Drop the letter s.
If you believe that one letter couldn’t possibly cause you to receive a
rejection, I encourage you to think again, especially if the same mistake
recurs throughout your manuscript.
Incorrect
usage comes from the lax attitude about our English language. Most people speak
in jargon or a brogue that comes from a certain locale. I call it family hand-me-down language. Truth is, no matter from where you hail, your
written grammar must be correct for the broader reading audience.
I’m
speaking of the letter s. Check out these sentences:
She
ran towards the garage.
The
ball rolled backwards.
Look
upwards.
These
sentences are all incorrect. That is, the use of the letter s is incorrect.
The
letter s denotes something plural. In the first sentence, moving
toward something means you can only go in one direction. Toward.
If
the ball rolled backward, it can only go in one direction. Backward.
To
look upward, you can only look in one direction. Upward.
Not
surprising, an example of an exception is:
She
leaned sideways.
The
rule here is that when leaning, you can lean sideways in more than one
direction, therefore the use of the letter s.
You’ll
find many other words that are incorrectly used with s endings. When you find
these, make note of them, maybe a running list. You’ll have the list to refer
back to when you question your own writing.
This
is but one of the finite idiosyncrasies of producing better grammar when
writing stories and books that you hope to sell. Study your own language and
speech.
Watch
how the s is used or omitted in books that you love to read.
Get
into the habit of listening to the speech patterns of others. Think critically
of what you hear, but never criticize of a person who speaks that way. Instead,
mentally analyze what you have heard. Learn the right from the wrong of speech
and your writing will reflect your knowledge.
Mary Deal
Author, Painter, Photographer
Eric Hoffer Book Award Winner
National Indie Excellence Book Awards Finalist (past)
National Indie Excellence Book Awards Finalist (past)
Pushcart Prize Nominee
Global eBook Awards Nominee
Global eBook Awards Nominee
2014 National Indie Excellence Book Awards Finalist
Global eBook Awards Bronze
Global eBook Awards Silver
Blog: http://www.marydeal.com
Art Gallery: http://www.MaryDealFineArt.comGift Gallery: zazzle.com/IslandImageGallery*
Gift Gallery: http://www.redbubble.com/people/localme
No comments:
Post a Comment