I really shouldn't through stones but this one just gets me.
I'll start sending out emails and phone calls around 9 and see whose available...
Ok. Using an apostrophe for the possesive of It is correct. It is not required but it is technically correct. Using whose for a contraction of Who Is? Not correct. Evah. And that's not even mentioning the unnceessary wordiness of that phrase!
double negatives: "i didn't do no such thing" and i don't know what you would call this, but i think it deserves instant evisceration: "you don't suppose to do that". wtf?
Hee. I had an English teacher in high school who insisted double negatives were not incorrect, but used for emphasis or nuance. (And I just did it there, without thinking about it: "not incorrect.") But "I didn't do no such thing" and most double negatives are definitely wrong, or at minimum bothersome.
the suspense novel trick of ending a chapter with, "And then she saw something that shocked her to her very core!" and then not telling you the shocking thing until three chapters later. *cough*Dan Brown*cough*
HA! That is definitely on my list (damn dan brown!)
Can I just list Dan Brown as one collective fiction error? No? Damn.
Pretentious imagery. I hate pretentious imagery. If you're writing noir, you can get away with it, because that's the style. However, if you're trying to write, let's say, a thriller about the hidden messages that a famous painter may or may not have left in his work about the location of the holy grail, you need to keep the economy of words in mind.
"The toast the waitress brought was blackened, nearly burnt beyond recognition, just like his own heart after all that he'd been through."
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I'll start sending out emails and phone calls around 9 and see whose available...
Ok. Using an apostrophe for the possesive of It is correct. It is not required but it is technically correct. Using whose for a contraction of Who Is? Not correct. Evah. And that's not even mentioning the unnceessary wordiness of that phrase!
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I really shouldn't through stones.
*facepalm*
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But, yes, "...see who's available" and "the manager whose dog just died" would be correct.
(Not to nitpick. :-) )
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and i don't know what you would call this, but i think it deserves instant evisceration: "you don't suppose to do that". wtf?
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HA! That is definitely on my list (damn dan brown!)
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Pretentious imagery. I hate pretentious imagery. If you're writing noir, you can get away with it, because that's the style. However, if you're trying to write, let's say, a thriller about the hidden messages that a famous painter may or may not have left in his work about the location of the holy grail, you need to keep the economy of words in mind.
"The toast the waitress brought was blackened, nearly burnt beyond recognition, just like his own heart after all that he'd been through."
It's fucking toast! Save it for when it matters.
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