Grammar and Punctuation

When to Capitalize Titles

February 11, 2017 by • Grammar and Punctuation, Writing • Tags: , • 4 Comments

By Chris Saylor

Today, we’re going to talk about when to capitalize titles. What I mean here is when to capitalize mom or dad, military ranks, honorifics, job titles, and so on.

You do capitalize a title when making a direct address (calling someone by “name”). You also capitalize a title that’s being used in place of a name.

How do you like Arizona, Mom?

Before the airplane took off, Dad stowed his bag under the seat.

I was not going that fast, Your Honor.

In each of these examples, you could sub out the title for a name.

How do you like Arizona, Suzanne?

Before the airplane took off, Tom stowed his bag under the seat.

I was not going that fast, Frank.

You do not capitalize a title when you are not making a direct address, when you would use the title to indicate a role.

My mom is in Arizona for the winter.

The lieutenant will hear about this.

The judge only sentenced me to a fine and community service.

Here’s how these would look if you tried to substitute a name.

My Suzanne is in Arizona for the winter.

The Tommy will hear about this.

The Frank only sentenced me to a fine and community service.

This should help you see how in the second set of examples, you would have to change the sentence to make it work with a name. That’s an easy way to tell whether or not to capitalize titles.

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

Using Apostrophes

February 4, 2017 by • Grammar and Punctuation, Writing • 1 Comment

By Chris Saylor

Last week, I talked about formatting dialogue within dialogue, as part of an attempt to address a request about using apostrophes in fiction. Today’s post will build off of last week’s.

You can use apostrophes in two ways. First, you can use them when combing two words to form a contraction. Most native English speakers learned about contractions in school, but here are a couple of examples just to refresh your memory.

I don’t drink. (don’t = do not)

She hasn’t had any lunch. (hasn’t = has not)

I shan’t vote for that candidate. (shan’t = shall not)

If you want to learn more about using contractions in fiction, see my post on using contractions in fiction.

Second, you can use them to indicate possession. This can be done to indicate singular possession (one person possesses something) or collective possession (a group possesses something).

Here are some examples of when you should and shouldn’t use apostrophes in fiction.

The Browns went to dinner.

We went to the Browns’ for dinner.

In the first example, we don’t use an apostrophe because we’re talking about a group of people—the Brown family. In the second example, we do use an apostrophe because we are showing that the place where we went to dinner belongs to the Browns.

The Browns own the Browns’ house.

One more example so you can see this in action:

Melanie’s shoes had holes in them.

We use an apostrophe here because the shoes are owned by Melanie.

My grade 8 class had three Melanies in it.

We don’t use an apostrophe here because we’re talking about a group of people.

Do you have any questions or any other aspects of grammar for fiction writers you would like to see discussed? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to address them.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is Tenses.

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

Formatting Dialogue within Dialogue

January 28, 2017 by • Grammar and Punctuation, Writing • Tags: , • 2 Comments

By Chris Saylor

Hello, everyone! I’m back from my too-long holiday break. I hope you didn’t miss me too much!

Today’s post comes from an email request. It’s about properly using apostrophes, especially in dialogue.

Apostrophes are a huge topic, so first I’ll cover what I think this requester was really wanting to know, which is how we handle what I’ll call dialogue within dialogue. In other words, how do we handle it when one of our characters is quoting someone else?

This is done by following the regular rules for dialogue, except that you need to use single quotation marks (or a single quotation mark and an apostrophe, however you prefer) around the quoted text. Here are some examples.

Jessica pursed her lips. “And when I got to the counter, he said, ‘You don’t have the right forms.’ Can you believe that?”

“Everything was going so well.” Mary wadded up a bunch of tissues in her fist. “And we were having a nice evening, and then, out of nowhere, he said, ‘I think we should see other people.’”

Do you have any questions or any other aspects of grammar for fiction writers you would like to see discussed? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to address them.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is Using Apostrophes.

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

Homophone of the Month: Rein vs. Reign

December 10, 2016 by • Grammar and Punctuation, Marcy's Blog, Writing • Tags: , , • 2 Comments

editors-cornerBy Chris Saylor

As one of my monthly features, I cover homophones. I’m going to explain the different meanings, and whenever I can, I’ll give you little tricks to help you remember the difference between them. If nothing else, you’ll at least realize going forward that these two words might be confused, and you’ll know when to look up the correct meaning.

(If you missed the first installment, homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things.)

Today’s homophone comes courtesy of J’aime: rein vs. reign.

According to Merriam-Webster, rein is used in three ways. Below are some examples of the word:

I pulled back on the reins, easing Max to a stop (a strap fastened to a bit by which a rider or driver controls an animal—usually used in plural).

The officials calling the Raiders game kept a tight rein on the action (a restraining influence).

The election will determine who will hold the reins of power for the next several years (controlling or guiding power).

Reign means something different. For example:

Queen Elizabeth II’s reign has been marked by unprecedented prosperity for the British people (the period of time during which a king, queen, emperor, etc., is ruler of a country).

