Guest Post by Terry Ambrose, @suspense_writer
 |
| Purchase Book Here |
I admit it; I do get some sort of perverse satisfaction from driving the Grammar Cops (GCs) crazy. It’s not that I’m a rebel by nature, but more that, as Polonius said to Hamlet, there’s a method in my madness.
Know the situation
Before I go any further, I want to point out that I am definitely not advocating throwing out the grammar books completely. In fact, I’ll probably stop reading a book with frequent typos, spelling errors, and bad grammar. However, I like writers who are flexible enough to break the rules when the situation demands it. The GCs in my critique group are fond of reminding me about the importance of proper grammar every time I stray from the righteous path. And I’ll be the first to admit that once in a while they catch me in a mistake. However, often the grammar they’re criticizing is in dialog. My response in those cases is that people don’t necessarily speak in grammatically correct sentences and my primary concern when writing dialog is first, last, and always, character voice.
Differentiating characters with voice
In my current WIP, I have two characters who are at opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a staid Englishwoman striving to maintain appearances, the other, a 12-year-old street kid. Obviously, Mrs. Montgomery, with her perfect grammar and diction, never has a problem with the GCs. The street kid, whose name is Lily, is always in trouble because she says “duh” and “like” far too often, uses street slang, and doesn’t take grammar seriously. The point is that no matter which of these characters are speaking, their voice always comes through.
Using voice to cut attribution
As writers, we have a variety of tools available to help readers easily identify our characters. How will word choices reflect the character’s background and culture? How will their grammar distinguish them? For me, breaking the rules is another tool in my writing tool belt; it’s definitely not akin to cutting off an appendage. And as a reader, if I can easily distinguish between characters based on voice alone, I’ll need less attribution and will enjoy the story more.
Voice makes dialog interesting
When I read a novel where all of the characters begin to sound alike, I get bored very quickly. I find myself starting to skim not only the unimportant descriptions and backstory, but also the dialog. At that point, I start wondering why I’m bothering to read that particular book. The real problem is that if I give up on the book, I may also be giving up on that author. Like many writers, I get very little time to read. When I do, it will either be a new author I haven’t read before or one I know will deliver. Part of that delivery is a good plot, but much revolves around the characters and their dialog. Make those character conversations sharp and snappy and I’ll be hooked and turning the pages to see what happens next.
About the author
Terry Ambrose started out skip tracing and collecting money from deadbeats and quickly learned that liars come from all walks of life. He never actually stole a car, but sometimes hired big guys with tow trucks and a penchant for working in the dark when “negotiations” failed.
In Terry’s new release, License to Lie, a criminologist and a con artist learn that with $5 million and their lives on the line, you can never trust a soul…even your own. T. Jefferson Parker, author of The Jaguar and The Border Lords called License to Lie “fast and well written, almost sure to satisfy discerning readers of thrillers.”
Learn more about Terry on his website at terryambrose.com or on his Facebook author page at facebook.com/suspense.writer.
Elizabeth – Thanks for hosting Terry.
Terry – Here’s the thing. There’s no such thing as ‘proper’ speaking or writing anyway. That’s because each person and context are different, so different language is appropriate. You wouldn’t speak the same way for a job interview that you would with your best friend, so why would characters? That’s not to say that I like reading all sorts of non-standard language when it doesn’t serve the story. But in dialogue especially, I don’t have a problem.
Great post! My aunt was an English teacher who corrected all grammar mistakes around her. I don’t know if it helped me any. :)
Thanks so much for posting today, Terrry. I grew up around English teachers (2 generations of them), so I know about the grammar police…ha! I think a trick for good dialogue is definitely to make it realistic. Sometimes people don’t use perfect grammar. :)
Margot, I love that train of thought. We are all different and that’s what makes life (and fiction) fun!
Hi Teresa, I’m sure it rubbed off, but each time she did it, you probably rolled your eyes. Am I right?
People don’t speak proper English. Once we’ve had grammar rules pounded into our head though, sometimes it’s easy to forget that.
Hi Diane, thanks for stopping by. I know some people who emphasize one rule, but forget others. I’ve learned to bite my tongue! Anyone else have that happen?
This is why I have an editor who performs an initial read through and then an line by line edit.
And great to meet Terry best wishes to him.
