[Random Yap] Some rules that I can't follow.

[LuoirM]

Maybe it's my style, maybe I'm just a shitty author but here's some rules that I have heard multiple times but can't ever follow.

1. You should use a 'said' or something similar after speech, instead of any other stuff.
example:
"Hello, everyone." David drank his coffee.
"Hello, everyone." David said while drinking some coffee.
Idk, sometimes I like adding reactions or actions instead, like, "What did you just called me?" Tarnisha was startled.
2. No emoticons.
"But I love using emoticons in my speech! :<" Luoir said, pouting his cheeks (the face one).
3. You should avoid "would" when describing past tense action.
example:
Meinkraka would start sprinting
Meinkraka sprinted.
I think the "would" adds a different feel to the speech.
4. Separate exclamation from question mark
"What?!" She exclaimed.
"What? You're insane!" She exclaimed
Well, I used to use !? but my manga PR said I couldn't use that, so at least that's one rule I followed?

Perhaps I'm destined to be an online author and never a published one. Because if someone tell me to edit my chapters and changing allat, Imma riot and throw a baby tantrum.
Any rules that you break like the little naughty girl you are? Share with me.

 

[LilRora]

1. Whar? I've heard the exact opposite?
2. For serious writing, yea.
3. I believe this is because it is mostly used for routines and repeated actions, rather than singular actions? For example "I would wake up before dawn every day." I may be wrong about that.
4. No comment.

The little naughty girl I am, I tend to break various grammar rules to make sentences, especially in dialogues, look the way I intend them to be spoken.

 

[Ruti]

3. You should avoid "would" when describing past tense action.
example:
Meinkraka would start sprinting
Meinkraka sprinted.
I think the "would" adds a different feel to the speech.

I mean, would is more or less a 'maybe I would have done it' not an 'i actually did it'
which is why its to be avoided in past tense actions, cause you actually did the thing, not thought about it and then did otherwise

 

[Our_Lady_in_Twilight]

For 1, I always heard you are meant to keep dialogue tags minimal, without extra details. Personally thats one I struggle to keep to, I can't help but let my little peeps have a sip of coffee while they chat! :)

 

[Ruti]

For 1, I always heard you are meant to keep dialogue tags minimal, without extra details. Personally thats one I struggle to keep to, I can't help but let my little peeps have a sip of coffee while they chat! :)

Meanwhile I want to have 0 dialogue tags but then that just makes it hard to follow

 

[Jerynboe]

My editor has insistently asked that I dial back on split infinitives. Also, chalk up another member in the over-embellished dialogue tag gang.

 

[Hoshino]

Maybe it's my style, maybe I'm just a shitty author but here's some rules that I have heard multiple times but can't ever follow.

1. You should use a 'said' or something similar after speech, instead of any other stuff.
example:
"Hello, everyone." David drank his coffee.
"Hello, everyone." David said while drinking some coffee.
Idk, sometimes I like adding reactions or actions instead, like, "What did you just called me?" Tarnisha was startled.

It just makes it more readable, and understand.
if the character is alone, you can skip that cuz he is the only one taking.

2. No emoticons.
"But I love using emoticons in my speech! :<" Luoir said, pouting his cheeks (the face one).

(˶˃⤙˂˶)

3. You should avoid "would" when describing past tense action.
example:
Meinkraka would start sprinting
Meinkraka sprinted.
I think the "would" adds a different feel to the speech

Grammar, I guess.

4. Separate exclamation from question mark
"What?!" She exclaimed.
"What? You're insane!" She exclaimed
Well, I used to use !? but my manga PR said I couldn't use that, so at least that's one rule I followed?

Not really necessary, I do it all the time.

Perhaps I'm destined to be an online author and never a published one. Because if someone tell me to edit my chapters and changing allat, Imma riot and throw a baby tantrum.
Any rules that you break like the little naughty you are? Share with me.

Bold of you to assume I follow any rules.

 

[LuoirM]

The little naughty girl I am, I tend to break various grammar rules to make sentences, especially in dialogues, look the way I intend them to be spoken.

Ain't that how Forrest Gump was written,
Them Texan accent and allat.

split infinitives

adverb?

 

[Jerynboe]

adverb?

“To adverbly verb” (that exact sequence) is apparently considered to be bad form, despite being grammatically correct. It’s one of those things that you can do occasionally but it strikes many as weird/wrong.

 

[Golden_Hyde]

1. You should use a 'said' or something similar after speech, instead of any other stuff.
example:
"Hello, everyone." David drank his coffee.
"Hello, everyone." David said while drinking some coffee.

you could opt for narrative first, dialogue second.

i.e: David drank his coffee before he spoke. "Hello everyone."

2. No emoticons.
"But I love using emoticons in my speech! :<" Luoir said, pouting his cheeks (the face one).

haven't tried it, but I guess it could work

3. You should avoid "would" when describing past tense action.
example:
Meinkraka would start sprinting
Meinkraka sprinted.
I think the "would" adds a different feel to the speech.

I guess this falls back to basic English class, but the disposition of the narration do matter.

i.e: "Oh SHIT!" Meinkraka sprinted (immediately after spotting a monster).

however, this needs more context on the previous line, so better provide it on why Meinkraka is sprinting.

4. Separate exclamation from question mark
"What?!" She exclaimed.
"What? You're insane!" She exclaimed
Well, I used to use !? but my manga PR said I couldn't use that, so at least that's one rule I followed?

I immediately spotted that the second one is right, because the first one has the exclamation mark was come after the question mark, which isn't common for single word usage.

the proper usage one that represents ongoing tension would seem something like this: "Do you have any problems with me?!"

swap the question mark and the exclamation mark, you'll get the dialogue represent the sudden burst of rage, oftentimes it comes with full caps. Example: "YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I SACRIFICE!?"

