JohnCuando.net

Some writers like to plan and there's an element of planning in every short story. A rapidly produced free flowing first draft will have planning imposed on it when it's structured in redrafting. Some people like to create that planned structure in advance, and I've tried that approach too. This article explains what I do when I decide to plan a story in advance. It's less spontaneous so sometimes it's less fun than seeing what your characters decide to do for themselves, but sometimes imposing those constraints gets them to act and react in a more convincing way giving a richer story.

I've heard it said that grammar doesn't really matter, that language is dynamic, fluid, and that usage changes, and that we shouldn't get hung up on misplaced apostrophes, split infinitives, wrong tenses, and the like.

I'm one of those people who gets very distracted if I spot some error in grammar when I'm reading text and that's not just irritating. It can spoil the enjoyment of an otherwise well-written piece of writing. Part of me is accommodating and I just assume that it was a slip of the pen or perhaps that the author didn't know about the grammar, or perhaps that it's an integral part of the author's style. But another part of me is far less forgiving.