Elements of Style: Grammar Errata and Other Resources

adorelo said:


LLK - what are you like? ;)
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Now I know you asked that ages ago but I didn't really know what you meant by it then any more than I do now. I've decided to answer anyway.

Adorelo honey, I'm not like anyone you've ever met before.

As for the question about Linds(a/e)y I can help with that.

Lindsay Monroe is with an A (though I have no idea if I spelled her last name right).

Lindsey Willows is with an E.
 
Ahh thanks for that wonderful insight, i know that my spelling and grammar isn't that perfect but I'm making progress all the time....

I'm English and i dont think that it really matters if a person uses American English, British- English, Canadian English etc... as long as the words are spelled correctly and the story flows well then surly thats all that is needed?

After all Fanfiction is still a work of fiction by fans'. We're not Shakespear or Keats? After I write a chapter I always now use spelling and grammar on my words programme.

I also use the thesauras which is a godsend for different words that I use often.

I never proclaimed that I'm perfect far from it, but if anyone is into (the same as my banner) ship then I could forward the site I post my stories on...
 
Hi all,

I just wanted to let you know of a resource I just created called the Fan Fiction Dictionary. It's over on wetpaint, and can be found at fanfictiondictionary.wetpaint.com.
What it is, is a listing of terms and acronyms specific to fan fiction. There's a page of gerneral definitions that would relate to all works of fanfic but it also goes into more depth with specific tv shows, movies, musicals, books... whatever. I made it more specific so things like ship nicknames could be added for those who are confused by those.
So, I invite you all to check it out, join the wiki, and add as much info as you like. Right now it's a skeleton, because I don't know everything there is to know, so I'm relying on a lot of people taking an interest.
I hope this helps some of you, and I hope others have info to share! Thanks!
 
hey midnight , I loved the post. it is a big help as i have been getting different responces myself. your tips work wanders.
 
Ugh, why won't ff.net allow us to send links in reviews? I can think of a few places I'd like to send this baby.
 
hey midnight_tiptoes, I just wanted to say thanks, you tips on Elements of style helped me out a lot with correcting a lot of the mistake's I made in my story. I have also gone out and have bought several book of Elements of style as well.

Again Thank you
 
I love this thread. I usually have no problem with grammar or anything like that, but I can always use some extra help! :D


It was nice to see this here, and I will use it whenever I need some extra help. I came across it just now trying to figure out some characterization, but I can only hope that my grammar was improved by reading this. ;)

Wow... that made no sense, did it. Heh... at least I know, right?
 
One thing that really bugs me (and it's kind of small thing) is blonde and blond.

I looked them up in a dictionary once and it said that blonde is for a female and blond is for a male (don't remember what dictionary it was). I personally use blonde for both because like a friend of mine once said, blond is too close to the word bland. :lol:

But, this is what it says at dictionary.com :


[blonde -
thinsp.png
adjective 1.(of a woman or girl) having fair hair and usually fair skin and light eyes. noun 2.a woman or girl having this coloration.


Usage note The spelling blonde is still widely used for the noun that specifies a woman or girl with fair hair: The blonde with the baby in her arms is my anthropology professor. Some people object to this as an unnecessary distinction, preferring blond for all persons: My sister is thinking of becoming a blond for a while. As an adjective, the word is more usually spelled blond in reference to either sex (an energetic blond girl; two blond sons), although the form blonde is occasionally still used of a female: the blonde model and her escort. The spelling blond is almost always used for the adjective describing hair, complexion, etc.: His daughter has blond hair and hazel eyes.
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It's confusing, but I will use blonde cause it looks best to me.
 
Thank God for posting that. There is nothing worse than trying to read a story where everything is spelled incorrectly. You should see some of the fiction in the Supernatural fandom. It's like walking through a minefield. There's a lot of wonderful stories there, but there are some truly dreadful stories. The plot might interesting, but if I can't understand what you've written, I won't read it.

As for the American vs. British spelling. As an American, it doesn't bother me, except for the word mum. For Americans, mum is a plant. Mom is what we call our mothers.

One time I read a story where a character got locked in the trunk of their car. The author referred to the trunk as the boot and it took me some time to figure out what they were talking about.

There should be a grammar section for numbers. Ex. You should use first instead of 1st. You should write out numbers. Ex. "Let's meet at three." instead of "Let's meet a 3."
 
There should be a grammar section for numbers. Ex. You should use first instead of 1st. You should write out numbers. Ex. "Let's meet at three." instead of "Let's meet a 3."
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It's been a few years since I was in an English class, but wasn't there a rule like any number up to one hundred should be written out and any number after a hundred could be written as a number (ex: 101)? Or do I have that slightly off? Like I said, it's been a few years and my memory isn't that great, but it seems as if I remember something like that. :lol:
 
I wasn't sure where to post this, and apologize ahead of time if this is the wrong thread in which to do so.

There used to be a site, the Colakid Angst Archive, that had an impressive selection of CSI fics, especially ones for Greggo. It used to be hosted at dark-places.net, but seems to have been moved recently. Does anyone here know anything about the site, or whether any of the fics are still available elsewhere?
 
GregNickRyanFan said:
One thing that really bugs me (and it's kind of small thing) is blonde and blond....
It's confusing, but I will use blonde cause it looks best to me.
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It's not actually complicated. Of course, you can use whatever you like, but the typical usage that's most widely accepted is this:

a blonde (a woman with blond hair)
a blond (a man with blond hair)
blondes (women with blond hair)
blonds (men or mixed sex groups with blond hair)
a blonde woman (girl/dame/chick/other nouns for female people)
a blond man (guy/dude/boy/other nouns for male people)
blond hair (color/tint/shade/wig/other nouns that aren't for people)

Usages that are generally considered errors:

a blonde man
blonde hair

Lots of words are spelled similarly, so I don't think the similarity between 'blond' and 'bland' is a valid reason to avoid standard spelling.
 
By the way, straight from my girlfriend who's an English/literature professor at a college:
Affect with an "a" is a verb.
Effect with an "e" is a noun, a result. If you can replace the word with "result," it's a noun.

I can not tell you how many times I've gotten tripped up by those two words! Thought I'd pass along the wisdom of the far smarter... lol
 
Hey y'all. I have a quick question. Does anyone have a good link for an online dictionary? I recently started writing and English is not my native language. I still have to look up some things, but several online dictionaries give me the wierdest translations :alienblush:

Thanks in advance.
 
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