Thread: The Importance of Grammar?

I am not super picky with the grammar but it has to be readable and engaging.

What do you guys classify as bad grammar? There should be some sort of basis we agree so we are all talking about the same thing.

Occasionally there will be a typo or two in a story, but would that classify as bad grammar? Provide some sort of example sentence so we know what your talking about

Grammar is one of those things. If you add it, sometimes your flow gets busted, and if you don't add it, you'll get shunned.

Grammar is important to the story IMO- after all your medium of conveying the story is writing- but I don't think it's the most important part of it.

If you are good with description/characterization/etc and you build correctly the setting of your story, your readers will be immersed enough not to pick up on the few mistakes here and there.

Of course, an excellent grammar can only make the story better but several typos and wrong punctuations here and there can easily be overlooked.

I constantly have to put up with listening to people who use far too much slang, and some who can't spell for their lives. However, as long as what they're saying is understandable, and I care about what they're saying, it doesn't matter that much.

Unless of course, your name is Peter Carey and what I'm reading is True History of the Kelly Gang, which was so deliberately grammatically incorrect that despite the awesome story, it became unreadable.

Enough I don't post in this part of the forums, I rather read a fanfic that uses good grammar then one that doesn't. Fanfics with bad grammar loss my attention quickly, mostly ones that uses "your" in place of "you're", and vice versa. Good grammar also does make a better image of the author.

Probably the first thing that I notice grammar-wise in a fic is capitalization. I understand we all have different capitalization schemes for Pokemon names, moves, etc, but if you don't capitalize a character's name then I leave. If it's a single typo, then that's okay, but any more than that and I'm gone.

Originally Posted by AceTrainer14

What do you guys classify as bad grammar? There should be some sort of basis we agree so we are all talking about the same thing.

Occasionally there will be a typo or two in a story, but would that classify as bad grammar? Provide some sort of example sentence so we know what your talking about.

As a rule of thumb, if I can catch one of these two things, I consider the story to have bad grammar:

- A flaw in grammar that persists throughout the entire story.
- At least one error about every two sentences.

I consider poor grammar to especially involve a lack of/improper use of punctuation. Quotation marks and commas especially exemplify this, as they can change how sentences are interpreted.

Originally Posted by AetherX

Probably the first thing that I notice grammar-wise in a fic is capitalization. I understand we all have different capitalization schemes for Pokemon names, moves, etc, but if you don't capitalize a character's name then I leave. If it's a single typo, then that's okay, but any more than that and I'm gone.

I think not reading a story because of two typo's is a bit extreme. :? We aren't published authors here: none of us have editors reading our stories a million times to make sure every single word is exact. I sometimes don't pick up on typos for one or two read throughs. I think if you stop reading a story because of two typos is a bit extreme

Originally Posted by Sazand*ra

As a rule of thumb, if I can catch one of these two things, I consider the story to have bad grammar:

- A flaw in grammar that persists throughout the entire story.
- At least one error about every two sentences.

I think that's fair enough. At least you have a guideline.


But I have a challenge for you grammar nazis: what if your favourite book in the world that you love and adore and are obsessed over had grammar errors? Would it still be your favourite book?

Originally Posted by Sazand*ra

Grammar is kind of one of those "negative contributors". If it's not there, the story is horrible, but if it is there, it doesn't make the story any better.

Pretty much what I think.

Though I do make an exception for dialogue, in that, it's okay to have a character make grammar mistakes to reflect his upbringing, where he comes from, to give some flavour to the dialogue, etc. As long as it reflects something of the character and that it serves to instruct the reader about the character.

Originally Posted by AceTrainer14

I think not reading a story because of two typo's is a bit extreme. :? We aren't published authors here: none of us have editors reading our stories a million times to make sure every single word is exact. I sometimes don't pick up on typos for one or two read throughs. I think if you stop reading a story because of two typos is a bit extreme

Okay, when you put it that way it makes me kind of sound like an ass. What I mean is that if typos or improper grammar is consistent, I probably won't read the fic. Like if they consistently spell Pikachu as Pikachue, or something like that. If it happens too often then it leads me to believe that the author doesn't spend any time reading over his/her chapters before posting them. We all miss errors, but if you read over it a couple times then you'll catch most of them. Maybe saying "more than one typo" was a little much, I'm not quite that extreme.

I was over exaggerating a bit myself :P I just don't base typos as a way of scolding the author. They could just be mistakes they easily overlooked, and I sometimes end up with mistakes in my stories that I thought were right when I looked over.

Grammar and storytelling must work in tandem to create an enjoyable story. You can have perfect grammar but a horrible story, or an excellent story but grammar so poor that it's unreadable.

It's easily as important as any other elements of the fic. Personally, I find it distracting if there are constant grammatical errors, but so long as they are infrequent enough that they don't interrupt the flow of the story for me, I can ignore English mistakes to a degree. If I have to stop to reread a sentence and try to figure out what the author meant, that's just not enjoyable.

You can have a good fic without proper use of grammar. You can also have a bad fic with great grammar. Your writing is typically only as good as your weakest element.