Questions and Answers

Email questions to Pacini.Novelist@gmail.com

This section is especially devoted to teen and new creative artists. All answers are provided by D.B. Pacini unless otherwise noted. More questions and answers will be added soon.

You have been taught that there is something wrong with you and that you are imperfect, but there isn't and you're not.
Cheri Huber

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Q: My teacher marked the word "between" wrong on my last story. She suggested that I use the word "among" instead. I thought the word "between" was the correct word. Can you tell me why it wasn't?

A: No, I can't. You didn't send me the passage that included the word. Buy a copy of The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White. They share, "When more than two things or persons are involved, among is usually called for: 'The money was divided among the four players.' When, however, more than two are involved but each is considered individually, between is preferred: 'an agreement between the six heirs.'"

Also, talk with your teacher. Ask her to give you more examples.

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Q: My teacher said that we should allign our meanings with grammatically important words. What does he mean?

A: Ask him what he means. Ask him during class so your classmates can hear his answer. The strongest words in a sentence are usually a subject and a verb.

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Q: Is it okay to put Dec.- Tues.- Vets. Day- St.- Blvd.- yrs- in my writing?

A: I suggest that you use December, Tuesday, Veterans Day, Street, Boulevard, years.

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Q: I wrote a story that wasn't true about gang members. It was a story that I made up completely. We had to write a story that was at least 1500 words. My English teacher said it was really good but that she didn't approve of the racist language. I am not a RACIST! Why did she say I was?

A: Did your teacher say you are a racist or did she simply say that she did not approve of the racist language that you included in the story? Racist language is language that is offensive to a specific ethnic group of people. It can be derogatory names or it can be demeaning sterotypes.

Disgusting examples: Wetback, nigger, cracker, dumb Pole, dago, lemonhead, redneck, zipperhead, berry picker, whitetrash, gook, and butterhead.

Butterhead is racist/derogatory slang for blacks. On The Sopranos TV show, Tony Soprano called Noah (Meadow's girlfriend) a butterhead.

A story that is completely made up is called fiction.

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Q. I put theirselves in my story and my friend says it is wrong. This is what I have and I think it is correct. The two skateboarders knew theirselves that they were going to crash.

A. I think your friend feels you should have used the word themselves. Try---The two skateboarders knew they were going to crash.

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Q. If everybody knows clichés then why can't we use them? If we use them they'll help people know what we are saying. If you say he can't act his way out of a paper bag everybody knows that you're saying he is a terrible actor. I think clichés are good. What is wrong with saying that he walked out on the stage for his audition and everybody could tell that he couldn't act his way out of a paper bag?

A. Try to avoid clichés unless you are using them on purpose. Your writing will be amateurish if it’s littered with tiresome clichés. Strive to be original.

For example instead of he can't act his way out of a paper bag:
One could tell after watching the young man's audition that he had about as much acting experience as the director's unborn child.

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Q. I know this is a dumb question, but what is the difference between envelop and envelope and who's and whose? Also, your and you're?

A. Not dumb, smart.

Envelop: To enclose or encase completely with or as if with a covering.

Envelope: A flat paper container, especially for a letter, usually having a gummed flap. Something that envelops; a wrapping.

Who's: A contraction of who is or who has.
(In this case a contraction is a shortening of a word or phrase by the omission of one or more sounds or letters. Other examples: She's for she is, and aren't for are not.)

Whose: The possessive case of who.

Your: Of or relating to you.

You're: You are.

Examples in a sentence:

A swirling fog envelops the forest as the sun begins to set.

A box of envelopes is on my desk.

Who's going with you to the game?

A chameleon is a lizard whose skin changes colors when it is nervous, angry, or afraid.

Please leave your muddy boots on the front porch.

Will you take the dog for a walk when you're finished with your homework?

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Q. What does B.C. and A.D. mean?

Answer: B.C. is an abbreviation used to date events that took place before the birth of Jesus Christ. B.C. stands for "before Christ."

B.C.E. is an abbreviation sometimes used in place of B.C. It stands for "before the Christian era."

A.D. is an abbreviation used to date the number of years that have passed since the birth of Jesus Christ. It may appear before the date or after the date (Examples: A.D. 1999 or 1999 A.D.). It stands for anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning "in the year of our Lord."

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Q. What does understatement mean?

A. Undestating is a form of irony that intentionally represents something as less than it is. For example, American swimmer Michael Phelps won eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing in 2008. At the time I am writing this he has won a total of 48 career medals: 40 gold, six silvers, and two bronze. This includes all of the championships in which he has competed: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

To say that Michael Phelps is a pretty good swimmer is a huge understatement.

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Q. Why didn't e.e. cummings capitalize his name?

A. e.e. cummings was an American author of the twentieth century who encouraged the use of many unconventional styles of writing with his poetry. He often avoided capitalizing words and names, and experimented with grammar, syntax, and typographic conventions.

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Q. Why do people say big brother is watching you?

A. Big brother is watching you is a warning that appears on posters throughout Oceania, the fictional dictatorship described by George Orwell in his book Nineteen-Eighty-Four (also titled 1984). The 1949 English novel is about life under a futuristic totalitarian regime in the year 1984.

The term Big Brother is also used to refer to any government that invades the privacy of its citizens.