 

[ThisAdamGuy]

"Hello, everyone." David drank his coffee.

That's because "drank his coffee" is not a speaking action. That's like saying somebody shot someone with "Loading his gun, he took aim and ordered lunch." That's just not what those words mean.

2. No emoticons.

You're a writer. Your words should be enough to get across how your characters are feeling. If your readers need emoticons for that, you need to rewrite your story.

3. You should avoid "would" when describing past tense action.

That depends on the sentence. If you're saying "If this happened, I would do this," then it's fine. If you're talking about things that are presently happening, then it's not. You wouldn't say "I punched him in the face, and then he would fall down."

4. Separate exclamation from question mark

I don't like using two forms of punctuation. That's like putting more than one exclamation point at the end of a sentence. Like emoticons, you really shouldn't need them to get across what your characters are feeling or saying. But unless it's being used in every single dialogue line, I probably won't drop a book because of it.

 

[LuoirM]

You're a writer. Your words should be enough to get across how your characters are feeling. If your readers need emoticons for that, you need to rewrite your story.

Nuh uh

 

[Clo]

Using action beats instead of dialogue tag is recommended.
Changing paragraph when the speaker changes is another common way to avoid tagging everything.
Emoticons in dialogue works if your characters are texting.

Personally, I break tons of common rules, but I tend to follow my own super strictly. Internal consistency matters more to me than following the rules established by others.

For example, never start a book with someone driving somewhere, waking up, or looking at their reflection in the mirror? Hold my beer, I am fairly sure I do all of those multiple times in the same story!

 

[Representing_Tromba]

For 1, I always heard you are meant to keep dialogue tags minimal, without extra details. Personally thats one I struggle to keep to, I can't help but let my little peeps have a sip of coffee while they chat! :)

I usually just make each dialogue Tag a whole paragraph unless there wasn’t much to describe. I know it isn't best but it reminds me of the old novels I would read.

 

[HisDivineShadow]

Whether or not you follow the rules really depends on what your end goal is what you want and where you're aiming to go. On forums I pretty much just skip punctuation and I always have to go back and check before I hit post, but let’s be realI probably still mess something up. But when I’m writing a story, my inner grammar snob kicks in and even if the draft’s full of typos, most of my commas are somehow spot-on.

 

[HolobladeX]

1. You should use a 'said' or something similar after speech, instead of any other stuff.
example:
"Hello, everyone." David drank his coffee.
"Hello, everyone." David said while drinking some coffee.
Idk, sometimes I like adding reactions or actions instead, like, "What did you just called me?" Tarnisha was startled.

I used to do the same, but now I try to make it a varied Dialogue tag + Action. Though sometimes it's difficult to find the right words for each character's reaction.

3. You should avoid "would" when describing past tense action.
example:
Meinkraka would start sprinting
Meinkraka sprinted.
I think the "would" adds a different feel to the speech.

I also do something like this, but it's more like "began" to do an action. And sometimes I do this thing where I merge past and present tense together. I don't know if it's right.

e.g. “Well, he does have a point,” I replied, jogging over to catch up.

4. Separate exclamation from question mark
"What?!" She exclaimed.
"What? You're insane!" She exclaimed
Well, I used to use !? but my manga PR said I couldn't use that, so at least that's one rule I followed?

I also used to write it as !?

But now I stick to ?! for exclaiming in confusion or something. I try to vary the punctuation to match how it's said.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

I don't care about rules. I learned the rules, so I can break them at my leisure. Also, none of these are real rules I've even heard. Rule number 2 should be followed though. I will not read a story if I start seeing emoticons. My personal preference.

 

[LuoirM]

e.g. “Well, he does have a point,” I replied, jogging over to catch up.

I think that's past continuous, not present tense, we all does that

I don't care about rules. I learned the rules, so I can break them at my leisure. Also, none of these are real rules I've even heard. Rule number 2 should be followed though. I will not read a story if I start seeing emoticons. My personal preference.

I've seen people complained the same thing when they read mine... PRolly gonna fix myself soon smh :<

 

[HolobladeX]

I think that's past continuous, not present tense, we all does that

Oh, okay, I was confused if it was right at first. Since it sounded more natural than if both were in past.

Thanks!

 

[CharlesEBrown]

Maybe it's my style, maybe I'm just a shitty author but here's some rules that I have heard multiple times but can't ever follow.

1. You should use a 'said' or something similar after speech, instead of any other stuff.
example:
"Hello, everyone." David drank his coffee.
"Hello, everyone." David said while drinking some coffee.
Idk, sometimes I like adding reactions or actions instead, like, "What did you just called me?" Tarnisha was startled.

I'm more like: David drank his coffee after greeting everyone.... :D
or
While drinking his coffee, David said: "Hello, everyone."

3. You should avoid "would" when describing past tense action.
example:
Meinkraka would start sprinting
Meinkraka sprinted.
I think the "would" adds a different feel to the speech.

I think that falls under "passive tense" usage, which I try to avoid. Would, Should and Could are usually conditionals, unless there's another clause to the sentence. e.g. "Whenever she heard the bell, Meinraka would start sprinting."

4. Separate exclamation from question mark
"What?!" She exclaimed.
"What? You're insane!" She exclaimed
Well, I used to use !? but my manga PR said I couldn't use that, so at least that's one rule I followed?

I've been using the mixed ?!?!? stuff for a long time. Was only told to avoid it twice (once because it will confuse an AI reader, and once by a teacher who then ignored it when I used it in another piece).

I've noticed that when I get on a roll while writing, I'll reuse the same word a lot in a short period of time. Usually catch this later in editing, and it really annoys me to see others do it for some reason.