Nathan Bransford - The Forums

You know, English grammar is not easy! I am constantly having to refresh my brain on the "rules." Here is a good article I found about participle phrases (which I use a LOT!) that I think will be helpful for any writer to review.

http://www.novelpublicity.com/2012/03/a ... n-fiction/

The following is a quote from the article:

Here are a few examples of participle phrases:

•Running down the street, Roxanne thought back to when she was a child.
•Alan, shocked by his mother’s outrageous words, decided to let her calm down.
•The man, hoping he wouldn’t have to commit a crime, drove forth on his search for cash.
•The man drove forth on his search for cash, hoping he wouldn’t have to commit a crime

If you recognize these kinds of sentances as something you use regularly in your own writing, I suggest reading through this article. There are a few rules to it which I had forgotten about. Also, dangling modifiers. These can be a booger for some. Here's an example from the article:

•Flapping its wings, the fluttering feathers felled the bird.
•Dropping the can, the teenager’s shirt dribbled soda.

These you do NOT want to have happen! Hope this helps someone else out there in writing land.
Happy grammaring!

thanks for sharing this!

*Flies off to read article*

Dropping the can, the teenager’s shirt dribbled soda.

From a big title by a Big Name author:

Night had fully fallen, and in the bushes she could hear the croaking of frogs.

Aaargh! She wasn't in the bushes. The frogs were in the bushes. Let's fix that:
... and she could hear the croaking of frogs in the bushes.

Aargh again. She not only could hear the frogs, she did hear them. Let's fix that:
... and she heard the croaking of frogs in the bushes.

Argh again. This is telling. We're already in her Point of View, we don't need to be told "she heard." Let's fix that:
... and the croaking of frogs came from the bushes.
- or -
... and from the bushes came the croaking of frogs.
- or -
... and frogs croaked in the bushes.

Whew. I guess editors let the Big Kahunas get away with a lot.

Doug Pardee wrote:From a big title by a Big Name author:

Night had fully fallen, and in the bushes she could hear the croaking of frogs.

Aaargh! She wasn't in the bushes. The frogs were in the bushes. Let's fix that:
... and she could hear the croaking of frogs in the bushes.

Aargh again. She not only could hear the frogs, she did hear them. Let's fix that:
... and she heard the croaking of frogs in the bushes.

Argh again. This is telling. We're already in her Point of View, we don't need to be told "she heard." Let's fix that:
... and the croaking of frogs came from the bushes.
- or -
... and from the bushes came the croaking of frogs.
- or -
... and frogs croaked in the bushes.
Whew. I guess editors let the Big Kahunas get away with a lot.

Awesome!