Creative Writing - Phase Three

Here we are. The second portion of where we left off.

This section will only hurt for a little while.

We start with a quick reference guide on the different parts of speech.

Nouns: Words that make up a person, place or thing, or idea (phone bill, office, billboard, eggs, Europe, Baltimore, your name)

Pronouns: Words used in place of a noun (I, me, her, him, them, who, those, myself)

Verbs: Words that express action or a state of being (run, jump, shot, is, are, have, has, did, do, threw, throw)

Adjectives: Words that describe a noun or pronoun (tall, quiet, three, neat)

Adverbs: Words that describe a verb, adjective, or another adverb (gently, easily, fast, very)

Prepositions: Words that show relationship and introduce prepositional phrases (on, near, from, until)

Conjunctions: Words that connect words or groups of words (and, or, because)

Interjections: Words that show emotion or surprise. These words are usually set off by commas or exclamation points (Wow, Oh, Yikes, Yes)

Punctuation

Period

The period is used to end a sentence as we all know. And it is also used after initials, after abbreviations, and used as a decimal point.

Question Mark

The question mark is used after a direct question. There are times when it is used to show doubt or uncertainty about the correctness of a detail or memory.

Exclamation Mark

The exclamation point is used to express strong feeling. It can be placed after a word, phrase, or at the end of a sentence.

Commas

Commas keep words and ideas from running together. They tell your reader where to pause which makes your writing that much easier to read. Place commas between words and phrases, or clauses in a series.

Example: Jane likes pepperoni, pineapple, and olives on her pizza. (words)

During the summer I read mysteries, rode my bike, and played basketball. (phrases)

Commas are used to set off words of the speaker from the rest of the sentence.

Example: Henry was confused, and asked, “Just exactly what do you mean?”

Use commas to separate a long phrase or clause that comes before the main part of the sentence.

Example: After checking my knee pads, I started off. (phrase)

If you practice often, skating is easy. (clause)

Commas are also used in different parts in addresses and dates, but never use a comma between the state and zip code (which I hope everyone knows this … I hope).

Commas are placed with numbers as such: 1,000, 10,000, 100,000, 1,000,000, and so forth.

Commas are used to set off a word, phrase, or clause that interrupts the main thought of a sentence.

Example: You could, for example, take the dog for a walk instead of watching TV for a change.

Commas are used to separate an interjection or weak exclamation from the rest of the sentence.

Example: Wow, look at that sunrise!

Hey, we’re up way to early!

Apostrophes

Apostrophes are used to form contractions, to show possession, to form some plurals, or to show that letters have been left out of a word.

Most common contractions: couldn’t (could not), didn’t (did not), doesn’t (does not), don’t (do not), hasn’t (has not), haven’t (have not), I’ll (I will), isn’t (is not), it’s (it is), I’ve (I have), she’s (she is), they’ll (they will), they’re (they are), he’s (he is) we’ve (we have) wouldn’t ( would not), you’d ( you would), and you’re (you are). And to touch on you’re for a brief moment, be careful in spelling as you’re and your sound exactly the same.

Form the possessive of most singular nouns by adding an apostrophe and an s.

Example: My sister’s hobby is jazz dancing. If there were two, it would have read as sisters.

When a singular noun ends with an s or a z sound, the possessive may be formed by adding the apostrophe.

Example: Carlos’ weather chart is very detailed.

If the singular noun is a one-syllable word, form the possessive by adding an apostrophe and an s.

Example: Chris’s lab report is incomplete.

An apostrophe is never used with a possessive pronoun (its, hers, yours. ours, etc.)

Briefly the two words your and you’re sound exactly alike and oft times writers confuse the two. When using your, sound out you’re by saying you are, and then you will readily know which is the correct one to use.

Quotations

Quotation marks are used to enclose the exact words of the speaker, to show that words are used in a special way, and to punctuate some titles. Put periods and commas (when used) inside quotation marks. Place question marks outside when they punctuate the main sentence.

Example:

Terry said, “Let’s make some peanut butter and, jelly sandwiches.”

“Sounds good, but we’re out of jelly.” said Rich.

Quotation marks go around titles of songs, poems, short stories, book chapters and titles of articles in encyclopedias, magazines, or electronic sources when quoting as a reference in anything written.

Quotation marks can also be used to set apart a word used in a special way.

Example: The queen wanted to sell the royal chairs rather than see them “throne” away. (Obvious that isn’t the correct spelling, but you get the idea.)

Hyphens

Simply used to separate a word at the end of a line and is also used to join or create new words. It can also be used as a small break (pause) between a thought when writing.

Never divide a one-syllable word when you run out of room at the end of a line. And do not divide a word of five or fewer letters. Never divide a one-letter syllable from the rest of the word (apart-ment is acceptable at the end of a sentence, but a-partment isn’t.)

Use a hyphen in certain compound words (two-year old … sister-in-law).

Use a hyphen between numbers and fractions (one-half … five-tenths).

Use a hyphen to form new words beginning with the prefixes (all, self, ex, or great). A hyphen is also used with suffixes such as (elect and five).

Use a hyphen to join two or more words that work together to form a single adjective before a noun (school-aged children, lightning-fast skating).

A hyphen is often used to join a letter to a word (T-shirt, X-ray, e-mail, U-turn).

Colons

A colon is used to introduce a list or a quotation. Colons are also used in business letters and between numbers expressing time.