These two words are often confused because, not only do they sound alike, but they also both have the idea of control or power behind them. The difference is that rein refers to an act or an item, and reign refers to a period of time.

These two words can also be confused with rain, which is the wet stuff that falls from the sky.

What words do you have trouble telling apart? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll make sure to feature them later.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next is Misplaced Modifiers.

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

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Using Ellipses and Dashes in Fiction

December 3, 2016 by • Grammar and Punctuation, Writing • Tags: , , • 7 Comments

editors-cornerBy Chris Saylor

Today’s post comes from a request. In a comment, Kassandra Lamb wrote, “I am a tad lost on the subject of dashes. Could you do a post on them, Chris? When to use each…”

So this one is for you, Kassandra, and for everyone else who is also confused about how to use dashes. Because they’re so similar, I’ve also added ellipses.

Ellipses are the three dots (…) that you see in place of omitted text (nonfiction) or at the end of sentences (fiction). In nonfiction, ellipses are used, as indicated above, to show that a certain amount of text has been omitted from a direct quote. In fiction, ellipses are used to show that a thought or bit of dialogue trails off. For example:

My brain whirled through the implications of what she was saying. She claimed that she was the heir to the throne, but that meant…

There are three types of dashes that you can use: hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes.

A hyphen simply connects two or more words that form a compound adjective. Here’s an example from a novel I edited for a client. I’ll bold the hyphenated words so you can see what I’m referring to.

I straightened my already-straight jacket and plastered what I hoped was an I’m-not-at-all-affected-by-how-good-looking-you-are smile on my face. I wasn’t here to date. I was here to bury my uncle. (From Emily James’ A Sticky Inheritance)

An en dash is used to indicate a range or a relationship.

student–teacher relationship

An em dash is used to indicate a parenthetical phrase. A parenthetical phrase is an aside or an added thought or piece of information.

The windows were too small to climb out—a protective measure against people climbing in—and that left her only the front door as a means of escape. (From Marcy Kennedy’s upcoming Scottish historical fantasy Cursed Wishes)

It’s also used to show that a piece of dialogue has been cut off midstream.

“But you said you wouldn’t—”

“But Chris,” you might say, “how do I know when I’m looking at these types of dashes?” The answer is pretty simple. Below are the types of dashes.

Hyphen: – (the hyphen/dash key on your keyboard)

En dash: – (CTRL + minus sign in Word)

Em dash: — (CTRL + ALT + minus sign in Word)

Do you have any questions or any other aspects of grammar for fiction writers you would like to see discussed? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to address them.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is my Homophone of the Month (rein vs. reign).

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

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Commonly Confused Words of the Month: Emigrated To

November 26, 2016 by • Grammar and Punctuation • Tags: , , • 2 Comments

editors-cornerBy Chris Saylor

Welcome back to my Commonly Confused Words of the Month feature. It’s the spot where I go over words and phrases that you might want to use in dialogue to show something about your character, but you never want to use elsewhere.

This month I’ll be looking at the phrase emigrated to.

The correct phrase to use is actually emigrated from. This is because emigrated is an intransitive verb that means “to leave one’s place of residence or country to live elsewhere.” So to be correct, you would pair emigrated with from.

Chris emigrated from the United States.

Immigrated to, on the other hand, is what you do when you go to another country. Immigrate is an intransitive verb that means “to enter and usually become established; to come into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence.” So to be correct, you would pair immigrate with to.

Chris immigrated to Canada.

Now to apply this to your fiction writing.

If you have a character that is educated or savvy with the English language, you could have them talking about emigrating from the United States to Canada or immigrating to Canada from the United States.

If you want to show that a character is less sophisticated or less knowledgeable about the language, you could have them talking about emigrating to Canada or immigrating from the United States.

Is there a word or phrase that you often hear that bothers you? Share it in the comments below and I’ll be sure to address it.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is Using Ellipses and Dashes in Fiction.

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

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Vocative Commas and the Vocative Case

November 19, 2016 by • Grammar and Punctuation • Tags: , , • 1 Comment

editors-cornerBy Chris Saylor

Today’s topic, vocative commas (and, by extension, the vocative case), comes from a request from Marilynn Byerly.

Let’s start with a definition of what a vocative comma is and what the vocative case is.

The vocative case sounds like something made up, but it’s actually a real thing—and it’s pretty straightforward, too. Basically, when you’re addressing a person by name, you’re using the vocative case:

Marcy, have you seen my pen?

What time is dinner tonight, Mom?

Those are pretty straightforward. Most people get tripped up when the name comes in the middle of the sentence:

As you know, Bob… (sorry, a little writer humor there)

Here’s the real example:

 You need to stop, Frank, because you’re going to ruin your liver if you keep drinking like this.

You need to separate something in the vocative case from the rest of the sentence, using a comma. This is known as a vocative comma.

But how do you know when something is NOT in the vocative case and therefore doesn’t need a vocative comma?

Again, this is pretty simple.

I went to the Brigden Fair with Marcy and her mom.

Notice that I’m not addressing Marcy or her mom. I’m saying something about them. Here’s one more example for you:

Mom and I went to the Redskins game on Sunday. We had a blast.

