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#11

Nuts & Bolts / Usage Wars (and a point of eti...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 09, 2024, 11:15 PM

Prompted by an article at CMOS Shoptalk, How Strunk Lost His Comma.

For decades, if not longer, the terms junior and senior and their abbreviations were set off by commas when they followed a name.

William Strunk, Jr.

Lately, that practice has fallen out of favor by both Strunk & White and Chicago. Now it's just William Strunk Jr.

Which way do you prefer?


Now, a point of etiquette. When does a junior become a senior? Upon the death of the senior? At some decorous point afterward? Never?

And what becomes of the Trey, the guy with III at the end of his name? Does he become the new junior, even though he is still the third with that name? Or does he just keep the number and go on that way until he sires a IV?

[e]

#12

Nuts & Bolts / Re: [i]I[/i] before [i]E[/i] a...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 09, 2024, 11:05 PM

One I haven't heard in a while, and I don't know how effective it is, but people scream eeee eeee eeee when passing a cemetery.

#13

Nuts & Bolts / I before E and a separated rat

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 09, 2024, 11:03 PM

I'm sure everybody knows the rule of thumb for spelling I before E, except after C or when sounding like A, such as Neighbor or Weigh. Though that last bit is often left off. Which is weird.

Another mnemonic is to look for a rat in the word separate.

What other ones have you heard?

#14

Nuts & Bolts / Usage Wars: the singular "they...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 09, 2024, 10:48 PM

Can they be used to refer to a single person? What if it's referring to a generic person or a person of unknown gender?

Outside of walking into Mordor, in what cases might you use one, instead? Do you prefer it to the singular they?

Or is he the generic pronoun in all (or most) cases?

Is the reflexive themselves ever used to refer to one person? Or would you use the singular themself, which doesn't appear in most dictionaries? Or would you go with the generic himself?

My opinions are that the singular they is perfectly acceptable in all (or almost all) cases, I rarely use one for anything, either reflexive is fine, and the generic he has always been ridiculous.

#15

Nuts & Bolts / Usage Wars: "Another thing com...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 09, 2024, 10:04 PM

Do you write You've got another thing coming or You've got another think coming?

I use think, myself, as I see the phrase as a play on Think twice, but I'd like to see what things others think.

While we're hanging out, here's some Judas Priest.

#16

Nuts & Bolts / Pronunciation Wars: forte

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 08, 2024, 08:11 PM

As in That's not my forte.

How do you pronounce it?

Like the Italian homograph forte, meaning "strong" (for-tay or for-tee)? Like the English word fort? Or with the French pronunciation (for)?

[IF]

#17

General Writing Advice / Can I use song lyrics in my no...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 08, 2024, 08:07 PM

So you really like a song and you want to include some of the lyrics in your novel. Or you feel that some particular song fits your story perfectly. Or you like those epigraphs from songs that Stephen King is so fond of using at the beginning of his chapters.

Can you add those lyrics?

Sure. IF...

• You're writing fanfiction. Put whatever you want in fanfiction. As long as you're not charging money for it, nobody's going to care enough to sue you. But you are very likely infringing, breaking the law. So if you do get a Cease and Desist, cease and desist.
• You're just writing for yourself with no intention of publishing. Put whatever you want in there. But if you ever do decide to publish it, you'll need to either scrub the lyrics or buy a license.
• The song is in the public domain. Most of the time (for now) that means that the lyrics were written in 1928 or earlier. That will change to 1929 on January 1, 2025. But some songs used to be under different rules, and if their copyright was never renewed, then those are now public domain, too. (You'll have to research that on your own.)
• You have permission from the copyright holder to use the song in your book. Maybe you know them personally. Maybe you bought a license. Either way, once you have that permission, you're good to go.
• You don't mind going to court to try to prove your Fair Use claim or to prove that the part you quoted was never eligible for copyright protection in the first place. You'll have to pay court costs and lawyers fees if you lose and maybe even if you win. Most such cases never make it to court, but the associated fees will still need to be paid.

That's pretty much it.

If you have any questions on specific songs or weird circumstances, feel free to ask.

#18

General Writing Advice / How one pantser develops chara...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 08, 2024, 07:55 PM

You want to write a book, but you need somebody to write about. Well, there're all kinds of character questionnaires, backstory generators, and Myers-Briggs tests out there. I don't mess with any of that. Because I'm a pantser.

First off, you'll need somebody to write about, and your characters need the written word to thrive, to breathe. So let's find out who they are.


Step 1: Gender
A. What gender is your character? Pick one, even if it's a fluid one. Decide on which pronouns to use (this'll be important later!).

B. How closely does the character adhere to typical gender stereotypes? Is she a tomboy? Is he a crybaby? Is she the perfect debutante? Is he a real macho man? (Kids still say macho, right?) Does she love babies but doesn't want any children of her own? Does he like football as long as he can knit and drink beer while watching the big game?


Step 2: Age
A. How old is the character? Or, if you're writing a paranormal YA romance, how old does your vampire appear?

