by C.

Patrick Schulze

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The essence of good writing is found not in the elegance of the writing but rather in the clarity
of the writing. And clarity may have a purpose which you’ve not considered. Not only does it
influence how those who read your novel understand and enjoy it, but clarity in writing can
even have an effect upon your search engine rank. If your context and spelling are
inadequate, your SEO may suffer. Who knew our seventh grade English teachers understood
more than we realized?

Allow me to identify some of more onerous of the many clarity in writing issues.

The Dangling Particle: Remember that one from middle school English class? Until I began my
research for this article, I could not remember what that thing was. A dp, as it’s known, occurs
when an verb and noun are linked together in an incorrect manner. As you can see from the
following example, there is no noun for the verb “run,” so it sounds as if that verb is
associated with the rain.

Trying to run the race, the rain began to fall in heavy sheets.

Incorrect Pronoun Reference: This can happen when a writer uses a pronoun to refer to
another word but does make clear to which word, or antecedent, it relates. The example that
follows is unclear as to whether the teenagers resented the store or loiters.

The store prohibited loiters, which many teenagers resented.

A Comma Splice: This is when a writer connects two separate clauses with a comma. To fix
this, you should insert a period or connect the clauses with a word such as “and” or
“because.” You may also have to restructure both sentences. Your example of an incorrect
splice follows.

I fell in love with her, she carries herself with such grace.

Comma Usage in a Series: When you have three or more items in a series, you should use a
comma between each one, even before the “and.” You may wish to note this differs in
journalistic writing where they use one less comma. Your correct example:

Bring the lantern, tent, and sleeping bag.

Tense Errors: This occurs when you do not indicate with clarity when an action took place.
The example below is nebulous as to when the event actually happened, for we cannot tell if
John left before Susanne arrived or when she arrived or even afterwards. To correct this you’d
rewrite the sentence or insert the word, “had,” after, “John.”

Susanne arrived, but John left.

Homonyms: Homonyms are words that sound alike but mean different things. The problem, of
course, is your spellchecker won’t catch them. You have to read each word of your novel, aloud,
to insure you catch these things. Here are your examples:

Read vs. reed

Write vs. right
To vs. too
Hear vs. here

Missing Words: As before, there’s not much you can do about this except read your novel
aloud, word by word. Is this example correct or incorrect?

Why do you say we to the moves this evening?

Alright vs All Right. There is no, “alright,” in formal writing, all right? Over time, the word
“alright” has become acceptable in informal writing, but it is still considered incorrect in novel
writing.

The Ellipsis: The ellipsis is that symbol made up of three periods in a row. In writing, it means
words are missing and it’s most common usage is in quotes. It also represents a thought that is
incomplete, a pause in speech, or a sentence that fades into silence. You should be cautious when
you use it in your novel, however. Should you use this punctuation mark too often it soon
overpowers the page and makes for difficult reading. Consider using character actions to
indicate incomplete thoughts and statements, rather than the ellipse.

Today I’ll end with the famous “ie” vs “ei” issue. The rule we all learned in grammar class
still holds true today. “I” before “e” except after “c.” Works every time, guys.

The clarity of your writing can be of utmost consequence to your writing success. The
acceptance of your novel and even your search engine optimization may well hinge upon it. Do
you need to spend some time and study your grammar once again?

So, what common writing errors do you find and how have you learned to overcome them?

Until we speak again, I wish for you only best-sellers.

C. Patrick Schulze
Author of the emerging novel, “Born to be Brothers”