Quote:
Originally Posted by Catlady
Proud member of the grammar police here.
Just as a writer needs to follow spelling rules, he or she needs to follow grammar rules.
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I've no quibble at all with this statement. Each and every sentence (using "sentence" in its strictest linguistics sense) must be easily parseable, and to succeed, must convey the concept which the writer intended.
However the generally accepted rules of grammar (assuming that any are actually generally accepted) need NOT apply to, for example, a character's internal monologues (as in the subject of this thread). That's where "writer's choice" rules.
It's a case of apples and oranges.
Lately I've been trying to read some of the Uncle Remus stories; they fail miserably, to me, because of the extensive dialect makes it almost impossible to establish the mystical trinity of author-reader-viewpoint that's so essential to the suspension of disbelief. Nevertheless they seem to have survived the test of time. In writing, no such things as unbreakable rules exist. However certain conventions are essential, and good grammar on the part of the author -- but not necessarily the viewpoint character -- is one of the most important of these.
Some years ago I worked closely with an entrepreneur who almost spoiled me as a writer because he never edited my copy. He also worked closely with John W. Campbell, the legendary SF editor (and ham radio operator), and Wayne once told me that Campbell's copy was always atrocious, replete with spelling errors and poor grammar. When Wayne chided the legendary editor about it, the reply was, "Cleaning up the copy is what secretaries are for!"
We all need good editors to clean up our copy. We need to concentrate more on making it come to life in the first place.