Writing poll! Opinions wanted!

[partly]

Come one, come all! Short writing/style poll. Only five questions. I know you all have opinions... I want to know what they are.


[Poll #1253124]

Comments

[imbri6.livejournal.com]

To question #1 "gave a smile" I think it's ok in certain contexts. It's not a phrase I use often, but for some characters/people it's entirely acceptable. As long as it is in-character and in-context...

What's wrong with quotes or poems or stuff at the beginning of a chapter? PLENTY of Very Definitely Not Amateurs use them! (Though I've seen it used more often in first-person naratives)

What's wrong with first person? LOTS of really good things I've read are written in first person. I've even liked books where the whole thing is in first person but it "shifts" from person to person from chapter to chapter (though that's difficult to pull off well, it *can* be pulled off well!)

[partly.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

I've just been bombarded with a lot of opinions lately and I needed some from people I *really* trust.

I have used the phrase "gave a smile" once and was nailed for it, although I just wrote the line "Esther greeted him with the same smile she'd given Mac" and it made me think of it. It is informal and I tend to be informal in my writing. I will probably avoid it if only because I don't need to use it.

I think almost any writing device can be a gimmick if not used well but I do know that quotes and chapter titles and the like can annoy some people by there very existence. But I also know if it's kept short and relevant it works well.

I like first person, even though I don't write in it often. I've even read a very good first person where the narrator *dies* at the end. It worked even thought I'd swear that it couldn't.

Thanks again!

[finabair.livejournal.com]

I happen to think two spaces is better than one, because it is the original rule, but enough people ignore it that I think one space can be acceptable nowadays. Although largely you wind up with one space now because html and bbc don't recognize two spaces in a row unless you use hard spaces, which is a code, and nobody has the time or patience to type that at the end of every sentence; most of them wouldn't even know how. ( , only I usually type it in lower case. It'll be interesting to see if LJ leaves the code alone or makes it into a space here.)

"Gave a smile" can sound casual, so whether it's appropriate to use depends on the tone of the writing. But I think it's a necessary phrase because it also is a great way to indicate the degree of personal connection between the smiler and the smilee. Yes, you could say "She smiled at him briefly" rather than "She gave him a small smile" but it's not quite the same, IMO. The former is less personal sounding. And as for the last ticky box, anyone saying that has a very unfortunate view of the world. Smiles are ALWAYS gifts**, and many gifts are non-tangible, and anyone who thinks otherwise sounds to me to be very poor in spirit.

If first person point of view is done right, it's smashing. I think it is slightly harder to use effectively than third person, but look at the Dresden Files. It wouldn't WORK the same in third person. I do, however, prefer my first person narratives to be used to convey the personality of that first person (such as Dresden; everything is written wry and hard-boiled, and you therefore understand Dresden that much better.)

I think people bristle at quotes at the start of a chapter because a lot of amateurs do use them poorly, almost as a crutch in many cases, and they focus so much on molding the story to the quotes they want that they lose track of the actual story they're telling.

But I looked forward to the quotes at the start of each chapter in Robert Lynn Asprin's books. And Anne McCaffrey uses them to great effect as well, often to give us tidbits like the actual words to the song mentioned somewhere in the book (not necessarily even in that chapter) or as lyrics to a song written about the book's events to tell us how this story will be heard by future generations in that world. And RA Salvatore often puts journal entry-style blurbs from one of his characters at the start of, or between, chapters of the story. Kristen Britain's second book contained journal entries from a historical character at the starts of some chapters, entries which informed the reader in a timely fashion to help them interpret the contents of the chapters - and towards the end of the book, the POV character reads the journal in question, thus putting her on the same page as the audience all in one fell swoop. I think it worked beautifully. So no. Definitely not amateur, but again, requires skill to do. (Not to mention skill to critique. Blanket statements are easy; telling someone why something isn't working IN THEIR WORK is HARD and takes a thorough understanding of cause-and-effect in writing.)


Is there somebody out there who needs hulk-smashing?

**ETA: Except, of course, for nasty smiles.

[wiliqueen.livejournal.com]

The first one surprises me as a question, as it never would have occurred to me that it bothered people. Interesting.

The second one is a petty annoyance to me because I learned to type when it was the only correct way, and because I spend my workdays typing business letters, for which it remains definitely correct. But since any writing I share is shared online and HTML automatically reformats it to one space, it's a moot point anyway.

First person has to be really good to not irritate me, but there are indeed very good reasons to use it.

Some people overdo the quote thing (each chapter is a bit much, IMHO), but it's too easy to ignore to make an issue out of it.

In short, I'm easy. *shrug*

[donnickcottage.livejournal.com]

Sorry, could only answer 1 as written; but here are my answers.

1. I don't like the phrase. "smiled" works for me* (Mr. Verbose) But it's so short I can't see how it could be distracting unless you used it every few paragraphs.

2. I use one, but that's just what I'm accustomed to. Whether that's proper writing etiquette, I don't have a clue, but then I couldn't recognize a past participle if it bit me in the ass either.

3. I love first person, particularly writing in it, but reading it as well. Unless the material is crapola, it lends a certain automatic credibility, as in "who would know better what's happening."

4. I think it's charming, though unnecessary. You need to be careful though that billboarding others words don't show the weakness in your own.

5. Generally I find that the creator will come up with many clever possibilities, and that none, or close to it, will apply to me.

[partly.livejournal.com]

Thanks for (trying to) answer!

I usually avoid polls for the very reason that you have a hard time answering them. I did it in this case only because I knew people could answer more specifically in the comments. And I was trying to be vaguely humorous. *grin*

And to be honest, I adore ticky boxes.

I've ran into a bad batch of advice lately and was looking for more reliable advice -- and from people whom I actually respected.

I have not clue about past participles either. I have a friend that is my grammar checker for me (when I can get her to read my stuff). She yells at me for not getting tenses right. She also helps me fix them. *grin*

Thanks again!

[kitap.livejournal.com]

I think the double spaces things depends, honestly on the size and type of font. If it is teeny tiny type in an awkward font, I think there should be two.

I think that putting in quotes at the start of chapters can work, but you need to be careful.

First person is fine, as long as its believeable, and look at Agatha Christie and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Actually after the book was published many mystery writers used this ploy until, as John Dickson Carr said, it got to the point where every time you picked up a book with a first-person narrative you started to worry that it was going to "be that man again" as he put it.