Post History

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24797
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/24797
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

I don't understand this fear of using certain kinds of words. _Yes,_ you can use contractions. _Yes,_ you can use adverbs. _Yes,_ you can use "bookisms" (alternatives for _said_ which give additional information, like _hissed, muttered, shouted_). I'll even allow the occasional split infinitive if the circumlocution to avoid it sounds ridiculous.

Bookisms and adverbs can be used badly and/or too often, which I'll readily admit. But fussing over contractions seems to me like an extremely prescriptive rule, like "you can't ever use passive voice." Not _you shouldn't do it,_ or _active voice/formal speech is stronger,_ or _don't overdo it,_ but a blanket rule of "don't do it at all."

In my opinion as a writer and editor, writing should be clear, natural-sounding, and easy to follow. Sometimes you can do that with a dense sentence if your audience knows the jargon; other times you have to spell things out at length. Sentence fragments? Sometimes they work. I'm in favor of whatever aids comprehension and reads smoothly.

I haven't read either Crownin or Gwynne, so I can't comment on them. Tolkien was deliberately writing in "high fantasy" style, which he basically invented. Tolkien was also a professor of linguistics who invented several languages, so he can use or not use whatever parts of speech he damn well wants.

Original score: 16