6 Crucial Grammar Tips for Fiction Writers

Good grammar is the foundation for writing an exciting and captivating story. If you want your readers to see you as a professional and competent writer, you’ll want to use these grammar tips for fiction writers.

What is Grammar?

Grammar is the main structure of a language. It is made up of rules that control how words can be put together to form sentences.

Five fundamental components of grammar work together to create meaning:

• Punctuation
• Tense
• Word order
• Connectors
• Determiners

If any of these components are used incorrectly, meaning can be completely changed or even lost.

Why is using poor grammar bad for fiction writers?

Poor grammar is distracting. It can take away from the story and confuse readers. Readers will get bored if they have to constantly pause to reread your writing. Some may even give up on you entirely and refuse to read anything you write in the future. Why is this bad for fiction writers? Because reader engagement is extremely important.

Good grammar makes your writing clear, therefore improving the readability of your story. It provides a better reading experience since it’s easier for your readers to understand.

Using good grammar in your writing is the foundation for writing an interesting and captivating story. It allows you to gain respect from your readers and as a result, they see you as a competent and professional writer.

Because of the many grammar rules, good grammar doesn’t just happen overnight. However, it is something you can learn and become very skilled in as a writer. In this post, I’ll discuss my best grammar tips for fiction writers. By the end of the post, you should better understand how to use these grammar tips in your writing.

Grammar Tips for Fiction Writers

1. Use proper verb tense

Verb tenses show when and how long an action took place. Typically, fiction writers write stories in past or present tense, with past tense being the most common verb tense used.

When it comes to verb tense in fiction writing, there is only one “rule”: be consistent.

Consistent verb tense clearly shows the time of the actions that are being described. Switching from one verb tense to another without a good reason is confusing and distracting. Readers need to know when and where they are in the story.

Louise Harnby has an in-depth article on tenses in fiction writing on her blog that I recommend reading.

2. Be mindful of subject-verb agreement

Agreement in writing refers to the appropriate grammatical match between words and phrases.

Subject-verb agreement describes the appropriate match between subjects and verbs.

In other words, the subject of a sentence must agree with the verb. Subjects and verbs are either singular or plural. Therefore, a singular subject belongs with a singular verb and a plural subject belongs with a plural verb.

Example:
Singular: The cow jumps over the moon.
Plural: The cows jump over the moon.

Having an understanding of the concept of subject-verb agreement will help ensure that your fiction writing is always professional, clear, and easy to comprehend. Subject-verb agreement errors are particularly noticeable in writing.

The most common subject-verb agreement error happens when the subject of a sentence consists of a complex noun phrase. Most fiction writers want to form the verb according to the noun directly in front of it. However, doing that is almost always incorrect.

Example:
Incorrect: The mood of Beethoven’s late quartets are dark.
Correct: The mood of Beethoven’s late quartets is dark.  

Ask yourself which single word in the subject is controlling the verb. What is/are dark?

Before you can start fixing errors, you need to clearly understand the rules for subject-verb agreement. A good resource on this information is found in The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation.

3. Avoid using passive voice

Voice is one of the most important elements that make up any piece of writing, and fiction writers need to understand how to use it in their stories.  

There are two kinds of grammatical voice: active and passive.

Active Voice: When the subject of the sentence is the one doing the action expressed by the verb. (The person or thing performs the action.)
Passive Voice: The subject is affected by the verb’s action. (The person or thing acted on or affected by the action.)

Example:
Active: Mike knocked over his glass.
Passive: The glass was knocked over by Mike.

Active voice works best in storytelling because it engages the reader in the action, is clearer, and is almost always more interesting to read. Also, you get to use strong action verbs with an active voice. (Lydia slammed her homework on the teacher’s desk.)

Passive voice, however, keeps readers at a distance from the story as well as from the characters. It can also be boring and the last thing fiction writers want to do is push readers away. (The homework was slammed on the teacher’s desk by Lydia.) Yawn!

4. Use punctuation correctly

As a proofreader, incorrect punctuation grates on my nerves. As a reader, incorrect punctuation makes the story hard to follow and makes me not want to continue. One of the best grammar tips for fiction writers in my opinion is to use punctuation correctly.

Correct punctuation in writing adds clarity and precision. It can emphasize certain parts of the sentence or let the reader pause.

Common punctuation errors in fiction writing:

Comma Splices

Comma splices occur when a comma is used to connect two independent clauses without a coordinating conjunction.

Example: My alarm didn’t go off, I was late for work.

