I agree that the rules are tried and tested and there for a reason. I don't think there is anything particularly avante garde about flouting them, but sometimes, a sentence or a phrase will not work any other way without Word telling you that it's wrong.

I have often observed the rules being broken in successful novels. Like the good, a story told correctly will always out, and most readers aren't in it for a grammar lesson. That aside, these rules are the toolboxes of the writer, aren't they, and you wouldn't use a spanner to hammer in a nail. But you could.

JB

Are we all suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder?

I'm not, because it's 22 degrees and sunny here!

Did I mention that I'm living in Cape Town at the moment....?

Anyway LisaC, eat some chocolate and pasties (ooh, a chocolate pasty! Hmm). I understand chocolate can help prevent blood clots. So it's officially good for you.

Unless you of course eat too mcuh and get grossly overweight and die.

I don't normally use Word for editing (I'm currently using Apple Pages but becoming annoyed with it so trying to decide on an alternative) - but when I do use Word, the very first thing I do is switch off the spelling and grammar warnings. I find them very distracting indeed while I'm trying to concentrate on writing. I certainly don't have the patience to add the endless stream of words into the dictionary that MSWord doesn't seem to know about.

<Added>

Sorry - crossposted, that was reply to JB.

I tried that, but it just didn't feel right. What kind of stuff do you write griff?

JB

<Added>

I don't get SAD. I get GLAD.

Good Lovin' Annihilates Depression.

you wouldn't use a spanner to hammer in a nail.

Damn. No wonder I hurt my finger.


(Actually, I don't think it was a spanner, I don't even know what it was. Note to self: no more DIY.)


Beadle, I'm staggered:

I understand chocolate can help prevent blood clots. So it's officially good for you.

I swear I have that Christmas Eve feeling. I'm off out to buy some truffles. Not the fungal kind, of course.

I don't get SAD. I get GLAD. Good Lovin' Annihilates Depression.

Oh dear - where I'm from, GLAD stands for Get Lost And Die.

(Sorry, I'm addicted to smilies today)

What kind of stuff do you write griff?

Thanks for asking. The answer is "I don't know". If I could settle to something, I'd probably get a lot further. In my day job I'm currently a technical writer which is even less exciting than you might imagine.

Creatively, I started by writing short stories, ranging from comedy to horror. I got runner-up in a couple of competitions (eg Ian St.James, now defunct) and got published in a few magazines such as The New Writer and Raconteur. I've started and abandoned a couple of novels. I've written both plays and pantomimes and had them performed by small theatre companies. I have a writing partner in the USA - we've collaborated on theatre and sitcom stuff, and I'm currently helping him write some material for his live act (he's a stand-up comedian). Right now my co-writer and I are trying to write a set of 5-minute episodes for the "Making Your Mark In Film" screenplay contest. In January, I've signed up for a 10-week sitcom course, when I'm going to try and complete a full first draft of something I can submit to production companies. So, a lot of what I work on at the moment is script-formatted, which is where Apple Pages is letting me down.

Well, nobody likes a rainy morning, when you wake up, leave your lover in bed and then travel to work in the dark, sit all day doing something absolutely pointless when you could be writing, and then come home in the dark.

But I love winter, all the same. I like fires, and warmth, and skeletal trees. I like to hear the wind howling round the eaves of the house and rattling the tiles. I like shop display windows and bundled up people, and if it snows then I like that too. I like the sense of looking back and reflecting on a jolly excellent year. This year, at least.

Chin up. It'll be spring before you know it.

JB

Griff - that's interesting, as I didn't have a picture in my head as to where or what you were as a writer. I hear writing comedy is really hard, but best of luck with it all.

JB

If it wasn't for my kids, Lisa, i'd give a knighthood to whoever suggested that chocolate should count as one of the 5 daily portions of fruit/veg, because it comes from a bean

Casey

Griff, I've found the Final Draft software really useful for writing scripts. Have you tried it? If not, it might be worth looking into.

It'll be spring before you know it.

I bleeding hope so. I know what you mean about winter though.

Casey - I'd forgotten that bean talk!

I really am off now to buy chocolate. Perhaps it also battles SAD (?)

Griff, I've found the Final Draft software really useful for writing scripts. Have you tried it? If not, it might be worth looking into.

Final Draft's quite expensive though, isn't it ?
I've been pointed in the direction of some cheaper freeware alternatives like Celtx, Scrivener and Ulysses which I want to check out before shelling out for FD. Although great to know that you have some experience of it - I might WWmail you some questions sometime when I get closer to thinking about buying it.

Griff, please do. I've found FD to be fantastic.

I was just reading a site about the rules of writing, it was saying that teachers have a hard deal because if they present 'rules', beginners will follow them slavishly, if they present 'suggestions', beginners will think they can ignore them.

According to this site, there is only one rule of writing:

DON'T BORE THE READER

Casey

<Added>

another one said (yes, procrastinatory surfing,here)

'USE PARALLEL CONSTRUCTION TO ACHIEVE A STRONG POINT AND SMOOTH FLOW'

eh? i have no idea what that means.

Davy

Trouble ye not. I just 'adjusted my set' and I think I get what's going on here now.

JB

These are amazingly wise words:

I have often observed the rules being broken in successful novels. Like the good, a story told correctly will always out, and most readers aren't in it for a grammar lesson. That aside, these rules are the toolboxes of the writer, aren't they, and you wouldn't use a spanner to hammer in a nail. But you could.

There's something Johnsonian about them.