Category Archives: Other Media

Kinship Names

by

Mary Deal

Recently, several people asked me about kinship names. Of course, I would turn that into an article.

Kinship names are possessive determiners that show to whom the subject person is related. When no kinship names are used, the subject’s name is capitalized. For example:

My mother came over.

Where are you, Mother?

In the first sentence above, My is the kinship names and identifies whose mother she is, so mother is not capitalized. In the second sentence, even though we seem to be asking a question of our own mother, we do not identify her as our mother. The subject person stands alone and is capitalized.

Here’s one exception. Some people would ask “Where are you, my mother?” Again, since the question uses the pronoun my to identify the relationship, mother is not capitalized.

A capital letter is not used on a pronoun whenever you qualify a person’s relationship by using kinship names like my, our, his, her, aunt, uncle, and so forth,. The capital letter is always used on a person’s proper name, however. No exceptions. Here are correct examples:

My aunt Marie came over.

When will Aunt Marie come over?

In first sentence above, My identifies her as being my aunt, so only her name is capitalized. The second sentence doesn’t state whose aunt she is, so Aunt becomes part of her name and both are capitalized.

Here are some examples with the correct version being the second usage:

Did mom and dad go home?

Mom and Dad went home.

Did your Mom and Dad go home?

Did your mom and dad go home?

Okay, dad, let’s get out of here.

Okay, Dad, let’s get out of here.

The simple solution to remember is that if no kinship is included to qualify a person’s relationship, then the title and name of the subject person in the sentence is capitalized.

You can find this information further clarified with their own examples in The Chicago Manual of Style. In my 16th Edition, the section, Kinship Names starts at section 8.35 on Page 400.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre.

Kinship Names

Recently, several people asked me about kinship names. Of course, I would turn that into an article.

Kinship names are possessive determiners that show to whom the subject person is related. When no kinship names are used, the subject’s name is capitalized. For example:

My mother came over.

Where are you, Mother?

In the first sentence above, My is the kinship names and identifies whose mother she is, so mother is not capitalized. In the second sentence, even though we seem to be asking a question of our own mother, we do not identify her as our mother. The subject person stands alone and is capitalized.

Here’s one exception. Some people would ask “Where are you, my mother?” Again, since the question uses the pronoun my to identify the relationship, mother is not capitalized.

A capital letter is not used on a pronoun whenever you qualify a person’s relationship by using kinship names like my, our, his, her, aunt, uncle, and so forth,. The capital letter is always used on a person’s proper name, however. No exceptions. Here are correct examples:

My aunt Marie came over.

When will Aunt Marie come over?

In first sentence above, My identifies her as being my aunt, so only her name is capitalized. The second sentence doesn’t state whose aunt she is, so Aunt becomes part of her name and both are capitalized.

Here are some examples with the correct version being the second usage:

Did mom and dad go home?

Mom and Dad went home.

Did your Mom and Dad go home?

Did your mom and dad go home?

Okay, dad, let’s get out of here.

Okay, Dad, let’s get out of here.

The simple solution to remember is that if no kinship is included to qualify a person’s relationship, then the title and name of the subject person in the sentence is capitalized.

You can find this information further clarified with their own examples in The Chicago Manual of Style. In my 16th Edition, the section, Kinship Names starts at section 8.35 on Page 400.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre. Read More →

Lurking

One of the reasons we authors sign up at many writing sites is to learn from others. With all writers at various stages of experience, we learn from those who know more or have had more experiences from which they draw their expertise. Many people lurk the cyber halls, picking up bits of writing knowledge here and there. They read all they can. Some write and finish their stories built on this type of informational help alone. Then, surprise, when their book is published and none of the people frequenting this or that writers’ site buy it, they wonder why not.

The answer is simple. That writer hop-scotching from one writing social site to another, probably never bothered to post any useful information on any of these sites. They haven’t helped anyone but themselves. They haven’t made themselves known except, maybe, to post information about their books. They haven’t built friendships or a reputation as a person who knows their genre. They haven’t built friendships through being helpful to others of simply for the sake of mingling.

