If you missed a previous post on Grammar, simply click on the purple crossed-out title in the list below to see that post.
Within Grammar here are the most common issues I had in my story:
1. Missing Article .
2. Redundant preposition .
3. Confused preposition .
4. Object instead of a subject pronoun .
5. Adjective instead of an adverb
6. Wrong article with set expression
7. Incorrect use of progressive tense
8. Incorrect noun form
Adjective instead of an adverb. I had a lot of these little beasts pop up, some are punctuation errors others are me simply being me.
Adjectives only modify nouns and pronouns.
Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. An adverb is needed if you are describing when, where, or how.
I know what you’re going to say Adverbs? Really didn’t Steven King say “The road to hell is paved with adverbs?” Yes, they are not to be used all the time, but some sentences and instances require them. Sometimes the sentence flow or message needs an adverb. While it’s good to limit (Severely limit) the use of them.
I’m totally okay with some Adverbs in dialogue because people use them in dialogue every day.
Now let’s look at my mistakes from my draft of Prophecy Ink.
In my head, fresh worked, however, it’s in narrative so perfect grammar is necessary. The correction does sound much better.
We ordered simple cups of freshly brewed coffee.
The following are four more examples from my draft along with the suggested changes.
I’ll break them down and show how I would change them if not the exact suggestion and why.
Incorrect “Good tell them if they see us to leave us alone.”
I didn’t want to change it to: “Well tell them if they see us to leave us alone.” That isn’t how this character would talk. I wanted her to say ‘good’ so in this case, it was a punctuation problem a simple comma fixed the problem.
Winner: “Good, tell them if they see us to leave us alone.”
Here is the next example.
Incorrect “That explains why you woke frantic.”
Correct “That explains why you woke frantically.”
Now I don’t like the ‘correct’ version it doesn’t feel right, so I changed the sentence altogether.
Winner: “That explains why you were frantic when you woke.”
Not great for reducing word count but this sounds and reads much better.
Incorrect I sat quiet the entire time.
Correct I sat quietly the entire time.
Now there is a grammar error for incorrect adverb placement so it will be changed to this:
Correct I sat the entire time quietly.
That second correction was perfect. It didn’t change the sentence meaning and is proper grammar.
Incorrect It was odd paired with cheese.
Correct It was oddly paired with cheese.
I don’t like either, to be honest. My original or the suggested correction. I think I may have taken this out entirely. But if I were to correct it, here it is.
Winner: It was an odd thing to pair with cheese.
Revision can be tedious, but when I find a crap sentence and I can make it shine or simplify and correct it, I know it is making my story better.
My advice about Adjective instead of an adverb:
Sometimes one word needs to be changed, and it makes the sentence perfect. Sometimes it shows that the entire sentence is lackluster and could use a bit of polishing up. If I keep them it’s either in dialogue or absolutely necessary to the quality of the sentence.
-Sheryl
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