R. Garcia's Website
  • Home
  • Documents
    • Fiction
    • Poetry and Poetry-Related
    • Humor
    • Essays
    • Photographs
  • Blog: The Eclectic Life
  • Quotes
  • Books
    • The Sun Zebra
  • : ^ )
    • Fun Quotes
    • Rolando's Official Web Mascot
    • Cool Videos
    • The Power of Words
    • Odd and Fantastic Pictures
  • Contact

Do not Let Learning Too Much Grammar Spoil the Enjoyment of a Good Story

6/5/2011

14 Comments

 
I had read Stephen King's book "On Writing" many years ago, but since I am now writing, I decided to give it another read. This is how in the chapter entitled "Toolbox" I came upon the following:

Steve states that communication is composed of several parts of speech and it must be organized by several rules of grammar upon which we agree. He writes "When these rules break down, confusion and misunderstanding result. Bad grammar produces bad sentences." He then proceeds to quote his favorite example from the book "The Elements of Style" by Strunk and White.

"As a mother of five, with another one on the way, my ironing board is always up."

I scratched my head and grimaced feeling a bit hopeless. After all Steven King is one of my favorite writers and this is HIS FAVORITE example of how bad grammar produces bad sentences. The problem is, I didn't see it. To me the meaning of the sentence is plain. A pregnant woman, who already has five kids, is obviously talking or thinking about the fact that her ironing board is always up due to her situation. I must have reread the sentence twenty times and still I didn't see it. I showed it to several people, they thought it was OK. What is the problem? I gave up and I did what we all do to obtain information in these times: I googled it.

The problem seems to be the following: The segment "mother of five" is a "dangling modifier". This means that it is intended to describe a noun or pronoun that isn't there next to it. Because the closest noun in the sentence is "ironing board" it is claimed that this will confuse the reader into thinking the ironing board has had five children and is pregnant again.

Really? Sorry but this thought never crossed my mind while reading this sentence. When the meaning of a sentence is crystal clear to the majority of people who read it, how can you make the case that it is confusing and wrong? The purpose of grammar is not to follow rules blindly because they are THE RULES. The purpose of grammar is to make the text readable and clear for the reader. With regards to the sentence in question, even though the noun is not next to the modifier "mother of five", its presence is very clearly implied (the woman is talking about herself, not the ironing board). The meaning is so obvious that there is no confusion. If the readers don't see a problem, if the text is readable, if the meaning is clear, why create an issue when there isn't one?

You could argue that the rules should be applied in general to every situation so we can avoid the more obvious cases such as:

"Wrapped in foil, Joe ate the hamburger."

(Did Joe wrap himself in foil before eating the hamburger, or did he eat the hamburger which was wrapped in foil?)

or

"Being in a dilapidated condition, I was able to buy the house very cheap."

(Who was in a dilapidated condition, the person who bought the house, or the house?)

or part of a funny quote from Groucho Marx:

"This morning I shot an elephant wearing my pajamas."

(Did he shoot an elephant while he was wearing his pajamas, or did he shoot and elephant that was wearing his pajamas?)

I do agree that in many such cases the reading experience can be improved by fixing the grammar. However, I would argue that we have to proceed in a case by case basis because context and implied meanings may trump the mindless application of grammatical rules.

Consider the following sentence found in a New York Times best seller often cited as an example of poor grammar:

“We found the address he gave me without difficulty”.

Again, what is wrong with this? As I understood it, one person who belongs to a group (we) is stating that they had no difficulty in finding an address that another person gave them. Most readers would read through this without blinking. The "problem" seems to be that "without difficulty" has been placed next to "gave me" instead of "found". Thus you could interpret that the group found an address, which somebody had effortlessly (without difficulty) given to one of them. Sorry, but this interpretation never crossed my mind, I had to really make an effort to see it this way.

I am all for improving our grammar, but there is an inherent danger in taking this to an extreme. The more grammar you learn the more you may demand from others that they exhibit the same level of learning you have. Because of this you may end up finding that the majority of the stories written by normal human beings strike such dissonance in your mind that you cannot bring yourself to read them, and this would be very sad. We should not let learning too much grammar spoil the enjoyment of a good story.
14 Comments
Mariam
6/5/2011 09:52:56 pm

Well said Mr.Phanto. I do find that people with a good base in grammar often don't approve of lighthearted humour or even the kidadult books that are the rage nowadays. Take my best friend for example. You put a simple idea in a very thought provoking way.

Reply
Cosmos link
6/5/2011 10:35:06 pm

Really enjoy reading your blog ..... :)

Reply
phantomimic link
6/6/2011 09:30:34 am

Cosmos and Mariam, thank you for your comments. I try to make this blog informative, thought provoking, and entertaining. I hope I have succeded and that I will continue to do so in the future.

Phanto

Reply
Lucy V Morgan
6/15/2011 05:42:14 am

Just so you know...this article is exactly why there is still a stigma to self-publishing. I think the more successful self-pubbers would also agree.