Here, a comma is used to connect two separate sentences. If you remove the comma, each part can become its own sentence.

There are a few ways you can fix comma splices:

• Use a period instead of a comma.
  • My alarm didn’t go off. I was late for work.
• Use a semicolon instead of a comma.
  • My alarm didn’t go off; I was late for work.
• Use a coordinating conjunction after the comma.
  • My alarm didn’t go off, so I was late for work.

Using apostrophes to pluralize words

Apostrophes are not used to pluralize words unless you are pluralizing an individual letter (“minding my p’s and q’s”) or a word that might not make sense otherwise (“the do’s and don’ts”). Stop before adding an apostrophe to a word and ask yourself if you’re trying to show possession or attribution. If not, then there’s probably no reason for an apostrophe.

Crystal has a great article about plurals and possessives on her blog, Rabbit with a Red Pen that I recommend reading.

Dialogue punctuation placement

Sometimes fiction writers have a difficult time punctuating dialogue correctly. Punctuation in dialogue is placed inside the closing quotation mark. For example, if the sentence is a question, a question mark should be placed inside the closing quotation mark and is the only punctuation mark needed. It would supersede a comma or period because it is the stronger punctuation. The same goes for an exclamation point.

Example
Correct:         “How did you like the show?” she asked.
Incorrect:       “How did you like the show?,” she asked.  

If a dialogue tag (said, asked, yelled) follows the dialogue, then a comma is used inside the closing quotation mark.

Example: “I really enjoyed the show,” she said.

If a sentence is followed by an action beat, which shows an action the speaker is doing while speaking (gasped, smiled), a period is placed inside the closing question mark.

Example: “It wasn’t that great.” He rolled his eyes.

Punctuation placement with quotation marks in narrative

Often there is some confusion among fiction writers about where to place terminal punctuation marks in the narrative when quotation marks are involved. Here are some rules to follow:

• Periods and commas are always placed inside the closing quotation mark.
• Colons and semicolons are always placed outside the closing quotation mark.
• Exclamation points and question marks are placed either inside or outside the closing quotation mark, except if the exclamation point or question mark is part of the quoted material or sentence as a whole.

5. Don’t overuse adverbs

Another one of my favorite grammar tips for fiction writers is to not use way too many adverbs. Relying too heavily on adverbs can make your writing cluttered, therefore it comes across as lazy and unprofessional.

Good writing should use strong verbs, rather than a bunch of -ly adverbs. Often, the adverbs can mean the same thing as the verb which becomes redundant, leading to messy writing.

As a general rule, fiction writers should use no more than one adverb per 300 words.

Here are some guidelines to follow to avoid overusing adverbs in your fiction writing:

• Don’t use adverbs that state the obvious. For example, a person doesn’t scream loudly because screaming, by definition, is done loudly.
• Don’t add a bunch of adverbs to a sentence to make it longer.
• When you spot an adverb in your writing, ask yourself if it’s really the best word choice.
• Make it your personal goal never to use the words really or very. (It’s really very annoying.)
• Don’t use an adverb as a crutch for a verb. Instead, look for a better verb, or write a better sentence.   

6. Beware of homophones

Homophones are words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. Fiction writers need to be diligent about homophones because spell-check and grammar checks won’t catch them. And many readers say that misspelled homophones are pet peeves.

Some of the most misused homophones include:

• Complementary vs Complimentary
  Complementary refers to something that completes something else, such as a necklace that makes an outfit perfect. (Chocolate syrup would be complementary to this bowl of vanilla ice cream.)
  Complimentary is an adjective that describes speech or action which gives praise. (She was quite complimentary about our newly remodeled kitchen.)
  Complimentary can also refer to something that’s free of cost. (These complimentary tips are a great resource!)
• Farther vs Further
  Farther is used when measuring distance. (I know I can run farther than you.)
  Further is used when measuring time or other quantities. (Further investigation was needed to determine the cause of the fire.)
• Its vs It’s
  Its signifies possession; we use it in place of his or hers for a singular thing of unspecified sex. (It doesn’t get cold because its fur wicks moisture.)
  It’s is a contraction meaning “it is”. (It’s getting ready to rain.)
  Tip: If you can replace your meaning with “it is” then “it’s” is the word you want to use.

There are many other homophones that fiction writers commonly misuse. A tip I find helpful is to print a list of them and attach them to a bulletin board or put them in a resource binder so they are easily accessible.

What are some of your favorite grammar tips for fiction writers? Post them in the comments below. Also, feel free to ask any questions you have about grammar!