The Writer’s Ultimate Responsibility
By Jim Dempsey | March 8, 2022 |
I’m sure we’d all agree that the books we buy should be good quality products, just like anything else we buy.
For me, that means a book should have an attractive cover that tells you something about the story; the text should have a presentable layout that makes it easy to read; the words on the page should also flow well and have acceptable standards of punctuation, spelling and grammar; and a novel should have a compelling story, something that’s going to make us stick with it to the end.
The author, however, cannot be expected to be responsible for every aspect of these qualities. It takes a different kind of talent to produce an attractive cover and to design a layout with a readable typeface with, for example, no widows and orphans.
As for the other two aspects—text that follows recognizable conventions to a specific standard and an engaging story—it could be argued that these are the sole responsibility of the author.
Tools of the trade
Punctuation, grammar and spelling are undoubtedly important aspects of a good book, and arguably essential tools for any writer. Social media is full of examples that make fun of common mistakes.
“I saw your dog chase a man on a bicycle.”
“That can’t be true, my dog doesn’t have a bicycle.” LOL.
In these days of trolls and general online negativity, authors can become easy targets for derision, whether warranted or not. E.L. James, the author of Fifty Shades of Grey, was slated on social media when the book was first (self-)published by people pointing out, for example, the overuse of ellipses, the lack of apostrophes and the number of typos.
But even established writers make mistakes, which is why every quality publisher and self-publisher hires an editor to look over all the text in all their books. And then hires a proofreader before the book goes to print. These publishers want the best quality product for the people who pay their hard-earned cash for that novel.
Built-in knowledge
Few of us have great grammar skills since many English language education systems decided some decades ago that we learn grammar inherently anyway, so there was no need to teach us all those boring old rules.
That’s true if you think, for example, about the order of adjectives. We instinctively know that the long, brown, wooden table sounds better than the wooden, long, brown table.
However, that doesn’t cover everything. A frequent error I see from English language writers from all over the world is the confusion between past simple tense and past perfect tense. More people get that “wrong” than “right.”
Then there’s starting a sentence with the -ing participle of a verb, such as:
Opening the door, he walked across the room and grabbed his rifle.
The -ing participle implies a continuous action so, in this case, the character is still opening the door while he also walks across the room and grabs his rifle. It would be better as:
He opened the door, walked across the room and grabbed his rifle.
Inclusion
There are many reasons why people’s writing skills are not always up to the standard expected by quality published books. People from marginalized backgrounds often don’t have the same opportunities as others in society. As a result, when they submit an uncorrected manuscript to a publisher or agent they are often quickly rejected after the reader finds several errors on the first page alone.
That means that the stories from people in these communities are less likely to be heard, and that means we’re all missing out on some incredible stories, stories that will engage us and widen our world view, just like all those other books we love.
It seems a real shame for the world to miss out on those stories just because the author didn’t have access to all the opportunities available to others. And all their text needs is some editing. And, since every author should have their work edited regardless of their skill level or background, there’s no reason for these authors to miss out.
Sure, it might take more time to edit such a manuscript, but editors are paid to edit. Just because one manuscript takes more effort than another is no reason not to take that work on, especially if the story is compelling and the author has something truly original, engaging and significant to say,
For me—and I know not everyone will agree—an author is ultimately a storyteller. When we pick up a novel, we want a good story. That can only come from a creative mind, from an author, other people can help to polish the text, produce a cover and design the layout. As much as writing is considered a solitary pursuit, it takes a diverse team to produce a quality book that people will want to read and who will pay for the privilege to read.
I say: don’t sweat the small stuff; concentrate on what you do best—telling stories.
How important do you think it is for authors to have good grammar and spelling? How important do you think it is for a novel to be as error free as possible?
Jim Dempsey (he/him) is a book editor who specializes in detailed analysis and editing of novel manuscripts through his company, Novel Gazing. He has worked as an editor for more than 20 years. He has a master’s degree in creative writing and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and is a trustee of the Arkbound Foundation. Jim is fascinated by the similarities between fiction and psychotherapy, since both investigate the human condition, the things that make us uniquely human. He explores this at The Fiction Therapist website. If you have a specific concern with your novel, send an email to jim [at] thefictiontherapist.com, or visit the website to ask for a free sample edit. You can follow Jim on Instagram @the_fiction_therapist.
Hello Jim. As a former English teacher, I appreciate any post that gives emphasis to the importance of grammar and punctuation, etc. I used to begin writing classes by quoting Marshall McLuhan: “The Medium is the message.” So true. When the medium, the words on the page are littered with mistakes, the medium becomes the message: the reader stops reading for content, and begins looking for the next bone-headed mistake. I see that at your company Novel Gazing, you sometimes reject pages submitted for a free edit, because they’re just too error-ridden. I myself think that any writer who wishes to be taken seriously must either master the basics of the language, or invest money to have a pro edit before submission. Yes, many come from marginalized backgrounds, and deserve to have their writing considered. At the same time, no one enters into an endeavor without needing to make an investment. You can’t drive for Uber without a car, etc. I think the same idea applies to writers.
