Adventures in Writing

6) Spelling and Grammar

Spelling and Grammar

You knew this one was coming. Of course you did. You're a writer. Spelling and grammar is the most important part of writing. No one wants to read a book that was entirely written in text talk. It makes readers cringe and cover their faces and pray to Jesus that their brain cells didn't just squirt out their ears.

No. You have to know how to spell. You have to know basic grammar.

Know your basics. Know how to spell simple words, know that there are other words you can use for "said" or "run". Know that you need commas. Those aren't just little poop decorations for your sentences. Those are legitimate punctuation marks that are required in most sentences. Know that you need ending puncuation. If your character is yelling, you're not gonna put:

"Go home," he shouted.

Pfft. So what if he shouted? It didn't sound like it to me.

"Go home!" he shouted. Whoa, damn. Maybe he is shouting. What a big difference with that awesome exclamation mark, am I right? Yeah? Cool, cool.

Now that the basic grammar lesson is over, you need to know some important things about spelling.

Say your character is from a specific part of the country in which they use the word "ain't". That word isn't proper English and makes a lot of grammar Nazis want to cry themselves to sleep at night, but unfortunately for them, that is a word that people use in dialogue.

"Ain't no thang, but a chicken wang."

That whole sentence would make your English teacher want to puke on your desk, but guess what? They're not the one reading or grading your story. At least, let's hope not.

Anyway, the fun thing about dialogue is how flexible it is. It doesn't play by the same rules that the other sentences do. Dialogue, and especially in first person point of views, can be tinkered with to your heart's desire. That doesn't mean you spell "you" as "u", though. Don't you dare gimme that text talk. You spell correctly and you spell slang correctly. If you're gonna use "ain't", you're spelling it the way the Southerners intended for it to be spelled. Which is "ain't", not "a'nt". Like, what even.

You make your dialogue flow. Dialogue is where someone is speaking, and speaking comes in all sorts of different patterns. Write the way someone would talk when it comes to dialogue.

And sometimes, first person points of view also requires this.