Order

Hey readers, Annette here on our final Grammar Wednesday. Watch for Ocieanna's return next week. We're excited!

Today let’s talk about order.

As an editor, I see the issue of order come up often. What do I mean?

Three hints: It’s something you read all the time in published books. If you’ve ever written dialogue, you’ve probably done it. And it’s sort of against the rules.

Note that last point. It is sort of against the rules. Other editors will disagree that it’s a problem, hence all the published books with this infraction. Ahem, I mean preference. ;)

So, consider my advice, but know your publisher will have their own position on this order issue.

So, what is it? See if you can find it in the following sentence.

Carol tightened her hold on the doorknob and said between clenched teeth, “I don’t care if they did say they’d take care of it. That’s your job. Now, get it done!”

Did you see it? Let me fix it and then maybe it’ll stand out more.

Carol tightened her hold on the doorknob. “I don’t care if they did say they’d take care of it,” she said between clenched teeth. “That’s your job. Now, get it done!”

Now it makes more sense, right? It’s the “said” before what was said.

Worse, is when the author writes how something sounded before it sounded. Like:

Carol softened her tone, “I can see your point. Just be sure it gets done.”

OR

Carol softened her tone. “I can see your point. Just be sure it gets done.”

The mention of Carol’s softened tone should occur after she speaks. You can’t tell us how something sounded before it sounds. (Please forgive my mixing of tenses there; that is what I meant to do.) So, the better way to say it is:

“I can see your point.” Carol softened her tone. “Just be sure it gets done.”

Make sense?

Now that I’ve brought this to your attention, you’ll probably see this order issue everywhere, and it may even become a pet peeve. Sorry about that. ;)

Write on, but don't forget about order.

Grammar Day – Writing Numbers

Welcome to Grammar Day at Seriously Write. Do you ever wonder whether you should use a numeral or spell out the number? Today, we’re going to look at rules and examples that will hopefully alleviate some confusion.

Rule 1: In books, spell out whole numbers one through one hundred, as well as round numbers.

Examples:    I would like three copies.

             I would like one hundred copies.

            I would like 101 copies.

In articles, spell out whole numbers below 10; use numbers for 10 and above.

Examples:    There are nine people on the team.

            There will be 12 people on the team.

           

Rule 2: Be consistent within a category.

Examples:    Out of 10 apples, I found 2 rotten ones.

                            Out of ten apples, I found two rotten ones.

Rule 3: If you have numbers in different categories, use numerals for one category and spell out the other.

Examples:   It takes 7 peaches to make one pie and 12 apples to

                          make two pies.

                          I purchased 15 tickets for my seven employees.

                         I have 10 toes but only two feet.

Rule 4: Spell out simple fractions and use hyphens with them.

Examples:   One-half of the casserole was eaten.

                          A two-thirds majority is required for that bill to pass.

Rule 5: A mixed fraction can be expressed in figures unless it’s the first word in a sentence.

Examples:    He cranked the wheel around 5 ½ times.

                            Five and one-half pieces of cake were left.

Rule 6: Write decimals in figures. Put a zero in front of a decimal unless the decimal itself begins with a zero.

Examples:    He moved the hook 0.55 inches to the right.

            Then he moved it .09 inches to the left.

Rule 7: Never start a sentence with a numeral.

Correct:        They sold 124 hotdogs.

Correct:        One hundred twenty-four hotdogs were sold.

Incorrect:    124 hotdogs were sold.

Rule 8: If you’re writing out decades with incomplete numerals, put an apostrophe before the incomplete numeral, but not between the year and the s.

Correct:        Do you prefer music from the ’80s or the ’90s?

Incorrect:   Do you prefer music from the ’80’s or the ’90’s?

           

The Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook were used as references.

Grammar Day

Do you ever take shortcuts when it comes to grammar? Hey everyone, Annette here. Rather than post another quiz today, I’ve decided to offer a touch of advice.

Sometimes I get a little lazy when I’m writing. Instead of looking up a word, I’ll choose another one if I’m unsure. Or instead of dislodging the hefty Chicago Manual of Style from the shelf beside me, I’ll rework the sentence into a format I know is correct. Can you relate with this?

But what kind of service are we doing for ourselves when we avoid tracking down the right word or the right way to format something?

That’s one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed doing Grammar day here on Seriously Write. I’d choose topics I was somewhat confident in and then research to make sure I presented them correctly. Now, I have the rule lodged in this overstuffed brain of mine (overly full because I’m trying to keep track of a million things at once, not so much about intelligence busting out--grin). So, hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes became a lot more familiar, because I took the time to both look them up and study them.

The other day I could not remember the word acronym. All I could think of was acrostic. So, after debating ways of discovering the answer, or replacing the word with something else, I grabbed my Flip Dictionary and tracked it down. Yay! Now I hope to remember it. ;)

So, let’s commit to this together. Next time we are tempted to take a shortcut where grammar is concerned, let’s invest the time in looking up the answer and memorizing it. We’re serving ourselves and our readers by growing in this area. Face it, grammar is a non-negotiable, unavoidable aspect of writing. Right? Don’t avoid it. Conquer it! And write on!