Verbs are the hardest part of grammar to grasp, as they can vary drastically and it's easy to become confused as to what the verb is. Though, the only time anyone has ever really needed to know what a verb is is when the teacher throws a quiz at you and tells you to label the parts of the sentence. Personally, I think if you're writing you just need to know the dictionary front to back and you're good. For those pop quiz days however, which even writers hate, it's good to know which word is the verb.
These small annoying verbs are usually actions, but as English decides to be even more confusing, they can also be in sentence which has no action at all. It is either the state of being or the action word. There is even past, present, and future tenses of each verb.
Ex:
looked (Past), look (Present), will look (Future)
Some verbs however, don't have the simple trick of adding an -ed at the end.
Ex:
saw (Past), see (Present), will see (Future)
Then there are continuous verbs in which you say:
is looking, are looking, so on and so forth.
There are also different forms for the point of view you choose to write from, as well as knowing if you are writing it in the singular or plural form, the tense even has a few things to say on this subject.
Point of View:
1st (I)
2nd (you)
3rd (he, she, it)
1st (we)
2nd (you)
3rd (they)
Singular:
1st (I)- see, hear, come
2nd (you)- see, hear, come
3rd (he, she, it)- sees, hears, comes
Plural:
1st (we)- see, hear, come
2nd (you)- see, hear, come
3rd (they)- see, hear, come
Singular-Present:
1st (I)- am, have, do
2nd (you)- are, have, do
3rd (he, she, it)- is, has, does
Singular-Past:
1st (I)- was, had, did
2nd (you)- were, had, did
3rd (he, she, it)- was, had, did
Singular-Future:
All- will be
Plural-Present:
All- are, have, do
Plural-Past:
All- were, had, did
Plural-Future:
All- will be
Umbrella
Showing posts with label annoying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label annoying. Show all posts
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
Point of View
Point of View- more commonly known as POV. When you write, you choose the perspective you are going to write from. First and Third person are the most popular choices for writing a book. Second person, I'll just say this, it is very strange and I don't think anyone should ever write in second person. The choice is ultimately up to you however.
Written from the main character's perspective, you cannot hear the thoughts of other characters. Everything they do is usually possessive, compared to the other characters. When you change POV's however, do not put: Lucy's POV. Honestly, if you're going to be switching between POV's every few paragraphs, I suggest writing with it not connected to any particular character. It opens up a lot of windows for writing when you want to hear the thoughts of several characters at once. If you want to switch POV's in a novel, or any story, then simply put a break and you can put their name simply (e.g. Lucy) or you can just let the reader figure it out. It's always easiest however, to break each POV into a different chapter. The same can be done with third person (e.g. Rick Riordan's series "Heroes of Olympus" is written this way).
First Person can be hard if you haven't trained yourself to write in it. I at one point wrote all my stories in First Person, but when I had to become more acquainted with Third, the skill slipped and I struggle to write in First.
Example of First Person writing:
I walked down the street, my heart pounding in my chest. What if I couldn't do this? I paused, my foot hovering into the next step. Was I wrong to think I would ever be able to tell her how I feel?
If you'll notice, the persons thoughts are in italics. This is the correct way of displaying what a person is thinking. It is not dialogue so do not put quotation marks. You can however attach dialogue tags to the thoughts, just make sure you keep in mind the character is not talking, but he/she still has emotion.
Seriously, this POV is strange and it would be weird to read a book written in it. I suggest steering clear of it all together. There is always exceptions when a person is speaking however, grammar never really seems to apply much in speech. Second Person is played out as though you are literally the main or supporting character. Which may sound cool, but after a small example, you might not be thinking so. We can feel the emotions of characters, connect to them, and feel as though we want on the adventure with them, but Second Person takes it to a completely different level.
Example of Second Person writing:
You lift your hand and strike him across the face. You can't believe he would ever be so naive to do something like this to you. Hot tears spill down your cheeks and when you speak your voice cracks.
It would be incredibly awkward to read a book written like this for 300 pages. It feels as though you are being forced into a certain situation rather than entering on a voluntary basis. You can choose to write in second person, but it's not advised.
