Grammar in Stories

English is far from my native language, and my grammar could use a lot of help. But the thing is that I know it. And I’m still ashamed to publish something that wasn’t proofread. And I can’t read story, regardless of how great the plot and characters are if grammar is so awful, that I, non-native speaker can see at least 1 mistake (not limited tho) in every sentence.

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I have never had a chapter proof read. I really struggle to ask for help and would feel like no one would want to proof read something. It makes me anxious/nauseous just thinking about asking someone.:joy::joy::nauseated_face::nauseated_face:

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I know before we ever spoke properly, I’d message you on IG if I saw a mistake in your story, so you did have a proofreader! :eyes::grimacing:

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:joy::joy::joy::joy::joy: thanks!

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It’s very important to me, honestly. But I can say as a proofreader, proofreading in Episode sucks. Google docs (with suggested editing mode turned on) makes things simpler but it’s something that you may have to go through multiple times. Plus, it’s not easy for the writer to implement all the changes so I wish there was an easier way to do it. Plus then you don’t see the story, so it’s really just grammar-related at that point.

I do think that it’s wise to ask someone for proofreading help if you are a non-native (or don’t currently live-/work) in an English-speaking country. I am always happy to help out a friend (and I consider everyone I interact with on here to be a friend) when I have the time, so lmk if anyone wants some advice.

I will also say that dialects and stuff matter to me a lot in a story. I love reading stories that take place in the UK or an alternate universe or something because I am not as familiar with phrasing in the UK and in fantasy, it could be different, so it won’t take me out of a story if a character uses a phrase incorrectly.

My pet peeve is honestly people not giving their characters, especially American characters because I can easily recognize something off, a feeling of place and just having them say anything that in English, even if it’s not something typical to where they set the story, particularly New York. So it’s kind of grammar-related but more setting and characterization related.

But I do continue stories with minute grammar issues if the story is captivating enough. I just silently judge haha. But I also don’t always notice when I’m just reading for fun!

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I mean, in New York (apparently we have accents) we do tend to pronounce things differently.

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A little bit of grammar mistakes are fine but if it’s excessive af, I can’t!

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The grammar grandma.

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Yeah and certain ways of talking and like the names of neighborhoods. Like if someone has a character living in Times Square I’m like :roll_eyes: especially if they’ve lived in the city a while. I hated Times Square haha. Or not knowing it’s The Bronx and just Brooklyn (not the Brooklyn or the Williamsburg). I hate random inserts of “the” in front of random things haha.

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I’d usually try and minumise the errors but sometimes you just don’t realise you made them.

Why is the Bronx called “the Bronx”?

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It used to belong to the Bronck’s family so that’s why it has the “the” in it! Fun fact I learned from an old coworker who was from Brooklyn

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A mistake here and there isn’t a big deal. I know it’s easy to miss something or you’re typing fast and just make a mistake.
However if it’s constant mistake, then it seems like the author just doesn’t know the rule.

I don’t like when people don’t use periods.
I don’t like when people mess up there, their, and they’re.
Your and you’re.
To and too.

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Ohhh, wow. That’s pretty cool, I never even knew that.

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I think grammar is very important. I can manage a handful of mistakes but if they’re excessive it’s a no go for me. I can’t enjoy a story if I’m spending more time mentally correcting your grammar than I am actually reading it. I blame my English Bachelor’s. :woman_shrugging:t2:

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My thing is people who won’t use periods but manage to use every other form of punctuation?
I read a story for read for read where the author put in random commas. It would be something to the effect of: “We went, to the store.”
I was ready to pull my hair out by the end. :sweat_smile:

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Ooh, recently my English teacher taught me about the use of commas. Some authors really need this

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The thing is that different types of punctuation should really help a person read something. Commas are sometimes used to indicate a sight pause/hesitation. If I write: “We went, for a walk” and you hesitate after ‘went’ it probably doesn’t sound right. While something like: “Brian, I was thinking of making you a cake for your birthday” probably sounds a lot better with a slight hesitation after Brian. :grin:

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Yeah, since commas are a short pause in thoughts. Ellipses tend to be misused too.

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I’ll give people ellipses. I know how to use them and I still manage to mess them up half the time. :joy: Plus, I’m going to get way less annoyed if there’s an extra period in an ellipses than having to read sentences without punctuation. :sweat_smile::joy::joy:

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