B. How closely does the character match the stereotypes of people that age? Is she 15 but pays no attention to social media? Is he 93 and taking selfies 93 times a day? Is she 40 with the emotional maturity of a 14-year-old? Is she 12, but wise beyond her years? Are they perfectly 21 in every way?


You really should be writing these answers down. I'd use one of those big index cards.


Step 3: Individuality
A. What's special about the character, something that they are always conscious of? Do they have superpowers? Are they a vampire? Does she have an IQ of 170 or is she developmentally challenged? Does he run a 3-minute mile every day or is he in a wheelchair?

B. How is that special thing integrated into the character's life, personality, and habits? Does the werewolf only work odd jobs so he can lock himself in the basement during full moons? Does the synesthete who can see musical notes avoid music except when she's painting breathtaking portraits? Does the thief change addresses 3 or 4 times a year?

C. How permanent is this special thing? Will the metal rod eventually have to be removed from her leg? If he stops taking the serum, will he lose his superpowers? Will her mental health get better or get worse?


You don't have a story. Not yet. And that's good. You're a pantser, after all. So take this character and write something. Make them do something. Anything. Just use pronouns for the time being. When you get stuck, come on back.


Step 4: Goals
A. How much does the character need to get their way? Are they meek and mild? A cutthroat backstabber? A people-pleaser, a people-user, lost in the clouds?

B. What is the worst thing the character could do under normal circumstances? Could she murder her own mother in cold blood? Would he keep the extra $10 he got in change from the grocery store? Would the character let an innocent coworker take the  blame for a mistake the character made? What if it was a spiteful, nasty coworker?

C. What does your character want? At the beginning of your story, what one thing does your character need in order to be satisfied? To win the dance-off or to save the orphanage from the greedy landlord? To please her mother or to make his dead father proud?

D. What does the character want even more than that? Does family come first, no matter whether they win the dance-off? Is holding strictly to the law, their religion, or the Jedi code more important even than pleasing mom and dad? Does everything else take a back seat to their drug of choice?


Write something about how the character is chasing those goals. When your character gets blocked--and they should!--come back here.


Step 5: Nemesis
A. So what's stopping the character from getting what they want? Is it her classmate? Is it his boss? A rival suitor, an approaching blizzard, the DMV, the massed military might of NATO, cancer?

B. What does this nemesis want? It should in some way be in opposition to what your character wants. Go back and complete steps 1 through 4 for the nemesis.


Write a scene with both characters, even if one is an institution or a force of nature. When you get stuck again, come back here.


Step 6: Resources
A. What resources do the characters have? Rich or poor? Wide circle of friends or a lonely hermit? Have a car, a home, a cell phone, high-speed internet? How about warm clothes, food to eat, medical care? Do they have a job? Do they have time away from the job to spend doing stuff in your book?

B. What talents, education, and training do the characters have? Still in junior high, but learned numismatics from her grandfather? PhD in aviation engineering, but still can't pass his pilot's test? Dropped out of school in 11th grade to have a baby, but she supports herself by drawing greeting cards?


Here's where the characters start to come alive. Write a scene for each character that shows them using their resources, their education, and their talents.


Step 7: Finishing Up
A. Tired of using pronouns yet? Let's give the characters names. You can think up your own, or you can ask in our Character Building forum. You can also pick some from first names and last names at Behind The Name.

B. You'll discover their personalities and backstories as you write their scenes. You may have already learned a few things about your characters. Is she bold and outgoing? Is he afraid of conflict? Does he use highfalutin words? Does she rarely speak? Did he survive the mass shooting by hiding under his dying friend? Did she succeed on talent and hard work (even though everybody says she slept her way to the top)?

C. That's it. You have enough to start writing your story. Start over if you need to. When you're hit by a flash of inspiration--some new thing you suddenly realize about a character--jot it down. Maybe he has long brown hair. Maybe she's a dog person, maybe a cat person. Maybe they have hazel eyes or a scattering of pimples across their forehead. You don't need to know all that right now, but when you do know, write it down so you won't forget.

As the characters' goals, outlooks, and resources change, revisit these questions and meet the new them.

Happy writing!

#19

Nuts & Bolts / Usage Wars: All Right or Alrig...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 08, 2024, 07:45 PM

Is alright a word? If so, how does it differ from all right?

Consider the sentence The food was alright.

To me, alright is not only perfectly cromulent, it's the preferred form. I mean, who writes all ready or all though?

Of course, if we're discussing how many answers someone got correct on a test, we'd say The students got the answers all right, just as we'd say The students were all ready for the test if everyone was prepared.

My go-to defense of alright as separate from all right refers to a terminally ill little kid who is in no immediate danger. She may be alright at the moment, but she is most certainly not all right.

#20

General Writing Advice / What makes you put down a book...

Last post by SepiaAndDust - Nov 08, 2024, 07:10 PM

What would make you put down a book without finishing it? What are some mistakes that writers should avoid? What storylines, plots, or tropes are you just tired of seeing?

Too much backstory is one for me. Backstory is not story, and I'm there to read the story.

I'd also add too many factual errors, like if characters keep getting bonked on the head, but come to just when the plot needs them to without any lasting harm done (I'm looking at you, Stranger Things 3). That's not how head injuries work.