Carte-blance in writing

[Denis Hard]

Most writers believe that the grammar rules have to observed to the letter when writing fiction. Really? Screenwriters have the freedom to write as they please. Their goal is to show what happens in a scene. No fancy exposition. Take a look at part of script I've been reading:

The darkness is actually water. A SEARCHLIGHT arcs across

              heavy ocean swells. Half-a-dozen flashlights -- weaker beams --

              racing along what we can see is the deck of an aging FISHING

              TRAWLER.

              FISHERMEN struggling with a gaff -- something in the water --

              A HUMAN CORPSE.

              EXT. FISHING BOAT DECK -- NIGHT

              THE BODY sprawled there. The Sailors all talking at once --

              three languages going -- brave chatter to mask the presence

              of death --

I like how English is issued differently in different settings.

P.S Actually that's just a small part of Bourne.

[thekernel]

I think it varies a lot. In scripts, all you really need is to be descriptive of the scenery and have the dialogue be true to the characters. If one of the characters has bad grammar or a regional dialect, they wouldn't speak "perfect" English.

In terms of novels and the first-person perspective, the writing should reflect what the character's thoughts and words are, and not necessarily in perfect-English terms. However, I think the other writing perspectives ought to be as close to perfect as possible.

[Kotro]

I think James Joyce and Gertrude Stein killed the notion of proper grammar being mandatory in fiction a long time ago. Not that it's been made better that way, but there are interesting breaks from the rules.

[Firelily99]

Its fiction so many of the hard and fast rules simply don't apply.  The story is at the heart of fiction and not perfect grammar.

[Monox D. I-Fly]

On 12/6/2013 at 2:04 AM, thekernel said:

I think it varies a lot. In scripts, all you really need is to be descriptive of the scenery and have the dialogue be true to the characters. If one of the characters has bad grammar or a regional dialect, they wouldn't speak "perfect" English.

 

In terms of novels and the first-person perspective, the writing should reflect what the character's thoughts and words are, and not necessarily in perfect-English terms. However, I think the other writing perspectives ought to be as close to perfect as possible.

I remember the first time I am trying to read English literature in their native language and I chose Harry Potter. Almost gotten put off by the way Hagrid spoke.