Little Things Mean a Lot

There are many things in life we should do... but we don't. We make excuses. "I know I should exercise, but I'm just too busy." "I know I should eat right, but it takes so much time and effort." "I know I should (enter item here), but..."

Notice what each sentence had in common? That little three letter word "but". Technically, it is a conjunction, like and, nor, or, etc.

A conjunction is a little thing that carries a lot of weight, but so do other little things like commas, periods, exclamation marks.

As writers we tend to always look at the big picture. We worry about characterizations. We fret about plot lines and subplots. We analyze scenes and settings. But we don't concern ourselves with the little things. We figure a copy editor will pick out our faux pas and correct them.

That may have been true at one time, but not so much anymore. Newspapers have gotten rid of their proofreaders. My proof is any newspaper-especially smaller local ones. You can usually tell the writers who are older--those who went to schools where they actually taught grammar--from those who had writing classes where they were allowed to be "creative". There is definitely a place for creativity, but you also have to learn the basics.

Think about it this way. Would you want a builder building your dream house to have gone to a school where all they learned was how to be creative and nothing about load bearing walls, types of lumber, foundations, etc.? Your dream house would collapse with the first good wind.

And that's what happens to a lot of stories where the writer doesn't pay attention to technique. Yes, we can be creative. That's what writing is all about. But break the rules after you've learned them. (One of which I just did - do you know what it is?) Break them for a reason, not because you never learned them. Only by understanding the basics of writing--the foundation--can we truly become creative.
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Progress - working on edits of finished story.
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Birthdays: Charlotte Forten, Marcus Garvey, John Hawkes, Ted Hughes

Tips and Teasers: This is National Thriftshop Day. Take a trip to the nearest one and browse. Write ads to promote several items. Why did they catch your attention?

Thought for the day: “Read a lot and hit the streets. A writer who doesn’t keep up with what’s out there ain’t gonna be out there.” – Toni Cade Bambara