Writing 101: Explain it to Me

I'm not afraid to admit that I don't know where Antigua is, or that I can't name any other city in Australia but Sydney. The difference is, I'm a lot more tactful than most readers are going to be when they have this problem. When you're writing a book, don't assume I know what couscous looks like, what tiramisu tastes like or what kiwi smells like. When you're writing, make sure you're explaining it to me. Otherwise, I'm just getting frustrated, and when there are new indie books cropping up on Amazon every day I'm simply not going to waste my time with a book that forces me to guess with every other page. 

What's That Mean? 

How many Caribbean islands can you name? Did you know that they have different names? Hawaii, which is also made up of multiple isles, also has different island names. But if you walk down any American street and ask people to start naming different islands, chances are the majority of them aren't going to give you an accurate answer. So if your novel largely takes place on Molokai, and you never explain to me that this is one of the Hawaiian islands, your book might as well be set on the moon as far as I'm concerned. I might even think it's a place that you simply made up, and spend the rest of the book in a lagoon of confusion.

How many times have you eaten foie gras? It's the liver of a foul (commonly duck) that is usually presented in a sort of soft, spreadable substance that's not quite a liquid or a solid. It's a very high-dollar delicacy, and lots of people may have a vague idea of what it is but not how it tastes, what it looks like or even how it's eaten. So how frustrated am I going to feel if you're giving me a scene where everyone's standing around eating it, and I can't even come up with the appropriate mental picture? 

You can write that a building "looks Japanese in design," and some people will conjure up an image...but others will have only a black space in their minds. Tell me how it looks, why it looks Japanese -- explain it to me. 

What I don't want to do when I'm reading is continually think to myself, what's that mean? I shouldn't be sighing and struggling when I'm reading, which is something that's meant to be for entertainment, education and inspiration. What are the chances that your readers are going to take the time to look something up in Google maps, pull out a dictionary or start searching for information on something you didn't explain properly? Isn't it a whole lot easier to simply close the book, and read one of the other millions that are available to them?

Always remember that the average American reads at an eighth grade level. This doesn't just extend to language skills and grammar knowledge; it also applies to the amount of information they've retained through education. Don't take geographical knowledge for granted, and assume that everyone knows where Melbourne is located. Don't assume that everyone understands that a souffle is a delicate custard dish. Don't make me work or it. People read to learn new things, so if you're presenting them and not explaining them I'm not getting anything out of your book.

Justice on Goodreads

"When I thought I had figured out what would happen next, Jade would throw in another twist that caught me completely off guard."

Justice (Deck of Lies, #1) has received another positive review on Goodreads. Go check it out, and don't forget to add the book to your lists!

Writing 101: When Do You Capitalize The?

Proper capitalization is something that I struggle with every single day. Words like with and it are endlessly confusing when it comes to writing titles correctly, but more than any word the one that gives me the most pain is the. Is it a title? What if it's not? Suppose I need to mention the White House in the middle of  a sentence, and not at the beginning? Just when the heck are you supposed to be using a capital The, and when aren't you? 

How Do I Hate The? Let Me Count The Ways...

Without a doubt, the is my least favorite article. Since there are only two articles in all of English (a and the), I realize this isn't saying much -- but the depth of my hatred supersedes the general lack of choices. The is a problem for me personally because I can never seem to figure out just how to treat it when it comes to capitalization.

And frankly, neither does anybody else. The is treated all kinds of ways by all kinds of writers, and in looking for information about capitalizing the it's much easier to find condescending advice than something remotely useful (tons of grammarians, for reasons unknown, feel like it's necessary to explain in great detail that the first letter of any sentence should be capitalized).

After absorbing a mind-boggling number of capitalization rules, I still hate the. But at least now I know how to treat it -- and you can, too. 

The Rules

The is neither preposition nor verb, adjective nor noun, and that's why it's so hard to deal with. The rules of capitalization say that prepositions should never be capitalized, but that doesn't mean you should treat the like a preposition because it is not. Short verbs like are, be and is are also supposed to be capitalized when they belong to titles and proper names (example: the song Flowers Are Pretty should always be written thus). But again, the isn't a verb. 

But the isn't just any other word, either, and that's where the confusion comes in. It's an article, and it plays by is own rules. 

• Proper nouns. In proper nouns, such as exact place names (the Alamo, for example), the first letter of each word is supposed to be capitalized -- unless there's a the involved. It's an exception, and it's one that a massive number of people get wrong. Unless it starts the sentence, the should not be capitalized in proper nouns (so don't do it). 
• Titles. In titles, every first letter of every word should be capitalized -- excluding your prepositions and your articles, of course. In the book For Whom the Bell Tolls, the stays small. However, if the is the first word in a title, it must be capitalized whether or not it starts a sentence. For example, I have to write The Catcher in the Rye with both big and little the, because the first starts off the proper title of the book and the second appears in the middle.

And One More Confusing Thing...

 I know what you're thinking. You're thinking I've broken my own rules with the title above, When Do You Capitalize The? But you're wrong. It's one of those quirky rules of capitalization that I saved for the end, because that's where it belongs. In any and all titles, the last word must also be capitalized. Why is that a rule? I don't know; I don't make them up. Whether it's a preposition or a the, if it's the last word (or the first word) of a title, you've got to capitalize. So, when do you capitalize the? At the beginning of a title and at the end, but never any other time, and certainly not inside proper nouns. 

Writing 101: Ending a Sentence With Is

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is." 

                                -President Bill Clinton to the Grand Jury, 1998

There are lots of sentences out there that end with is, but the above quote is definitely my favorite. Is it okay to end a sentence with is? Like Clinton says, that all depends on your definition. 

The Meaning of Is

For reasons unknown, there seems to be some confusion surrounding the meaning of is. When discussing it's viability at the end of a sentence, many people point to the preposition rule. The rule says that prepositions shouldn't end a sentence, but a) that's already been debunked here; and b) is isn't a preposition.

Is is actually a form of the verb to be (third person singular present, to be exact). To be is one of the most oft-used verbs, but it has so many different forms you may not know when you're using it. Is is one of the them, and by all rules of English it's perfectly acceptable to end sentences with verbs -- and Shakespeare's famous for it (to be or not to be).

Some sentences, in fact, would be lot more cumbersome if you felt like you couldn't use is:

Is that where it is? 

How long did you say it is? 

I don't know what that is.

There are plenty of occasions when you can re-word a sentence to eliminate the use of the word is at the end, but do so only if it improves readability. Like the preposition rule, fear of ending on is is another one of those strange grammar myths that you just can't believe. Lots of sites say it's an abomination, but that's just silly. Always go by the first rule of good grammar: if it sounds right, it probably is.