Ignorance, Carelessness, and Laziness

 

I still clearly remember the first grammar error made by an adult that outraged me when I was probably only eight years old or so. My mother had returned to work after a long illness, and my grandmother had moved out of our house, where she was helping to care for me, into her own apartment. I was to be sent to an after-school care centre for the first time in my little life. I already had a grudge against the place, of course, and this pique was cemented by the matron in charge ordering us all to “lay down for a nap”. My small ears had only ever been exposed to “lay” as the past tense of reclining or as the objective form of my mother’s demand that I “Lay the table!” (Also, hens lay eggs. People do not “lay” without an object in the sentence.)

This error falls into the category of Ignorance when made by Civilians (also known as non-writers), and Carelessness when perpetrated by Writers. Certainly, some writers are ignorant of the nuances of Lay versus Lie, but this is such a grating error for me that authors only get a pass from me the first time; once it is pointed out I expect anyone who wants to be a writer to learn this rule and remember it.

Monstera | Pexels

Some authors are ignorant of actual human movement, and, in an attempt to eradicate simple (but effective) verbs such as “walked” and “ran”, have resorted to the utter silliness of characters “trotting” off to fetch an item (seriously: picture it, along with the ridiculous hand positions of a child pretending to be holding horse reins and going “giddy-up” – now that you have that image firmly fixed in your brain you’ll never use it for a meant-to-be-serious adult character). Another is “bustle”, which should only ever be used (sparingly) to describe the busy activity of a large-bodied woman. Young, lean, muscled men do not “bustle”.

Josh Sorenson | Pexels

Another pet peeve that falls into the Carelessness category is overuse of words and phrases in a book. Currently, I’m noticing the phrase “we all” being tossed uselessly into paragraph after paragraph:

The bell rang and we ALL entered the hall and found our seats. The principal arrived and took her place at the lectern and we ALL stood. Suddenly, a strange men entered and we ALL turned to stare at him.

“We all”, in this context, simply draws attention to itself. I’m picturing every student entering, rising, and turning in absolute unison, like robots (which would not be the case – there would be variances and asynchronicity). It also grates in its repetition. The paragraph works perfectly well without any of those “all”s:

The bell rang and we entered the hall and found our seats. The principal arrived and took her place at the lectern and we stood. Suddenly, a strange men entered and we turned to stare at him.

Now the focus is on the few students making up the protagonist’s circle. And that’s *all* we, the readers, need.

Fred | Pexels

Lastly, Laziness. I added this one following a rather annoying holiday read – you know the type: when you’ve finished all the books you brought with you and you pick up a Goodreads-drooled-over mass market paperback (with movie-tie-in cover) on the bookshelf of the holiday house you’ve rented, knowing you’re going to regret it… (Only me?)

This book will remain nameless, given that it was (nearly) a waste of time reading it. Laziness is when an author falls back on tired old plot blah-ness because they simply cannot be bothered to come up with something different. Polly touched on this in her post, as well. In this particular book, we had the set up of a marriage falling apart – communication issues, financial difficulties, a move from the city to the sticks – and what does the author use as the catalyst for the story?

An affair. (Cue eyeroll)

Just once I’d like to read or watch a relationship drama that addresses hard issues, without the characters being able to sweep it off the table with the old “Well, you cheated, so…” chestnut.

So, those are my current peeves and the ones that rose most readily to mind when the topic came up. Do you agree, or disagree?

Elle Carter Neal is the author of the middle grade fantasy The Convoluted Key (first in the Draconian Rules series), the picture book I Own All the Blue, and teen science-fantasy novel Madison Lane and the Wand of Rasputin (first in the Grounded series). She is the editor of the re-release of Angela Brazil's 1910 book The Nicest Girl in the School. Elle is based in Melbourne, Australia. Find her at ElleCarterNeal.com.

Photo by Amanda Meryle Photography