Jim, it’s amazing how we (or at least most people) automatically know the order of adjectives. I don’t even think about it. I just know when it sounds wrong. But they do have a specific order:
1. Opinion — unusual, lovely, beautiful
2. Size — big, small, tall
3. Physical quality — thin, rough, untidy
4. Shape — round, square, rectangular
5. Age — young, old, youthful
6. Color — blue, red, pink
7. Origin — Dutch, Japanese, Turkish
8. Material — metal, wood, plastic
9. Type — general-purpose, four-sided, U-shaped
10. Purpose — cleaning, hammering, cooking
Thanks for detailing all the work that goes into the novel after the author writes “The End.”
Excellent article, Jim. By now I’m afraid there will never be a critical mass of writers who know the difference between past and past perfect, let alone the difference between conditional and subjunctive.
Jim, you make an excellent point about our expectations when we read. Are we tuning out some voices just because their grammar doesn’t conform to ours?
There is a wave of new voices across the literary spectrum, though, and some are embracing their differences, even in grammar, and using them to wonderful effect. In speculative fiction, for instance, Nalo Hopkinson writes in a style flavored with the sounds and rhythms of the Caribbean. Her language is musical, lilting and warm.
Mark Twain brought a simpler, more modern and plain spoken American sound to our literature and where would we be without him? It isn’t only how we write but how we listen that matters.
Your post tells us to pay attention to grammar but also to stay open. Thanks for that.
There’s a lot of real estate between colloquial, patois, and “wrong”.
Thank you, Don. I read a LOT of volumes from the 1800’s: letters, books, journals. The Sullivan Ballou letter I listen to on youtube frequently and it always melts my heart. Ambrose Bierce’s stories, are a favorite, especially An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge. Mark Twain, of course, Poe.
My brain can’t handle the authors who dispose of punctuation to be different. There are best-selling authors who do this and more power to them, but I have to listen to their books as I can’t stand reading them.
Jim, I always think story is paramount. But, sloppy writing pulls me out of the story, so I believe it is the writer’s responsibility to write the best story he or she can and then get help from professional editors to make it shine. I enjoy stories from a wide variety of cultures and recently read a harrowing story: North to Paradise by Ousman Umar who left his childhood home in Ghana for the “land of the whites” when he was a mere child, 12 years old. He endured incredible suffering, esp. traversing the desert, and many of his companions perished on this journey. He nearly drowned in the Atlantic, but he made it to Spain at the age of 17. It’s a miracle he survived to tell his story. I’m grateful that a publisher picked it up because it is incredible. So yes, story first, then the mechanics so that there’s clarity. That is the purpose of grammar and punctuation.
What a perfectly timed post. Thank you.
I just finished reading the printed out version of my manuscript and will make adjustments and ship it off to an editor today. I feel some guilt about this and trepidation.
If you go to enough conferences, one, you will hear an agent say they don’t want authors hiring editors. They want the author to be able to edit themselves.
That’s all well and good if you have a popular subject matter. I’m looking at you story where a city girl inherits a falling down house/hotel/b&b in a small southern town. She’s horrified at the hicks and the disaster she’s fallen into. Good looking handyman helps her. Sparks fly. She gets a chance to move back to big city and probably does, but realizes she’s in love with country hunk and goes back home to southern town to live HEA.Le swoon.
If you have something that’s a little harder to sell, you better have that puppy shined to a fare thee well.
I’m not educated, alas. I have 12 years of schooling and a smattering of college, but that was to become an environmental engineer, not anything remotely related to literature. I reached out for help because I knew I needed it. Mostly because it was 170,000 words and even a historical won’t sell at that length. I needed fresh, professional eyes.
As an aside, I have a few grammar books, dictionaries, thesauri, etc. My favorite grammar book may be: The Deluxe Transitive Vampire: The Ultimate Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed.
I’ll agree that it takes different talent sets to design a book cover, lay out the interior, and to edit the narrative. But that doesn’t mean it can’t reside in one person. I do all that for small publishing houses and indie authors. Contact me and I can show you samples of what a one-man band can do.
Your thoughts on grammar and good English are spot on. I love it when I edit a manuscript that requires minimal attention to those mechanics so I can concentrate on story–and so can a reader. I run into what I call “inging” all the time and wonder why writers can’t just “feel” the inappropriateness of the usage. Thanks for your insights.
A book should be properly edited by the time it gets into the hands of the reader – but “properly edited” doesn’t necessarily mean “grammatically correct”. Particularly if you believe that grammar should be descriptive (explaining how people speak) not prescriptive (saying how people should speak). Star Trek would not be improved by changing to “Boldly to go”.
Alas for me, I am an impecunious self-publisher who does everything herself but the cover typography (am smart enough to hire a professional for that) and the proofreading (for which I have a detail-oriented husband). It’s a lot of work, but it makes publishing affordable. My second book has been described as “well edited”, despite never receiving the attentions of a professional editor. It has already paid itself off, where my first book (for which I did hire an editor) is still nibbling away at its costs.
All this to say: there’s a lot that needs to be done to create a finished book. Somebody’s got to do it. Doesn’t have to be the author; doesn’t have to be a separate squad of specialists.
Thank you! As a persistent participle abuser, I found your example (Opening the door . . .) and correction impactful. Thanks for sharing your expertise.