Keiri LaPrade's picture
Keiri LaPrade from Virginia is reading Beowulf December 30, 2014 - 11:16pm

When should you use contractions when writing a story?  I know they'd be part of dialogue but is it ok to have them outside of dialogue?

I keep running into the problem and I"m not exactly sure what to do.  I'm guessing it would depend on point of view and style.

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal January 1, 2015 - 11:34am

My preference is damn near always. In first person, it's how people talk. In third, it's still how we think.

Notice I didn't say "it is how we think." the only time to do that is when you're emphasizing, it is how we think.

Otherwise, to me, whenever I come across missing contractions I feel like I'm reading see spot run, run spot run. 

Redd Tramp's picture
Redd Tramp from Los Angeles, CA is reading Mongrels by SGJ; Sacred and Immoral: On the Writings of Chuck Palahniuk; The History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault January 1, 2015 - 12:09pm

Very well said Thuggish. That's exactly how I feel about them. Love em. I hate when people feel the need to articulate every single 'is' and 'can not'. Especially when it's first-person. That's not how people talk and tell stories. And that 'is'--though necessary in places--it usually sucks the life out of the description anyways. A better verb usually works...well, better. Duh Redd, of course a better verb works better.

Just read your work out loud and ask yourself, does this sound natural? And if not, should it?

Keiri LaPrade's picture
Keiri LaPrade from Virginia is reading Beowulf January 1, 2015 - 1:58pm

Thanks Thuggish and Redd.  When I was working on it the contractions sounded right but I just wasn't sure.  Though, like Thuggish said, it sounds better.

Redd Tramp's picture
Redd Tramp from Los Angeles, CA is reading Mongrels by SGJ; Sacred and Immoral: On the Writings of Chuck Palahniuk; The History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault January 1, 2015 - 3:05pm

No problem. :)

I think the best bet really is to read it out loud to hear the flow.

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal January 3, 2015 - 3:52pm

Not just better, natural. Or real. 

Hannes Hummus Holmquist's picture
Hannes Hummus H... from Sweden is reading your stuff January 5, 2015 - 9:46am

What about in Fantasy writing? I can't help but feel like the contractions is a modern day thing and that people spoke stiffer in the past.
Then again maybe I'm just arguing here to argue.

Redd Tramp's picture
Redd Tramp from Los Angeles, CA is reading Mongrels by SGJ; Sacred and Immoral: On the Writings of Chuck Palahniuk; The History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault January 5, 2015 - 10:22am

I'd say there's an argument for that. If the character warrants it, if it's a matter of making the narrative voice or dialogue authentic to a certain time period or particular dialect, then whatever works. Though, as I've never even written in third-person, I don't know how that should go for the narrator. If the narrator's not actually a character, how much should they sound like a real person from whatever time period?

Keiri LaPrade's picture
Keiri LaPrade from Virginia is reading Beowulf January 5, 2015 - 5:41pm

I think it depends on the style.  Like if you want to write your story how writers of that time period would have.  People in the Victorian era wrote in a very stiff "proper" manner and even their dialogue was written this way.  But Shakespeare was using contractions during the Renaissance.  So I guess it really depends on how you want to do it.

 

Redd, that's actually what I'm wondering about.  I'm writting in 3rd person omniscient.  So it would make sense to nto have the contractions, but not having them does make it feel rigid. 

Redd Tramp's picture
Redd Tramp from Los Angeles, CA is reading Mongrels by SGJ; Sacred and Immoral: On the Writings of Chuck Palahniuk; The History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault January 5, 2015 - 9:15pm

If the goal of first person is to replicate a story being told by someone who's been affected by the story, is the goal of third person to be a clean, impartial witness? At some point I'm going to have to try it. For some reason I always go for first person.

Keiri LaPrade's picture
Keiri LaPrade from Virginia is reading Beowulf January 6, 2015 - 3:27pm

That makes sense.First person seems like it would be much more difficult becuase you have the narrator's personality is front and center and you have to wonder about you want the narrator to tell everything or just what they want heard.  Third person you just have to know what the character's think and feel.   I've never done first person so it would be fun to give it a try.

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal January 6, 2015 - 7:49pm

Actually Hannes makes a great point. I don't really do Fantasy or historical fiction and all that, didn't even think of it.

Gordon B. White's picture
Gordon B. White from Seattle January 6, 2015 - 9:58pm

When writing in third-person, you still have to consider the narrator's voice.  Very little third-person is actually a detached, impartial witness - and evern that carries with it a separate "voice."  Your narrative voice can and should have a personality.

When I write in third-person, I try to think of who it is that is telling this story.  Why is the narrator observing this?  I'm not necessarily trying to create a name or a face or a person, but what kind of entity is it observing and reporting?  Is the narrator amused by the characters?  Is the narrator dismissive of them?  All of this factors into drafting the prose and, as a result, impacts whether or not I'm going to use contractions (as well as my sentence structure, word choice, paragraph length, what details I focus on, etc.).

 

Keiri LaPrade's picture
Keiri LaPrade from Virginia is reading Beowulf January 7, 2015 - 4:08pm

Gordon, that really does make sense.  I hadn't thought about that.  

Redd Tramp's picture
Redd Tramp from Los Angeles, CA is reading Mongrels by SGJ; Sacred and Immoral: On the Writings of Chuck Palahniuk; The History of Sexuality by Michel Foucault January 7, 2015 - 7:20pm

Good stuff. Personally, I find the idea of third person more challenging for some reason. But all of what you said makes sense Gordon. 

I'm reading All the Beautiful Sinners by SGJ right now. It's in third person, but there is definitely a certain voice to the narrator. Just I've never really put a whole lot of thought into what goes into that kind of narrator, having never done it, so it seems a little daunting. I think I've always preferred first-person a little, in writing and reading. Feels more personal. But still, that's not to belittle third-person, I've read some great books in third-person too.

Dwayne's picture
Dwayne from Cincinnati, Ohio (suburbs) is reading books that rotate to often to keep this updated January 15, 2015 - 7:17am

For the most part I just don't use them. Feels weird. 

Carly Berg's picture
Carly Berg from USA is reading Story Prompts That Work by Carly Berg is now available at Amazon January 15, 2015 - 2:01pm

Good points here. As an aside, the ones like "It'd" and "could've" annoy me and I've noticed them a lot lately. I use contractions because it's how people talk but stick to standard contractions, not make up my own. No biggie but it's a little distracting.

Also, if a character didn't use any contractions in their speech, that would tell me something about that character. Maybe it would go with someone who was very formal and stiff or whatever.

Thuggish's picture
Thuggish from Vegas is reading Day of the Jackal January 15, 2015 - 6:55pm

Actually, Carly's right about that, some are kind of weird outside of dialogue. 

Ever notice that they kind of read as contractions when they're not? Could have just goes to could've in my head, anyway. (Unlike "it is" which does not become "it's" if you say it fast.)

It reminds me of "want to," I'll have a character use slang, but still won't write "wanna."