BrandenWest.com

Haven’t written one of these in a while, but I find I’ve got a bit of free time on my hands today! See, me and my Mom (screw you, I’m not saying “my Mother and I”…… I can use grammar the way I want!) agreed (after a bit of arguing on my part) that I need to cut back on net time. While I still think I should be granted a quick 5 minutes or so in the morning to check for important messages, we’ll have to hash that bit out later. For now, I’m limited to around 7-11 PM…..which is actually a bit better than our original time-limit, so I can’t really complain. Point is, this means that I’ll have more time on my hands where I won’t be distracted by the Internet and such……so I’m thinking of getting back into journal writing! Might be a tad difficult without my trusty wikipedia to back up my info with, but I’ll make do. Now all that remains is to decide what to talk about!

I know! How about that little bit where I lashed out at grammar earlier in this entry? I’ll talk about my thoughts on writing!

Okay, first off, YES, I know I can write rather well. I have a decent grasp of the English language, and I’m pretty good at using it to get my points across (in type at least, not so much face-to-face). But I’ll be the first to admit that I’m lacking in several areas! I have atrocious spelling, for starters. I make good use of the spell-check system when writing these things up! You’d think I’d get better over time, but the more times you type a word wrong, the harder it is to figure out how to write it CORRECTLY. And I’ve been typing words wrong my whole life, so I’m kinda in a rut now.

More important than my lack of proper spelling, however, is the fact that my writing style is kinda unique. It would SERIOUSLY piss off any English teacher, believe me! Where to start? Okay, first, I have a tendency to ramble. I can’t properly structure paragraphs for the life of me, and my narrative flow lacks any sort of pre-set route. I write as the words come from me, only pausing to try and come up with the right word to express a thought now and then. I start a new paragraph when I feel like it, not when proper grammar dictates. And I will go ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON till I run out of steam, or someone interrupts. You’ve all probably noticed this already. ( ;

What else? How about them pauses? I use ellipses (however they’re spelled) in a quantity that SERIOUSLY irked my writing teachers back in college…..and if anything I’ve only come to rely on them more since then, especially in fictional work. Whenever I feel that two thoughts require a pause of some sort, or some kind of vague connection, I’ll tie them together with dots…….sorta like this. In fictional writing, I use them even more, as I feel that characters aren’t limited to proper grammar when they speak, and will frequently pause and stumble trying to find the right words to say….a few dots to show these pauses always seems a bit more natural than breaking away from the speech to say “s/he paused for a moment” or something like that. It’s become a signature part of my writing style, and while I do feel I overuse the technique, forcing myself to AVOID it would mean that I would no longer be writing as myself…..if I’m gonna write, it’s gonna be in MY style, not someone else’s idea of how it SHOULD be done, you know?

Here’s a newer one…..the capitalization. This is a trick I started using while talking through AIM or YIM. The key is SPEED in these talks….you want to keep of the flow of conversation, without having to pause for silly things like FORMATING. Normally I’d use italics to stress a word, but since I started using AIM, YIM, and Twitter (which doesn’t even have the option of italics), I’ve fallen back on the habit of just capitalizing all the letters in the words I want people to pay special attention to. It’s just FASTER, and I don’t have to pause for stupid stuff like reformatting stuff before submitting it. I’ve noticed that I’ve been using the trick in E-mails and journal entries now too, as you’ve no doubt noticed. Again, this would piss off any English teacher, but it works for me.

So yeah……long story short, I respect the English language, I enjoy proper grammar and spelling, and I tend to jump on anyone who throws such things out the window (I HATE net-speak…..USE REAL WORDS PEOPLE!!!). But that doesn’t mean I’m a stickler for the rules either! I’m happy to twist English to fit my needs…..let’s face it, our language is already full of holes and misused by just about everybody, so me tweaking it to fit my own particular style isn’t all that big a deal. XD If I ever wrote professionally, I’d have to make some DRASTIC changes to the way I write, which would be a hard hurtle to jump. That’s part of the reason I’ve given up on ever doing the writing thing for a living (the other is the fact that I hate deadlines, and don’t like being pushed to do things). Still, I enjoy being able to chat with friends online, roleplay, write journals, and maybe the occasional short-story (though I have to push myself for that last one). So what if not everyone approves of my style? It’s me, and that’s what counts, wouldn’t you agree? XD

P.S. For those not into net talk, “XD” is an emoticon of a big, satisfied grin. The X is the eyes squinted closed, and the D is a big-ass smile. I know people don’t usually make that expression……it’s more of an anime thing. XD