How can anyone not participating hope to build readership or even make contacts that lead to more important rewards or more professional people who can help with our career?

Some of the things anyone can do when lurking through these sites –

~ Tell how you were helped by someone’s posted information.

~ Post a reply to someone asking a question if you have information that will help them.

~ Visit others’ videos. Click to like or rate it. Make a comment, even one word. “Exciting!” “Killer!” “Dreamy!” Anything to show how you felt.

~ Make a comment on something someone said. It doesn’t’ have to be many paragraphs or even one paragraph long. Maybe you liked their book cover. How thrilling it is for a writer to receive a comment like “Your cover art exemplifies the book title.” Or, “What a great cover.” Or, “Your video has given me an idea for my own trailer.”

The point to responding at all is to get people to know you. That won’t happen if you lurk the sites and never speak. People will know you and come to like you if you participate. Social sites exist to help one another and to promote our books. We buy one another’s books. This doesn’t mean we purchase everyone’s novels. We purchase what interests us and we usually buy our friend’s books before searching blindly for something new to read.

For a writer, friendships in the writing profession are a precious commodity that lead to greater opportunities.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre. Read More →

The Rules of Grammar

The rules of grammar are to, first, benefit a reader. Grammar has standard format to which good writers will adhere. Secondly, it provides all writers a standard to follow that makes the written word fluent. Proper grammar is the backbone of all written prose, regardless some be written in colloquialisms, laced with foreign words, slang, or any other variation.

See it this way –

An avid reader picks up a book written according to the rules of grammar. They read through the book quickly and immensely enjoy the story because nothing impeded their reading experience.

Yet another well-read reader opens a book only to find grammar flaws such as poor format, incorrect sentence structure, irregular of incorrect speaker tags and beats, and other jarring errors. It’s difficult for this reader to enjoy the book because the author did not follow the rules of correct grammar that make for a smooth read and which is constant in all good books.

Poor grammar and composition in an otherwise great story deflates the reader’s enthusiasm. The reader may think twice about having to pick their way through a plethora of errors in any new book by this same author. Some will not complete the read of the present book.

Most all authors have finished school and studied English grammar. However, I’ve found that many have forgotten what they learned. Too, it’s erroneous to believe that because we studied grammar in school that we know how to write. Truth is, few remember. Another truth is that most writers have never been told how to write a story of greater length. Writing a story or book length manuscript is different in the real world than it was when composing high school or college papers.

A short cut to learning proper grammar is as I always recommend: Get your hands on a copy of The Chicago Manual of Style and a thesaurus. Any time you have difficulty, for example, composing a sentence or deciding whether to use a colon or semi-colon, or need a more descriptive verb, refer to these thorough and concise research aids.

Don’t ask a friend that you feel may know more than you. She or he may not know the answer to your question and then leave you to make an arbitrary decision. Too, if you post your questions on a website and others reply, of the variety of answers, whom do you believe? If you’re sure the friend you ask is a professional with grammar, then go ahead and trust their response if they seem certain. But an inexperienced writer having to relearn grammar all the while writing a book will surely destroy a friendship if that writer constantly expects the friend to advise them all along the way. At some early point, every writer must take responsibility for learning how to make their stories as perfect as they can.

Two other references I always recommend – I could recommend many but will skim the best off the top of the list here – are:

Writing with Clarity and Style by Robert A. Harris

Complete Stylist and Handbook by Sheridan Baker

Should you feel you are knowledgeable enough to write your opus but you encounter problems along the way, then to the list above, I would suggest you refer to my eBook, Write it Right – Tips for Authors. This book is meant for writers who are progressing nicely, but find some problems in composition that should be smoothed out in order to compose fluid prose.

There is no need to maintain an entire library of books to guide you. Many books offer bits of information here and there but no one book will solve all of any writer’s problems.

If you feel you are able to write stunning prose based on your current knowledge or ability, then you don’t need a lot of books. Any questions you have can be researched in reference books or writing reference sites on the Net. Should you feel uncertain about your writing abilities overall, then you may need to take a course or two to give you some sort of foundation or base from which to begin.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre. Read More →