Does it feature schoolgirls?
Ted Page 5
Yes of course! It's a Grammar School! Tsk!
Quote: Marc P @ 6th December 2013, 11:10 PM GMTYes of course! It's a Grammar School! Tsk!
Quote: Tursiops @ 6th December 2013, 11:08 PM GMTDoes it feature schoolgirls?
Funny you should ask that; I recently read Bessie Bunter and the School Informer and it was a bit of a rum do. I felt conned by the title, as Bessie plays only a minor role in the book.
Written by Hilda Richards, who was actually Frank Richards, who was actually Charles Hamilton. The plot was more serious and the characters more melodramatic than Enid Blyton's boarding school books. Yet it was dry stuff, nothing tugging at the heart strings, no emotional connection with the characters. Certainly a cut above the theme of f**kwittery for f**kwittery's sake that is prevalent in the Billy Bunter books, yet it left me cold.
I didn't much care for THE GEM stuff either.
Quote: Kenneth @ 6th December 2013, 11:04 PM GMTWell that escalated vertically.
Carl, you should feel privileged and humbled to be on the receiving end of sound advice from the Pearson guy, he being one of the few posters here who make a living from creative writing.
Certainly, a good story is the most important thing. A team of editors can indeed sit down to fix lousy grammar and punctuation. But unless your story immediately blows people away, you would do well to master grammar to improve your clarity and your chances of appearing intelligent. Hard to believe, but there are some snobs who view bad grammar as evidence of imbecility - especially when English is the writer's first language.
If you feel grammar is difficult, boring and stupid, perhaps you could read a book called The Glamour of Grammar by Roy Peter Clark: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Glamour-Grammar-Mystery-Practical/dp/031602791X
or some of his other books: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roy-Peter-Clark/e/B001ILKG36/ref=pd_sim_b_bl_1
I like sound advice and I know it when I see it, I also see a lot of other things which is neither sound nor advice. As for humbled and privileged I love my gran.
I like good grammar just as much as the next bloke, it is neither boring nor stupid but first and foremost is writing the grammar can come after you have a good story
Quote: Carlos Manwelly @ 7th December 2013, 12:31 AM GMTI like sound advice and I know it when I see it, I also see a lot of other things which is neither sound nor advice. As for humbled and privileged I love my gran.
I like good grammar just as much as the next bloke, it is neither boring nor stupid but first and foremost is writing the grammar can come after you have a good story
Seriously, Carlos read the above. All we are saying is that if you want to be a writer then be attentive to what you write. And if you know good advice when you see it act on it. You will note,perhaps, what I actually said about Grammar.
I'm not brilliant with punctuation, especially when I'm rushing.
But I try to take more care with it these days, because in the past it has put people off my sketches, despite the sketches being hilarious.
I remember arguing about it not being that important ages back, on a different forum and am happy to cringe & admit that I was wrong.
Give people less work and they will give you more work.
That is obvious, all I am saying is don't slag somebody off because they don't know where to put a comma.
Is it really obvious? And I think we both know we were not talking about a comma.
Quote: Carlos Manwelly @ 7th December 2013, 12:31 AM GMTfirst and foremost is writing the grammar can come after you have a good story
That makes sense if you were deprived of an education or if you're afflicted by some sort of learning disorder. When an old man who taught himself to read and write, sits down at the kitchen table and pens his memoirs, then shows them to a publisher friend, the publisher instantly recognizes hot stuff and a team of editors fixes the punctuation and spelling. And we have a bestseller.
But it smacks of laziness when an educated person with a good brain disdainfully sneers that grammar can come later. Sure, there is a stage in the writing process called editing and polishing, whereby one fixes up the punctuation and syntax before submitting a piece of writing (or posting in critique). It doesn't hurt. Minor errors don't matter in the drafting process. Every decent writer should have a decent editor, but this is not always the case. If you can polish your own writing, you should do so.
Quote: Carlos Manwelly @ 7th December 2013, 12:31 AM GMTI like good grammar just as much as the next bloke, it is neither boring nor stupid but first and foremost is writing the grammar can come after you have a good story
Plenty of people have good stories and can't write. That's why they hire ghost writers. Writing is a skill, it has technical elements to it, just as other arts do. In this case we're not talking technical points you can get around creatively - like you can with music or art, not knowing exactly where you're supposed to put your fingers but getting them in the right place anyway, or not knowing the right brushstrokes but making something good anyway - it is something that is completely essential to someone else being able to access your art. With poor grammar and punctuation, it's a chore to get through somebody's writing and it slows you down through the progress of the story so you won't get into it as much.
So grammar and punctuation are very important if you're going to be a writer.
It's perfectly reasonable to point out grammar and punctuation on critique, for the very reason that it is essential to being a writer.
Similarly, we don't come on critique to go 'oh that's a good story, so it'll do', we say 'that's a good story but it could be better executed'. Because it's not all about having a good story. That's one part of it.
So there.
This is a comedy forum not a grammar and punctuation forum, get the funny bit right first and a friend can sort out the rest if you want to be serious about it and send it off to the BBC
How's that working out for you Carlos?