach. Believe it or not, readers will get it if you say "John and Betty are both jumping when Spot approaches and tries to join in, but they don't want a threesome so they don't let him." (Feel free to substitute another verb if you wish.)
Okay - I think they're the main ones driving me nuts at the moment. Oh, one last one, making it an even dozen.
12. If you can't get your head around the grammar stuff, find a beta who can. There is little point in having a beta who is as grammar-challenged as you are.
Sorry to be such a grump, but I'm really tired of leaving individual feedback and getting a "it's just fan fic, get over it" type response. If it's worth writing at all, it's worth trying at least to write well, and get better over time. Or maybe not if all you're looking for is people telling you it's all wonderful when actually it's a mish mash of good ideas and bad writing with the bad sometimes so distracting that the work becomes unreadable.
.