BY TERRI WAGNER
As writers, we often get bogged down in grammar issues when we are actually trying to focus on content. As a result, both our content and our grammar suffer. I know you have read pieces of work that were on target with grammar, and the content was boring, jarring, or too simplistic. The flip side is not any better. Great content will lose a reader when too many obvious grammar errors jump out at them.
How can we avoid this endlessly looping cycle?
There are several suggestions. One of the most shocking to me was to write without any punctuation. No periods, no commas, nothing, nada, zip! The idea was to focus solely on content. Make notes in the margins. Tree-line your work, with arrows pointing to suggestions from yourself to yourself. Make a total mess of the project.
Does that work? Well, ask anyone with a messy desk or room, and odds are, they know where things are. In their mind, they have a picture of their mess. If you mess with their mess, they are likely to get grumpy about it. So make a mess. When you are ready to focus on the grammar, then go back and add the punctuation. There are even publishers [not us, ed.] who prefer this anyway. They let their grammar editors handle it. That said, a well-polished, well-written piece of work is going to impress publishers [definitely us, ed.].
This approach allows content to become your only focus. Think Gettysburg Address: grammatically speaking, it doesn’t work. Content-wise, it delivers.
A second, more traditional option, is to work on your content and make margin notes on what you may need to check on later for grammar. Like, “note to self, is it ‘who’s or whose’?” Many people like this approach because they will not forget to check, while at the same time, they can remain focused on content. Just a note of caution, however: addressing grammar last may necessitate content changes. Rewriting those sentences ending in prepositional phrases can change the whole intent or meaning of a scene.
Then there is the odd fellow that will proceed line by line, making sure his/her work is grammatically correct before moving on to the next paragraph or page or chapter. A lot of new writers will do this: check chapter by chapter as they move along, desperately trying not to have to re-edit and recheck all the time.
The biggest trouble with this approach is that you get lost in the grammar aspect. How many of us have googled to death the right grammar, only to realize we cannot figure it out. This is probably the worst way to solve the grammar-perfect issue. By getting hung up on the grammar, you lose your muse. Your scene fails to deliver on content.
The best approach, favored by most publishers, is the “second” eye. Simply put, have someone well-versed in grammar to read it over for you. They can use the chapter-by- chapter approach or even scene-by-scene. It is amazing how much they will catch, leaving you time to work out the content.
But, remember, keep good writer’s karma. Lend yourself out as a grammar editor, especially to those who have helped you in the past. This allows you to realize the relief you find when you really can concentrate on one thing at a time.
When she’s not keeping Tweens on the grid at her local middle school or losing her voice rooting for the Crimson Tide, Terri writes and edits from her home in Alabama, overseen by her cat. Her latest project, Shades and Shadows: a Paranormal Anthology, was released on October 31, 2013, to excellent reviews. Her next project, the sequel to Vivatera by Candace J. Thomas, will be released in spring, 2014.
