The Writing Life
When you start out on a career in the arts you have no idea what you are doing. This is great. People who know what they are doing know the rules, and know what is possible and impossible. You do not. And you should not. – Neil Gaiman, “Make Good Art”
“Why do you obsess about the writing rules?” The question wasn’t phrased exactly like that, but it was asked of me. I was asked why I’m concerned with the writing rules.
I had to pause before answering. The rules are so innate (even though I don’t and won’t ever know them all) that I can’t recall when I became fascinated with them. I know they weren’t always a part of it; like anyone else, I had to learn the building blocks of sentences. I learned new spelling and vocabulary words, diagrammed sentences, memorized prepositions. Even then I enjoyed the way words sounded and the way they could be put together to form sentences, paragraphs, and stories. Did the rules become a part of my writing life during those years?
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The other day, I updated my Facebook status with a wish for a writing day. I said that anyone who wished to go home from work and write for the rest of the day could do so. One of my friends commented, “What if we can’t write right?” I joked that that’s when people were supposed to come see me. I then followed the comment with a more serious one: “Besides, you have to write wrong before you can write right.”
I thought if I were to address a tricky adjective question, I might as well address a tricky comma question, too. The question goes something like this: Is garlic (or chipotle) mashed potatoes the correct phrasing? At first glance, the question seems simple. The phrase “garlic mashed potatoes” sounds correct. Is it, though? I thought so until I read a convincing argument at Joshua Merritt’s blog that pondered if “mashed garlic potatoes” made more sense. Suddenly, I wasn’t quite as sure which phrasing was correct, and I found myself digging through my grammar handbook.
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While I do have a penchant for the writing rules, my love for them is not the primary reason why I write about them. I write about them because they are a means to an end. More effective writing and better communications are found in knowing the rules.
I’ll confess that “lay” and “lie” often get the better of me. I’ve always struggled to keep the two words straight. When confronted with a sentence that could use either “lay” or “lie,” I try to find a substitute so that I don’t have to waver between the two words.