question regarding first time book writers!!

Correction: they're not....

 

Okay; we get it. I bet you know there's supposed to be a space after a comma, too. You're brilliant, but can't be bothered to do things correctly except when you feel it's important enough to take the time. That's cool. You just keep doing what makes you happy; I'm sure it will work out well for you.

 

Yes I do, I am sure to do it only when I am writing my book or when I'm in the mood elsewhere

 

That seems a bit mean and unnecessary.

Eurlo, might I ask where you're from? Were you born and raised in the US?

 

What? You think his sleep really is loose?

 

You know what I meant...

 

Tesgah is right. The word "petty" pretty accurately describes all the "Hey, you made a spelling error!" comments.

Eurlo still has a way to go in terms of learning how to use grammar and punctuation correctly. A lot of that is just a need for more practice. Many people know the rules of grammar and punctuation, but you really need to spend time working with those tools before you become so comfortable with them that you stop making errors.

Eurlo takes his writing seriously. If he keeps going, he'll probably be published within a few years.

Sadly, Chronopunk has responded with mockery, winning him several "Oh I'm so cool" points and a few dozen "I am acting like an arsehole" points.

There is a huge difference between pointing out that someone needs to work on his grammar and calling him an illiterate. You may one day grow mature enough to understand the difference. In the meantime, it clearly isn't worth our time to try explaining it to you, as you have already had your poor behavior pointed out by Terry D, Eurlo, Banzai, Tesgah and now me, with no visible effect.

I expect you to react with anger and annoyance, justifying your actions as an attempt to get Eurlo to take his writing seriously or to work harder at eliminating mistakes. But this, while true, is only a small part of why you've behaved this way. It is easier to criticize specific errors (and the person making those errors) than to acknowledge that the maker of those errors might be taking his writing more seriously than you are taking your own. And that hurts.

Perhaps you will gain more from this conversation if you try to remember that writers don't have to compete with each other. It is difficult to write well, but once you've gotten to that stage, you'll find that readers gravitate to the stories and the narrative voices they enjoy. Two writers of equal ability don't have to fight over readers; there are so many people who read, and each writer brings something new to the table.

So it doesn't make sense to try to stomp on someone for bad grammar if they're genuinely working to improve their craft. It's not like they're any threat to you. Even if they end up writing in the exact same genre, all they're doing is pulling more readers into that genre -- readers who will want to read works from many authors, not just a few.

 

you never make a mistake like that? I do and English is my first language. Also the assumption here seems to be that Eurlo needs to write their book in English which is not the case.

If I was to be typing my posts on a French or German language forum I would make far more mistakes (I got Bs in both) - That does not make me illiterate, stupid or a bad writer. I have lost count of the times people on here have picked me up for spelling errors, using single quotes etc Why because I am not American. Someone who does not speak Americanised English is not an idiot.

The vast majority of the world's scripts, novels etc are not written in English. Eurlo can write a book in another language and get it published etc Or continue to work on improving English.

 

That was an interesting point. I think you are right about that.

 

Petty? Really? Now, I'll cop to being an arsehole, and a big, mean, terrible person. I'll take those compliments all day. But petty? You really think that it is trivial and narrow-minded to suggest that a writer who aspires to professional publication should be able to handle the language well? You're saying a lot more about yourself there than you are about me.

If whatsisname were talking about becoming a professional baseball player, I wouldn't say a word about his mishandling of the language. If he admitted that he has trouble putting the right grammar on the page, but he was trying to do better, I'd concede that he was serious about his craft and point him to some resources to help. Neither of those things are the case. He wants to be a professional writer, has demonstrated an ineptitude with the written language, and when people suggest that he might want to improve those skills he insists that he already a master of them and has no need to improve.

(And to anyone backing him up in his assertion that he is a master of English grammar, he just doesn't want to use it correctly on a forum, you are wrong. Anyone who wants to write professionally should be able to use the language without having to stop and think about what the correct rules are. It should be second nature. It shouldn't be a matter of not taking the time to punctuate a sentence correctly, because it shouldn't take any extra time; if you REALLY know what you're doing, you just write it.)

But by all means protect him from the big meanies who want to tell him he's facing the wrong way. Encourage him to just keep going like he is. After all, an inability to write a clean and correct sentence and an inability to take criticism are such common traits of successful writers.

Whatever; it's all the same to me.

 

no people i LOSE sleep....ya know i give up with you people its a waste of my time arguing....

 

But working _on the book_ is not the same as working on your writing skill. You stated that "I'm probably qualified to try and publish a book". That's what I'm responding to, because the errors that you make make it clear that, no, your writing skill is not at that point yet. If it were there, then the grammar errors that you've made simply wouldn't happen, no matter how little you cared about the forum in which you were writing.

There's work to be done. There's no shame in that. But when you say something that suggests that you believe that there _isn't_ any more work to do on your writing skills, as opposed to your book, then people are going to chime in to comment.

ChickenFreak

 

Eurlo, maybe you should consider privately sending someone a sample of your work, a few pages or so. There are plenty of qualified people on this website. It would only help your writing.

 

No because my story is private, and I will now ignore all critiqing comments, unless I find them interesting so bye!

 

There is a difference between saying "your grammar is not good enough" and being rude.

Anyway, time to let this thread die.

 

While I'd normally agree with you...

And people are defending this guy, really? I'll let this thread die, but I'd like to say one thing first.

If you act rude, you'll be treated rudely. That's generally how the world works. If the topic creator wants to become a writer, treating him rudely after he acts rudely is not a bad thing. It's doing him a favor. Imagine he starts to act like that in front of an agent or a publisher?

Or more importantly, in front of someone who has a working right fist?

 

Sorry to be that guy but:

Does it matter if one writes:

1) The man walked down the narrow hallway. In which he saw a tall man, Fred, who smiled wanly at him.

Or if he/she/it writes:

2) the man walked down the narrow halway. in which he saw tall man,fred, who smiled wanly at him.

In a book it would but on this forum it is irrelevant.