By far the easiest to write in, in my opinion. Third person is where the story is told from a far away aspect, but close to the characters. It can be written to focus on one character alone (e.g. "Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling) or it can be written to reflect several character POV's within a single section or chapter (e.g. "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare). There is usually no possessiveness in context as it focus' on many people/characters.
Example of Third Person writing:
Ethan let the wooden stick fall from his hand. He couldn't believe he had just used his power to take another's life. He had known it was possible, but now he was there experiencing it-he wished he could die himself.
"What have I done?" He whispered, his knees sinking into the rocky dirt. A soft hand touched his shoulder and he could smell the soft scent of vanilla and apple. Wisps of silvery hair danced in his peripheral vision, he did not want to acknowledge her after what he had just done.
You connect to the character and can experience what he is feeling, you are not however forced into the situation. It was quite voluntary if you think about it, but it pulled at your emotions I am sure.
Be careful with what you write in the future and make sure you know which Point of View you are using to help establish your story and its characters to the fullest.
First Person
Written from the main character's perspective, you cannot hear the thoughts of other characters. Everything they do is usually possessive, compared to the other characters. When you change POV's however, do not put: Lucy's POV. Honestly, if you're going to be switching between POV's every few paragraphs, I suggest writing with it not connected to any particular character. It opens up a lot of windows for writing when you want to hear the thoughts of several characters at once. If you want to switch POV's in a novel, or any story, then simply put a break and you can put their name simply (e.g. Lucy) or you can just let the reader figure it out. It's always easiest however, to break each POV into a different chapter. The same can be done with third person (e.g. Rick Riordan's series "Heroes of Olympus" is written this way).
First Person can be hard if you haven't trained yourself to write in it. I at one point wrote all my stories in First Person, but when I had to become more acquainted with Third, the skill slipped and I struggle to write in First.
Example of First Person writing:
I walked down the street, my heart pounding in my chest. What if I couldn't do this? I paused, my foot hovering into the next step. Was I wrong to think I would ever be able to tell her how I feel?
If you'll notice, the persons thoughts are in italics. This is the correct way of displaying what a person is thinking. It is not dialogue so do not put quotation marks. You can however attach dialogue tags to the thoughts, just make sure you keep in mind the character is not talking, but he/she still has emotion.
Second Person
Seriously, this POV is strange and it would be weird to read a book written in it. I suggest steering clear of it all together. There is always exceptions when a person is speaking however, grammar never really seems to apply much in speech. Second Person is played out as though you are literally the main or supporting character. Which may sound cool, but after a small example, you might not be thinking so. We can feel the emotions of characters, connect to them, and feel as though we want on the adventure with them, but Second Person takes it to a completely different level.
Example of Second Person writing:
You lift your hand and strike him across the face. You can't believe he would ever be so naive to do something like this to you. Hot tears spill down your cheeks and when you speak your voice cracks.
It would be incredibly awkward to read a book written like this for 300 pages. It feels as though you are being forced into a certain situation rather than entering on a voluntary basis. You can choose to write in second person, but it's not advised.
Third Person
By far the easiest to write in, in my opinion. Third person is where the story is told from a far away aspect, but close to the characters. It can be written to focus on one character alone (e.g. "Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling) or it can be written to reflect several character POV's within a single section or chapter (e.g. "The Mortal Instruments" by Cassandra Clare). There is usually no possessiveness in context as it focus' on many people/characters.
Example of Third Person writing:
Ethan let the wooden stick fall from his hand. He couldn't believe he had just used his power to take another's life. He had known it was possible, but now he was there experiencing it-he wished he could die himself.
"What have I done?" He whispered, his knees sinking into the rocky dirt. A soft hand touched his shoulder and he could smell the soft scent of vanilla and apple. Wisps of silvery hair danced in his peripheral vision, he did not want to acknowledge her after what he had just done.
You connect to the character and can experience what he is feeling, you are not however forced into the situation. It was quite voluntary if you think about it, but it pulled at your emotions I am sure.
Be careful with what you write in the future and make sure you know which Point of View you are using to help establish your story and its characters to the fullest.
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