Used as a list – the following is needed to fix the porch: nails, hammer, saw, wood planking, and a carpenter, because I don’t know how to fix a porch. (In truth, I am not a handy-all-purpose kind of guy.)

Used in quotations – President Lincoln concluded the Gettysburg Address with these famous words: “… the government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Note: not only was a colon used, but also quotation marks, a period, and ellipses which we will be coming to shortly.)

A colon is used after a greeting in a business letter -- (Dear Sir: Dear Ms. Armstrong Dear Dr. Watts:)

And of course, colons are used between numbers to indicate time (7:30 a.m. and so forth).

Semicolons

A semicolon sometimes works in the same way a comma does. Other times, it works like a period and indicates a stronger pause.

You can join two independent clauses with a semicolon when there is no coordinating conjunction (like, and, or, bet) between them.

Example: In the future, some cities may rest on the ocean floor; other cities may float like islands. (Floating cities sound great, but I wonder how people who get seasick will feel about this?)

You can also use a semicolon to separate a series of phrases that already contain commas.

Example: We crossed the stream; unpacked our lunches, cameras, and journals; and finally took the time to rest.

Ellipses

An ellipsis (technically three periods with a space before, between and after) is used to show omitted words or sentences, and to also show an even longer pause in dialogue – longer than a comma (. . .).

When I do my first draft of any story, it always is like this (…), as it just gives me that added bit of space to type in a word here or there along a page. But the original example is the only true and accepted form.

Examples:

“Give me liberty or give me death.”

“Give me liberty or . . . death.” (In this example there is a space after the word and a space after the last portion of the ellipse. In this manner, it allows words to be given a more dramatic intensity. That is the proper formatting.)

Here is one to indicate a pause in dialogue.

“That’s . . . incredible!” I exclaimed. (In this case it would seem I was taken aback by something and held my breath for a moment.)

Italics

This is a style of writing slightly slanted. It is used for some titles and special words (I use Italics on my posts just because I think it looks cool). If you are still using a typewriter (the old-style manual) then underline the words (this indicates to the editor/publisher, the words are to be in italics and it also indicates the character is thinking to himself. Today, there is no need to underline words unless it is for something dramatic.).

Italics can also be used to speak the thoughts of a person (as just mentioned) when alone or perhaps confused on an issue or concern. (Again, if you will be using a manual typewriter, underline those thoughts.) But don’t put into italics a specific lead-in as follows: Jerry sat back and thought to himself; this whole idea is utterly absurd, but it’s crazy enough that it might just work.

Otherwise, with computers and laptops, use italics as if in a dialogue, or say you are in a sci-fi mode and everything is done through mental-telepathy, use italics.

Dashes

A dash is used to show a break in a sentence, to emphasize certain words, or show that a speaker has been interrupted (which can also be done with an ellipses). The dash is the same as the hyphen.

Example:

Because of computers, our world—and the way we describe it—has changed greatly. (As you see from the dash, there are no sentence breaks).

Interrupted speech: Well, hello—yes, I—that’s right—yes, I—sure, I’d love—I’ll be there.

In this manner it appears to be convoluted, but here is how it would appear in dialogue, speaking on the phone.

“Well, hello.

“Yes, I …”

“That’s right, yes,

“I … sure, I’d love,

“I’ll be there, bye.”

A phone conversation but one-sided.

As a writer, you can fill in details with self-thought, such as: Jerry thought about what Mary said about the Christmas Party and how she wanted him to do his comedy routine. He had agreed it would be a lot of fun. Hence the call, then the thought, and now the reader is no longer in the dark or confused.

The hyphen can simply be created by typing two dashes—after one word, typing in the next and space. Both hyphens connect.

Parentheses

Parentheses are used around words that add extra information to a sentence or to make an idea clearer.

Example:

I left the keys to my wife’s car (her Blue Hummer), on the front seat.

Five of the students provided background music (playing a lead guitar, saxophone, trumpet, bass guitar, and drums) for the singer.

Capitalization

Cap proper nouns: Beverley Smith, Christmas Day, Utah Jazz, Pearl Harbor

Cap proper adjectives: American citizen, Chicago skyline, J.F.K, Flight-191

Cap titles with names of persons: President Lincoln, Dr. Li Tam

Cap abbreviations of titles/groups: M.D., Mr. Martin Lopez DDS, U.S. Marines

Cap names of organizations/associations: Girl Scouts, The Democratic Party

Cap words such as: mother, father, aunt, and uncle, when these words are used as names.

Example:

Ask Mother what we are having for lunch. But if you had said, ask my mother, it wouldn’t need to be capped because it comes after a possessive pronoun (his, their, and our, are other possessive pronouns).

Cap the names of the days, months of the year, and all holidays. Do not cap the seasons unless specifically used as an integral part of a story.

Example: Chapter 22 – Winter in Prague

Cap the names of all religious, nationalities and languages.

Cap the names of businesses and official product (trade) names.

Example: Budget Mart, Crispy Crunch cereal, Smile toothpaste. (General words do not need to be capped such as cereal and toothpaste.)

Cap all planets, continents, countries, states, provinces, cities, counties, bodies of water, landforms, public areas, roads and highways, buildings and monuments, historical events, documents, and periods of time.

In the next chapter, we start in on some meat and potatoes. And if you are a vegetarian, bring your own lettuce.