Reply
phantomimic link
6/15/2011 11:42:54 am

Well, the issue is that some people focus on the English while others focus on the story. Of course bad English can hinder the enjoyment of good stories, but a misguided zeal for perfection and marketability can kill the stories by frustrating their authors. I know many self-published authors are appalled at the torrent of people that self-publish without going through the gauntlet that they had to go through. These authors claim that all the pain that they suffered trying to get into printed media before electronic publishing came along, made them better authors. And maybe that is true, but it is equally true that a good number of them were thwarted and their stories were lost to us. It may be also be true that a lot of this attitude is sour grapes over not having been able to publish sooner.

In any case, it will be the readers who will decide if the story is good enough. And if readers are thrilled, moved, or enlightened by stories containing "As a mother of five, with another one on the way, my ironing board is always up." or "We found the address he gave me without difficulty." what is the problem? Why drag these readers kicking and screaming away from their fulfillment over having read a great story by trying to explain to them that what they have read is badly written and they should not have liked it? You see immediately how learning grammar in excess can become a killjoy.

I want to make it clear that I don't favor story-killing grammar or a lack of willingness to improve our writing skills. We have exchanged opinions before and I maintain that our differences are just about where to set the bar. But in the business of self-publishing it is the reader who decides where the bar is set, as it should be, because the reader is the one who is paying for the story.

As to the stigma issue, it doesn't bother me because there won't be one when self-publishing becomes the norm in the not too distant future.

Reply
Matthew Chivers link
6/20/2012 09:14:47 pm

Very well said. I have seriously have had it up to here with many "writers" bemoaning about another "writers" books - be it the way they are written, or "don't sound right grammatically". I think most pro writers out there don't remember that most peoples reading and writing skills are "average" at best. You could have something poorly written, but a person that can't read well won't tell the difference.

Now, this isn't to say that what we write cannot do with some improvement - but going to the point of being a complete narcistic nazi about grammar (when it reads perfectly fine), then things have gotten too far - especially in this day and age when anyone can write and self-publish books on the kindle.

As long as it sounds "good" when read out loud or in thought - it should be done.

Enough is enough.

Reply
Rolando link
6/21/2012 02:07:08 pm

Thanks for your comment Matthew. Yes, there are some narcissistic (by the way you misspelled that word; LOL!) grammar Nazis out there (I'm not one). They complain about the illiteracy of the masses and bemoan their reading choices never realizing how silly they appear when they do this.

Reply
Matthew Chivers link
6/21/2012 03:19:03 pm

Hehe ;) yeah I mis-spell alot when I'm not in word lol.

I'll just further add to what I did earlier :)

As a self-publishing author, it all depends on how well people can write and read - personally, I suffer from Dyslexia and Aphasia, so my words sometimes come out as non-sensical, sometimes (sigh) - or appear not well written. In the past, I have had many ill comments about the "editing, structure," etc in my books, simply because I'm still learning how to write in some cases, and grammar is one of those walls :( yet, they don't know me, they don't know how much I have had to go through just to get 3 books written and self-published. Literally 1,000's of hours of energy poured into writing, proofing, etc - just to have it shot down with a few careless sentences. They don't realise that the author has had to edit books for both print and ebooks - totally different formats - they don't realise how much effort goes into the covers, the margins, and then there is the process for getting it all done for Kindle. Totally different formatting process, but one that has to be repeated. And then there is carefully correcting any errors in the books - sheesh - the list goes on - and even with the improvements, these people won't be bothered to read it anyway!

Sometimes I have thought "you know what? this really isn't worth it, because it's doing more harm for my self esteem than good". Damn right depressing.

Needless to say, I carried on anyway - if I had no obsession, it wouldn't have happened. But there are many other authors out there that take the criticism to heart, and most the time, its criticism that viciously attacks the persons difficulty in writing - all because its not perfect in the eyes of the written words of the gods.

I don't have a dyslexia teacher looking over my shoulder telling me its wrong - instead, its other writers that seem to share their advice - which normally means they tear it to pieces, without even taking the story into consideration (and most the time they arrogantly won't bother reading through one page, just one parapraph - then assume its just ALL bad).

It just amazes me how uncaring some people who write or read, are, who are also into the self-pubbing. It almost feels like "writing" should be just left to those that seem to be a part of this "universal" book club of how books should be written...this isn't to say that some constructive advice has helped - but it is amazing how many readers, or fellow writers, will just open fire with all guns without a care.

Competition? This is a concern of mine - you have a self-pubbed author that has the highest grades in English (uni/college, whatever). His story is weak, his reviews okay, not 5 stars, but its well written - it would make S.King proud - however, it's not selling so well as a competitors book - also a self-pubbed author. Now, I can easily see a person who has been groomed for success, seek it, but not be as so fortunate as the sod who just want's to tell a story - and by luck has had great success. This is, unfortunatley, an ingrediant for jealousy. It doesn't take much to, for example, create a new account on the internet - download a free kindle book from this author (thus earning the right to leave reviews on amazon, as its considered a sell in the system) - and then proceed to disect it piece-by-piece - leaving a 1 star review to boot. This is what worries me. It is the internet - everything is pretty much anonymous.

