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To boldly go, or to go boldly. I might add splitting infinitives to this.

Does syntax matter, as long as it's correct within the context?

A long time ago, I was at a book signing where David gemmell was waxing lyrical, or lyrically waxing, about the pains that Terry pratchett went to on getting his sentence structure straight.

On a writing forum, I thought it may be an interesting discussion!

Slightly altering syntax to make a sentence more interesting is perfectly okay. Thankfully the English language is flexible enough to allow these small departures from rigid structure.

I'll take a glance over my latest novel and see if I can post a couple of examples.

You know what drives me crazy? Try and.

"I want to try and get the laundry done tonight."

No, you want to try TO get it done. AAARGH.

Every time I watch Diagnosis Murder, my favorite show, they say it wrong and it's almost physically painful. The whole time I was enjoying the first Mara Dyer book by Michelle Hodkin, it just wore away at me.

(Does that qualify as syntax?)

I alter syntax and punctuation all the time to adjust the rhythm of the sentence. Here's from my new novel (a modern mystery):

"Then the stench and blasphemy and evil overtook me and I turned quickly, out the apartment door, choking, spitting up anything in my stomach onto the little lawn."
and
"Hunched over and dizzy, I eventually regained my balance, deep breathing until I was fairly certain I wouldn’t simply run down the street screaming, continue running and screaming until I was spent, spent of energy and spent of the sordid life in which I found myself this day."

If you read these 2 sentences, especially aloud, you can see how I've used commas and a slight tweak of run-on construction to increase the tension and show the panic of the narrator.

I do this sort of stuff all the time in my novels. What you can't do is overuse these techniques or they'll become trite and pushy.

"I want to try and get the laundry done tonight."
No, you want to try TO get it done. AAARGH.


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NOOR

Poetic license extends beyond poetry as long as it flows and gets your point across, it works in my book! Even the proper language can stumble a reader.

Well, yes, poetic license is one thing, but it's no license for bad English.

moderntimes wrote:Well, yes, poetic license is one thing, but it's no license for bad English.

Agreed, bad grammar causes me to stumble so it fails there have been a handful of times that people use some technically incorrect grammar that still flows, though and I can still get behind that. Or when a character speaks with improper grammar because it's realistic

Well, of course. Some of my characters use bad grammar. What's essential in writing dialogue however is that you not fall into stereotypes where certain "bad guys" sound like a poorly written 50s gangster movie. Same for ethnic slang or similar types of variation. It has to sound acceptable to the ear. I think that realistic dialogue is the heartbeat of any modern fiction and if it's not meticulously constructed, it brings the narrative to a screeching halt.

We all may use incorrect English if we're deliberately using slang or an idiom, or course.