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Ignoring the rules should be done cautiously. For example, bad grammar and dialect have their place in dialog. An author who bends the rules gratuitously just because he can is probably going to lose me. Doing so will make me lose the flow of the story as I roll my eyes at the mangled language.
Please read my essay on the subject and you tell me if you think that I am off base. I wrote the essay based upon my observations of my favorite novelists (NYT best sellers, etc.) and upon my realizations that there were just too many grammatical "creativity" for it to not be intentional. Yet they are professional authors. They must know what they are doing.
Note that I am including both dialog and narrative as being "open season."
How about a racial epithet? "Here lies a bigoted &^%(*& guy named John Smith. RIH" (The last letter referring to the Bibilogical place of eternal punishment.)
Funny.
What we need, what we really, really need is a message bored.
My professional and personal life in Washington DC was a soup opera.
If they served cocktails and hors d'œuvres I might be attracted to attending one!
As another observation, one of my old GFs always used to call them, "horses ovaries." She of course knew the correct pronunciation. We would both snort with amused giggles!
Please read my essay on the subject and you tell me if you think that I am off base. I wrote the essay based upon my observations of my favorite novelists (NYT best sellers, etc.) and upon my realizations that there were just too many grammatical "creativity" for it to not be intentional. Yet they are professional authors. They must know what they are doing.
Note that I am including both dialog and narrative as being "open season."
For me, I do not want to be aware of the grammar when I am reading. Once that happens, the story becomes secondary to the style. That's not why I read.
For me, I do not want to be aware of the grammar when I am reading. Once that happens, the story becomes secondary to the style. That's not why I read.
I have addressed this in topic, and will provide examples as my reading progresses. Alas I can still read less than one book per day, and at present have business affairs intruding on my authorial life. I'll be in the "work" penalty box for some time next week. And alas that work is in the real estate investment field... So boring... Yet a necessary detour for me.
If you are aware of the grammar of what you are reading, either (1) it's just bad grammar, (2) the story is boring so you're picking it apart, (3) you may be an author like me dissecting the experts to discover their secrets, (4) you may have copped to a unique writing style like I did, or (5) ... well, whatever!
I like the old '60s expression: "Question everything!" I want to know why successful authors succeed.
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