Hey Folks,
Be sure to read through the “Hovel” stuff today. There’s a little topic hidden there.
While looking through items for the “Of Interest” section today, I came across the item listed below. I listed it because I found a flaw that cracks me up.
Many of you know I admire John Gilstrap for his knowledge of weapons and the advice he freely shares. That’s why so many of his Kill Zone blog posts make it into my “Of Interest” section.
But today he pulled a real boner. The irony of the his own comments hit my sense-of-humor nerve.
Not wanting to embarrass John, I sent him a private message through his website:
I love your advice, but your third bold paragraph had me practically rolling out of my chair.
First, you admitted you’re “not sure what ‘passive sentence construction’ actually means….” And then you proved it in your third bold paragraph.
Thing is, “It’s important to remember that there are always better options” is NOT a passive construction.
But “The conjugated to-be+verb construction can’t be avoided in its entirety, but remember that better options always exist” IS a passive construction. (grin)
Many, many folks misunderstand this concept. The passive construction consists of an avoidance of responsibility. It is marked by a state-of-being verb (am, is, are, was, were, being, been) PLUS a “by phrase,” either written or implied.
In your sentence, the implied phrase is this:
“The conjugated to-be+verb construction can’t be avoided [by writers] in its entirety, but remember that better options always exist.”
An active (not passive) rewrite would render “Writers can’t avoid the to-be+verb construction in it’s entirety, but remember that better options always exist.”
In your original, the verb is “can’t be avoided.” In the rewrite, the action verb is “can’t avoid.”
I post this with respect for your weapons knowledge and your fiction. But thanks for the chuckle.
There you go. A humorous tidbit and a topic all in one. And I don’t mean to break hard on John. We all have our little glitches and things we don’t know. The lesson here is to never stop learning.
Should we actively think about whether a sentence construction is passive or active as we write or even as we cycle?
No. Just as we don’t have to “think” about whether to put a period after a sentence.
But we should know these things. They are tools of our trade. And what we learn with the conscious mind comes to the forefront of the subconscious as we write.
***
To the Hovel a little at 4:20. I’ll bring the reverse outline up to date as I cycle through, probably adding a few words.
Up to the house at 4:40 to let the pup out of his kennel, then back to the Hovel at 4:50 to continue cycling.
Back to the house at 5:40 to see my bride, then back to the Hovel again. And wow, did my characters throw me a curve!
An important character who came on the scene in Book 3 had carried over to this one, but 22,000 words into this one, I learned he was not what he seemed. I actually opened the earlier book, searched for his name, and read what was written there.
It all seemed innocent at the time, yet it all led to this revelation. It’s amazing how well writing into the dark and trusting your characters works.
If you don’t yet, try to learn to trust your subconscious, folks. It knows what it’s doing. The characters know their own story.
I took a break, in-Hovel, to set up a 24″ monitor and attach it to my writing ‘puter. I continued cyclcling through for awhile, then took another break at the house for breakfast.
When I got back to the Hovel, I rigged a way to adjust the height of the monitor and of my mouse pad.
Those brought my WIP up to eye-level and my mouse pad to the level of my keyboard. Very nice.
Of course, all of that took time but I think it’s all settled now. A little after 9:30 and somehow I’ve written around 1300 words this morning.
Another 1200 words by 10:45 and I’m headed to the house for a break.
Back to the Hovel at 11:30 and another thousand words. At 12:30 I’m calling it an early day. I could get at least one more session, but I have a gate to fix up at the house.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
See “First Page Critique: Musical Hairs” at https://killzoneblog.com/2018/11/first-page-critique-musical-hairs.html.
Fiction Words: 3570
Nonfiction Words: 750 (Journal)
So total words for the day: 4320
Writing of Consequences (Nick 4)
Day 1…… 3894 words. Total words to date…… 3894
Day 2…… 4701 words. Total words to date…… 8595
Day 3…… 1941 words. Total words to date…… 10536
Day 4…… 2577 words. Total words to date…… 13113
Day 5…… 4870 words. Total words to date…… 17983
Day 6…… 3286 words. Total words to date…… 21269
Day 7…… 3570 words. Total words to date…… 24839
Total fiction words for the month……… 24839
Total fiction words for the year………… 403369
Total nonfiction words for the month… 4450
Total nonfiction words for the year…… 155556
Total words for the year (fiction and this blog)…… 558675
Calendar Year 2018 Novels to Date………………………… 8
Calenday Year 2018 Novellas to Date…………………… 3
Calendar Year 2018 Short Stories to Date……… 11
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)………………………………………… 34
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)……………………………………… 7
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……………………… 193
Short story collections…………………………………………………… 31