I’m saying something about Mom. I’m not speaking to her.

Have any other grammar questions for me? Just leave a response in the comments, and I’ll be sure to address them in a future post.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is Commonly Confused Words of the Month (Emigrated To).

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

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Homophone of the Month: Fair vs. Fare

November 12, 2016 by • Grammar and Punctuation • Tags: , , • 0 Comment

editors-cornerBy Chris Saylor

For one of my monthly features, I will be covering homophones. I’m going to explain the different meanings, and whenever I can, I’ll give you little tricks to help you remember the difference between them. If nothing else, you’ll at least realize going forward that these two words might be confused, and you’ll know when to look up the correct meaning.

(If you missed the first installment, homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and mean different things.)

Today we’ll look at fair vs. fare.

Fair has a number of meanings. Below are some examples of the word:

My wife is a very fair young woman (pleasing to the eye).

After the devastation of Hurricane Matthew, the Carolinas are now experiencing fair weather (not stormy or foul).

Judge Thompson has a reputation for handing down fair judgements (marked by impartiality and honesty, free from self-interest, prejudice, or favoritism).

I have a fair complexion and burn easily (not dark).

I went with my wife and her mom to the Brigden Fair (an exhibition with rides, competitions, and handmade items for sale).

On the other hand, fare means something entirely different. For example:

The restaurant’s fare was delicious (food).

We got an excellent deal on round-trip airfare to Australia for our honeymoon (the price of a leg of commercial travel).

This is one of those times when the important thing is to know that two options exist, and that you should look up what the words mean. There are too many meanings for the words to have a simple mnemonic device.

What words do you have trouble telling apart? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll make sure to feature them later.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is Vocative Commas.

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

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Using Contractions in Fiction

November 5, 2016 by • Grammar and Punctuation • Tags: , , • 0 Comment

editors-cornerBy Chris Saylor

When you were in school and writing research papers, essays, etc., you were probably taught, like I was, that you shouldn’t use contractions in your writing. We were supposed to avoid them at all costs, as they make our writing too intimate to the reader. Our teachers instead wanted us to create a professional distance.

But when we’re writing a novel, we’re not writing a research paper. This is one of those “rules” that fiction writers should be ready, able, and willing to break.

What you write should mirror real life. People in real life who avoid contractions sound stiff and formal, and you don’t want your characters—who you want your reader to “bond” with—to feel stiff and formal.

You can go the route of avoiding contractions for effect. If you’re trying to create a stiff, formal character, for example, then you can leave contractions out of their dialogue.

You have to be careful about the effect you’re going for, though. I once edited a manuscript where the bad guy was differentiated by speaking normally during the first part of the book and very formally in the latter part of the book. I was confused by the difference, and the author didn’t reveal to me until after the fact that they had made the change on purpose. If you want to avoid using contractions for effect, you need to make sure you’re consistent in avoiding contractions, or you risk your reader being confused and possibly turned off the book.

The moral of this story is: Use contractions for more lifelike dialogue, and avoid contractions for effect.

Do you have any rules you would like to see discussed? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to address them.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is my Homophone of the Month (fair vs. fare).

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

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Commonly Confused Words of the Month: “I Could Care Less”

October 29, 2016 by • Grammar and Punctuation, Marcy's Blog, Writing • Tags: , , , , • 2 Comments

editors-cornerBy Chris Saylor

Remember back in my first post, when I told you that I believe you need to know the rules so that you can know when and how to break them? In my Commonly Confused Words of the Month feature, I’m going to be going over words and phrases that you might want to use in dialogue to show something about your character, but you never want to use elsewhere.

This month I’ll be looking at the phrase I could care less.

The correct phrase to use is actually I couldn’t care less. This is because I couldn’t care less is what you would say to show that you really have no thoughts left to give for whatever it is you’re discussing. You’re showing the maximum amount of apathy that you can possibly show.

I could care less, on the other hand, indicates that you still have some regard for the situation at hand. You have thoughts left to give for whatever it is you’re discussing. You’re showing that you still care about the situation at least a little bit.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the most you could care about something and 0 meaning you don’t care at all about something, I could care less means you fall in the 1 to 10 range, and I couldn’t care less means you’re at 0.

This is not a regional thing. It is more common to hear this phrase misused in some regions, but could and couldn’t cannot mean the same thing or language ceases to have any meaning at all.

Is there a word or phrase that you often hear that bothers you? Share it in the comments below and I’ll be sure to address it.

Every Saturday for the foreseeable future, I’ll be here in the Editor’s Corner, simplifying some of these grammar concepts for you and showing you how they specifically apply to your fiction. Coming up next week is The Importance of Using Contractions.

Want to hire Chris for a proofread or copy edit? You can find out more about him at https://saylorediting.wordpress.com, or you can email him to talk about rates and availability at christopher.saylor21 [at] gmail.com. You might also want to check out the book he co-wrote with Marcy, Grammar for Fiction Writers, available at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.

Image Credit: Dave Di Biase/www.freeimages.com

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