However, I think authors should take heart - because at least they have one! I also think a part of the problem is that alot of this self-publishing stuff is now done over the internet - and people don't show, through words, the empathy that lacks within them when they write - and it shows when people get highly criticizing.

I've never understood it - no one hassles, or even talks to me like trash, when I'm out in person having a drink in the pub.

The internet, I think, is partly responsible for the way that the criticizing masses can get there points across without any consideration. Or of course, they are just jealous trolls lol :)

I can't wait for the UK to finish legislation with this matter: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18408457

I think you can expect to see a massive down-turn of personal "writing attacks" after this gets through as an eventual law. Most people who have criticized my writings in the past ussually hide behind an "alias". This will hopefully be something that will decrease the amount of self-pub attacks in the most direst of circumstances.

Thanks for letting me post, Rolando!

Rolando link
6/22/2012 09:00:42 am

Thanks for your comment Matthew. You are to be commended for overcoming your problems and publishing your writing. Unfortunately most readers write their reviews in a vacuum and don't take into account any obstacles the writer had to overcome to produce their work. I also agree with you that anonymity in the internet is creating a culture where nasty remarks have become the norm and this increases the level of vitriol in society. Sadly this is one of the by-products of the information age.

Reply
Bill
6/15/2013 08:40:40 am

I just read that chapter in the Stephen King book today, and was so miffed at not figuring out his example that I had to put it down. I agree with your assessment over Stephen King's. Thanks for the clarification.

Reply
Rolando link
6/16/2013 03:26:26 am

Thanks for your comment Bill.

Reply
Alessandro link
2/26/2020 03:43:02 pm

Hi Mr Phanto! In these days I’m reading On Writing and I felt very puzzled when I read the sentence you mentioned in your article. I was luck to find your blog that explained what it is all about! As a matter of fact, the judgment changes from person to person?! Thanks!

Reply
michelle
4/10/2022 06:13:00 am

I too wondered what's wrong with that sentence, when reading Mr King's book.
I am very glad I found this explanation (and many thanks for it!)
Having also read the comments that followed in this thread...
Okay... here goes - folks who go to university/college do so to "improve their prospects". It's like joining the right "club" - in my not-at-all-humble opinion.
However - I begin to wonder if "education" (ie getting the degree/joining the right club) has not been mistaken for "training" (as in 'obedience' or 'compliance'). Kind of like brainwashing - do this this way or you don't belong, think as we do, be one of us and you will be rewarded.
I have heard of places in this world where you have to have a degree to get a job as a Janitor.
I think the whole 'degree/club' thing has gone a little too far.
* shrugs* Just a thought.

Reply
Rolando Garcia
4/10/2022 12:23:33 pm

Thanks for your comment Michele. Another aspect of the grammar folly is that the powers that be expect self-published authors to spend several thousand dollars in making their books "perfect", which is ridiculous considering that the vast majority of self-published books will not sell enough to cover that investment. If authors have enough money to throw away, that's one thing, but if they have a tight budget (the majority), this is lunacy.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    I am a tinker, tailor,
    soldier, sailor,
    rich man, poor man,
    beggar-man, thief!

    Follow Phantomimic on Twitter

    RSS Feed

    Blogroll

    Laura Novak
    Barbara Alfaro
    Suzanne Rosenwasser
    Sunny Lockwood
    Christine Macdonald
    Jennie Rosenbaum
    Kristen Lamb
    Joe Konrath
    Sweepy Jean
    Ingrid Ricks
    The Jotter
    Robert David MacNeil
    Molly Greene
    The Passive Voice
    Third Sunday Blog Carnival
    Marilou George
    Laura Zera
    Jeri Walker-Bickett
    Lia London

    Categories

    All
    Advice For Writers
    Amazon
    Art
    Author
    Ballet
    Bloggers
    Bluegrass Music
    Book Promotion
    Book Review
    Cats
    Censorship
    Clopper Mill
    Coffe
    Cool Places
    Coral Castle
    E Books
    E-Books
    Enchanted Highway
    Fair
    Fiction
    Glenstone
    Goodreads
    Grammar
    Guest Post
    Harry Potter
    Indie
    Interview
    Issues
    Kdp Select
    Kindle
    Milestone
    Milestones
    Muses
    Nell
    Novel
    Nuclear Missile Sites
    Painting
    Picture
    Poe Toaster
    Poetry
    Politics
    Prague Quadrennial
    Print Books
    Quality
    Reading
    Restaurant At Patowack Farm
    Science
    Scribd
    Self Publishing
    Self-Publishing
    Short Story
    Song
    Spirit Women
    Spotlight
    Sun Zebra
    Supernatural
    Theater
    The Sedlec Ossuary
    Video
    Women
    Words
    Writer
    Writers
    Writer's Block
    Writing

    Archives

    April 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2015
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    October 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.