A Word to Writers

So far my postings on this blog have dealt with quite a few subjects—because I have opinions on nearly everything. However, I think it's time to turn attention to something that I truly am qualified to pontificate on, and that's writing—and maybe editing, too. However, I don't think I'm going to truck out my credentials.

First: Apparently we are all taught in school that, in writing that quotes one or more people, you don't keep repeating says. So-and-so says, this-and-that person says. Presumably this gets boring, so you have to vary the word used.

Well, maybe, but the attempts to avoid saying says get ludicrous. Okay, you see ". . . adds Jones," ". . . observes Smith," ". . . argues Wilson," and "Cynthia shares. . . ." But when it gets to "disagrees Carlson," and "excuses Johnson," it's getting silly. Or what about cautions, interprets, contradicts, predicts, shares, muses, opines, and jokes. I hate shares. Some of those others might be all right, but don't use jokes unless you are sure the person meant to be joking or said what he said in a joking tone; and similarly for predicts, muses, and so forth. I think that's part of my objection, that the writer is attributing an intention to the speaker that may not be there.

While I suspect that the inverted thing ("shares Cynthia") somehow violates grammaticality, at the very least they sound very odd, even wrong; and these writers' ears should tell them so.

So many of the dicta that we were indoctrinated with in school—not the least "Don't repeat says"—at best are not to be over-broadly applied and at worst are out-and-out wrong.

Copyright © 2009 by Richard Stein