Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Editing Frenzy: Prompt Nine Clarification: Start and begin



This is where we stop starting things and keep on doing them.

To tell the truth, people always start something, you can't really do anything without starting it. You start to talk, you start to eat, you start to breath slowly, you start to run, you begin to think that this is getting a little bit repetitive.

But if you are going to use start/begin every time you character start something you'll get in deep water, then to be true to yourself you'll have to say that he is in the middle of doing something but what if it's 3/4 done and what if it should be finished but it's not so he starts doing it again... then you'll also have to give an end to the action, just for consistency and it's likely to make the all style of your writing unbearable. Well maybe not but that's for emphasis.

One rule I like to observe is use start/begin when the action is interrupted straight away. 

Example:
Initial: Clara started to run toward the mountain, the cold icy wind of winter brushing her face as passed near the bridge.

Replace by: Clara ran toward the mountain, the cold icy wind of winter brushing her face as passed near the bridge.

Or in case of interruption:
Clara started to run toward the mountain but Jimmy caught her hand and forced her to stop and look at him. 

Find us on Google+

No comments:

Post a Comment