Hi Stephen, nice to meet you also. I certainly agree about the value of a good editor. The operative word in that sentence being “good.” How do we make sure that they know what they’re doing? And that they’re consistent?
Great post, Terry. I completely agree with your point on grammar in dialog. No one speaks with perfect grammar! Besides, why have rules if you can’t break them every once in a while, right?
Hi Susan! Ah, yes, the old why have a rule if you can’t break it rule! :-)
Thanks Terry,
I had read a post earlier from another blogger about breaking rules. I wasn’t sure when and where you could that is acceptable.
This clears it up beautifully for me….
I always knew we could have a bit of slacking in grammar when it comes to our character’s speech. AND yes, MOST teens and adults do NOT speak grammatically correct. Me included … LOL. How exhausting would that be?
I so agree! Know the rules first. Then break them. I was a n English major and blatant errors really drive me nuts. However, it is often necessary to break the rules when writing dialogue. Few of us talk in complete sentences! Neither do our characters. and character differentiation is absolutely necessary. Great post!
I learned all the rules from a strict high school English teacher, then put them to practice as a newspaper copy editor. When it comes to fiction, though, I reserve the right to write the way I think the story demands. My biggest GP “failing” is the sentence fragment. They add emphasis at points in the story. I flaunt other rules if they don’t serve my purpose.
Hi and thanks for hosting our pal, Terry Ambrose. He’s posts over at our Yahoo group:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/allmysteryenewsletter
If you looking for a fun and really smart mystery, there’s nothing better than a Hawaiian setting for his “Photo Finish.”
Bestseller$ Terry!
The hardest thing for me has been to relax and let the dialogue be more natural.
Hey Lorna, thanks for stopping by! And Chester, I agree about those sentence fragments. I’d like to turn that off on my grammar checker, but then think about all the times I don’t want to make mistakes. In the end, I live with the extra reviews of the work and figure it’s better to be safe than having a GC coming after me!
And “Unknown,” thanks for the plug on Photo Finish. Now, there’a a novel where I had to think in Pidgin English i none sentence and “normal” the next. Talk about conflicted!
I hear you, Alex! One great way I’ve found to expand those boundaries that enclose our speech patterns is to just go someplace busy where you can sit and just eavesdrop on what people are saying around you. Don’t listen for words, but for speech patterns, then see if you can mimic that in your dialog. I also have a list of words for one character who uses lots of street slang in the sequel to License to LIe. It was the only way I could keep her speech patterns true throughout.
I’m an English teacher and I break those rules myself – especially in dialogue! Love when a character comes to life via their on-page voice! :)
Hi Michael and Jemi!
Jemi, I love hearing about English teachers who strive for a good voice.
And Michael, I’m glad this was helpful. Here’s an example of variation from my current work in progress (WIP). I have a mid-twenties hacker who speaks in a combination of street talk and technospeak; he uses whatever suits his mood at the moment. At first, my critique group went nuts over this guy, complaining that his speech patterns were all over the place…now, he’s one of their favorites.
I have a 12-year-old girl who uses street talk consistently, and a mid-60s Englishwoman who speaks with perfect diction and grammar. All these in addition to the main characters, who are more moderate in their variations. All this brings the work alive because the characters don’t sound alike. So, don’t take what I’m saying as license to ignore the grammar rules all the time. Instead, I’m saying know your purpose and in those cases where your character shouldn’t be bound by the rules, go for it.
I agree wholeheartedly with this post.
Personally, I tend to write in very “close” first person POV, so that puts another spin on it—because the narrative essentially is dialogue.
That was a load of fun in the book I wrote with the multilingual first person narrator whose diction, language, and word choices depends on her mood…and who also likes imitating others in good humor. She can speak properly, if she thinks about it, but her natural speech patterns involve a mix of two languages—mostly one language, but she pulls some jargon and grammar from another (high fantasy, so it’s a conlang).
Yeah… That was a pain in the neck.
But I’ve noticed that readers tend to really like when you have characters with multiple speech patterns, dictions, grasps of grammar, and so forth. And that someone will always think you wrong—even if you’re using completely proper grammar, you’re doing things that are wrong per some handbook somewhere that somebody thinks is the standard—so “perfect” grammar is a myth, anyway.
Grammar’s a tool. So many folks lose sight of that.
Well said, Carradee. That sounds like a fascinating character! Thanks for stopping by :-)