Writing: A Guide.

[Naithin]

OOC:

Hi all! Yes, yes, I know. My very first post in the newly created RP area, and it's OOC! But there is precedent on my side! Writing has been discussed here before, so I thought that this may well be of some interest to others here also.

I've been thinking up a new RP post for my character, but I went to begin and found myself floundering around, because I haven't written anything in an RP style for years now.

Further to that, I know my writing technical ability and knowledge has dramatically declined in the years intervening my learning of it in school and now, with constant exposure to the net to erode at it also.

So, a-diggin' I went, and I stumbled across this little gem:

Guide to Grammar and Style, by Jack Lynch.

I haven't read much of it as yet but what I have has been excellent. Hopefully I'll be able to take in more of it and improve my style somewhat. We shall see!

[Didaskalos]

OOC:

Hi all! Yes, yes, I know. My very first post in the newly created RP area, and it's OOC! But there is precedent on my side! Writing has been discussed here before, so I thought that this may well be of some interest to others here also.

I've been thinking up a new RP post for my character, but I went to begin and found myself floundering around, because I haven't written anything in an RP style for years now.

Further to that, I know my writing technical ability and knowledge has dramatically declined in the years intervening my learning of it in school and now, with constant exposure to the net to erode at it also.

So, a-diggin' I went, and I stumbled across this little gem:

Guide to Grammar and Style, by Jack Lynch.

I haven't read much of it as yet but what I have has been excellent. Hopefully I'll be able to take in more of it and improve my style somewhat. We shall see!

Those who claim to write well in the online gaming context seem to write in the same boring (perhaps pseudo) semi-intellectual style. Please people, improve your grammar and style till your heart's content, but don't lose your personality in the process.

On that note, I think I will read this "gem."

[Naithin]

Quite so. And is one of the reasons I like this particular reference guide. It is very conscious of the need for personal flare through taste and style.

[Calania]

Indeed, there is always such a thing as poetic license and one will find even the pros use it. Robert Jordan writes 'gotten' a lot which I believe is not a word as I have been picked up for using it in essays

[Silver-Amil]

Isn't 'gotten' as much a word as 'gonna' and 'wanna' and the likes of that? I think none of them are entirely correct, but people use them all the time. Or maybe they're just not correct in British English, which we were supposed to use in school. Is 'gonna' grammatically correct in American English, or any of its variants?

I'll read through the guide soon'ish; been planning to start on my character story, so this might prove very helpful

[Mal'nael]

Tried to read it but choked on all the text. :afraid:

[Pavlos]

Gotten is a word. Look it up.

[Calania]

It's entirely possible it is a word now and that teacher didn't know it yet or that it's simply not acceptable but I got picked up on it on a Philosophy essay anyway

[Naithin]

'Gotten' is not valid in British english. The word is 'Got'. It IS valid in American English. Both are the past tense version of 'Get'. (Got is also valid in American English as well, however.)

British: She had got some toys for Christmas.
American: She had gotten some toys for Christmas.

However, if you said for example:

She had got a lot on her mind.

That is the same for both. You wouldn't say, 'She had gotten a lot on her mind.' :P

[Silver-Amil]

'Gotten' is not valid in British english. The word is 'Got'. It IS valid in American English. Both are the past tense version of 'Get'. (Got is also valid in American English as well, however.)

Yay, then I was right \o/. Thanks Naithin for the confirmation