The Grammar Thang
Spent some time over the past weekend, editing stories for the Dimensions Weight Room Library: a task that I took on when former webmistress Dani left the site suddenly and without notice, lo, these many years ago. Volunteered for the position of Weight Room Librarian, having read too many tales where the urge to pull out my red pen overrode any possible fanta-sizing pleasure that the stories may've offered. I'm no William Safire, but I has enough of a grasp of grammar to know when the most basic rules of verb/subject agreement and tense is being violated. (Yes, I deliberately flubbed the verbs in the previous sentence – and if it doesn't jar your reading of it, then you probably won't give a rat's ass about the rest of my grammatical musings.) So for the past three-plus years, I've been doing a quick 'n' dirty editing job on every manuscript sent to the Weight Room.
Some days, I wonder what the hell I was thinking. I mean, I've made my share of grammatical gaffes over the years – whenever I reread one of my stories, I'm guaranteed to come across at least one sentence that I wanna rewrite or correct – but not in every frickin' sentence. At times, I think this all is karmic repayment for my college undergrad days, when I thought for a year that it was the height of creativity to write everything like e.e. cummings. Other days, I decide it's a damning reflection on the quality of public education in this country. Some contributors, I know, are writing English as a second language, so I'm ready to cut them more slack – but what about all those native speakers who write as if they'd spent all their time in English class sniffing magic markers and dreaming of floating fat chicks?
Occasionally, of course, I'll run across an author whose flubs can be fun to read: one former contributor to the Weight Room used to consistently misspell "stockings" as "stalkings," which inspired a whole different kind of imagery every time he described a shapely pair of legs. But many of 'em are a chore to edit: writers who start out describing a scene in present tense, for instance, only to shift to past tense and back to present without any discernible purpose. I don't work to catch every error – just the most egregious ones – but even that can be time-consuming.
Most FAs, I suspect, if they had their druthers, would rather just read the stories as written without all the editorial muss-&-fuss. As long as the writer keeps the characters' names and sex consistent – and doesn't mishandle the stats too much – they're satisfied. In an era when even the major publishers care less and less about the niceties of proofreading, perhaps they have a point. Perhaps I do need to just back away, just code the stories I receive so they'll fit the Weight Room Library format, and let the writers stand or fall on their own. It'd certainly give me more time to spend on my own writing (though, when it comes down to it, I can find plenty of other ways to distract myself from finishing my writing projects) and get the submissions up faster. Maybe it's time to toss away the red pen for good?
Some days, I wonder what the hell I was thinking. I mean, I've made my share of grammatical gaffes over the years – whenever I reread one of my stories, I'm guaranteed to come across at least one sentence that I wanna rewrite or correct – but not in every frickin' sentence. At times, I think this all is karmic repayment for my college undergrad days, when I thought for a year that it was the height of creativity to write everything like e.e. cummings. Other days, I decide it's a damning reflection on the quality of public education in this country. Some contributors, I know, are writing English as a second language, so I'm ready to cut them more slack – but what about all those native speakers who write as if they'd spent all their time in English class sniffing magic markers and dreaming of floating fat chicks?
Occasionally, of course, I'll run across an author whose flubs can be fun to read: one former contributor to the Weight Room used to consistently misspell "stockings" as "stalkings," which inspired a whole different kind of imagery every time he described a shapely pair of legs. But many of 'em are a chore to edit: writers who start out describing a scene in present tense, for instance, only to shift to past tense and back to present without any discernible purpose. I don't work to catch every error – just the most egregious ones – but even that can be time-consuming.
Most FAs, I suspect, if they had their druthers, would rather just read the stories as written without all the editorial muss-&-fuss. As long as the writer keeps the characters' names and sex consistent – and doesn't mishandle the stats too much – they're satisfied. In an era when even the major publishers care less and less about the niceties of proofreading, perhaps they have a point. Perhaps I do need to just back away, just code the stories I receive so they'll fit the Weight Room Library format, and let the writers stand or fall on their own. It'd certainly give me more time to spend on my own writing (though, when it comes down to it, I can find plenty of other ways to distract myself from finishing my writing projects) and get the submissions up faster. Maybe it's time to toss away the red pen for good?
posted by Wilson B. at 8:33 PM
2 Comments:
Just started going through a new batch of stories – and, sorry gang, I don't see me throwing the correction pen away yet – he who wields the red pen wields power, I tells ya!
I agree that reading widely is an essential activity for any writer. It's even best if you read outside your chosen area: too many WG stories read like rehashes of earlier gain tales. Steal your stuff from other genres, sez I. . .
Keep editing. Some of these misspellings and (to make up a word) malspellings (stalkings for stockings, loose for lose and vice versa) just ruin an otherwise good tale.
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