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Q. My teacher says yahoo is not only the internet yahoo that we have for search engines and email addresses but yahoo is a word invented by Jonathan Swift who was apparently a writer. Is that true?

A. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745) was indeed a writer. I'm sorry, I don't know if he invented the word yahoo. The yahoos are the crude and dirty brutes of the land of the Houyhnhnms in Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. They are irrational people; they represent the worst side of humanity. Their masters are rational horses, they represent humanity at its best. Perhaps Jonathan Swift did invent the word yahoo.

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A number of teen writers have asked questions about suggested word counts for various writing. Here are some basic (but not carved in stone) guidelines.

In a Nutshell: On average, micro-fiction stories are up to 100 words. Stories up to 1,000 words are called short fiction or flash fiction. A short story is 1,000-7,500 words and is usually a piece a person can read in one sitting. A long short story is called a novelette. A novelette is 7,500-20,000 words. A novella is longer than a novelette and shorter than a novel. A novella is usually 20,000-40,000 words. An adult novel can be 40,000+ words, but the average adult novel is generally 65,000-100,000+ words. Novels over 110,000 words can be difficult to publish. If your novel is 110,000+ words you may consider making it an epic trilogy or a sequel.

For example, my youth/YA fantasy novel, THE LOOSE END OF THE RAINBOW, is the first novel in my Universal Knights Trilogy. Each of the three novels will be no shorter than approximately 63,000 words and no longer than approximately 65,000 words. My Universal Knights Trilogy will likely be approximately 191,000 words.

Keep in mind that each publisher has submission guidelines. Always check a publisher’s genres and specific submission instructions. It is your first test. Are you able to submit material as requested?

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Q. How do you write time with am and pm? Some people put am or pm and other people put AM and PM. I don't know what is right. Show me an example for three o'clock.

A. 3:00 A.M. or 3:00 P.M.

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Q. Why does my teacher always say that we shouldn’t have needless words in our assignments? It really bugs him. I don’t understand what he is talking about.

He told me to write this better. Will you right it better to show me how it could be? It is okay for you to do it. I already got my grade on what I handed in.

John walked to the store that terrible afternoon. He bought a soda. Mary went with John to the store. She is his sister. She bought a soda too. When they got home they found out their house was on fire and completely gone. It was burnt all the way down to the ground, a pile of ashes.

A. Your teacher is trying to encourage you to omit unnecessary words.

John and his sister Mary walked to the store to buy sodas that terrible afternoon. When they returned home they found their house had burned down. All that was left was smoldering ashes on the ground.

Your passage is 57 words. Mine is 33 words.

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Q. What is the difference between disinterested and uninterested? Aren't they just about the same thing most of the time? Like this, he is disinterested in watching that show or she is uninterested in watching that show. It’s the same thing to me.

A. Disinterested means to be impartial. Uninterested is to not be interested.

Examples from The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White.

Let a disinterested person judge our dispute.
(an impartial person)

The man is obviously uninterested in our dispute.
(couldn’t care less)

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Q. My English teacher has a lot of pet peeves. He gets mad when we write hyperbole stuff and he doesn't like it when we say literally. He is always sharing his pet peeves. What are some of yours? I mean about writing, not about anything else.

A. We all make mistakes. I'm not perfect. I mortify myself when I make grammatical errors and I'm grateful when people bring my errors to my attention.

I’m with your teacher. Don’t exaggerate. Hyperbole writing does have its place---but it is a limited place. Don’t write literally unless you mean something is indeed exactly, factually, or accurately what you definitely mean. Literally does not mean totally.

My #1 pet peeve is centered around. It should be centered on. It should not be centered around. I hear media people, sports people, entertainers, and numerous other people say (or they write) centered around all the time. It is incorrect. Don’t say it. Don't write it. (Revolve around is correct.)

Some of my other pet peeves, in no particular order:

Using “at” at the end of a sentence.
Incorrect: I don’t know where my coat is at.
Correct: I don’t know where my coat is.

Writing irregardless instead of regardless.

Excessive profanity in writing, I think it is unimaginative and can quickly become boring.

Clichés usually bore me.

Writing loose when you mean to write lose.

Writing you're when you mean your. (Or your when you mean you're.)

Of instead of have.
Incorrect: You should of called when you realized you’d be late.
Correct: You should have called when you realized you’d be late.

Incorrect: Alot
Correct: A lot

Incorrect: Santa Clause
Correct: Santa Claus

Best: All right
Acceptable: Alright

Less instead of fewer.
Incorrect: I’d like less peas please.
Correct: I’d like fewer peas please.

Waiting on instead of waiting for.
Incorrect: I’m waiting on Mary. When she gets here we will make lunch.
Correct: I’m waiting for Mary. When she gets here we will make lunch.

I think writers should use exclamation points sparingly.

I think writers should use spell check. I’m peeved when they don’t.

I think writers should spell the names of people and places correctly, and the names of book titles correctly. I’m peeved when they don’t.

I don’t like it when a writer shouts with capital letters.

I don’t like it when a writer repeatedly uses the same word. Use a thesaurus, don’t overuse the same words. For example, if you have written that he was astonished, don’t write that she was astonished too.

Instead write:

She was surprised.
She was amazed.
She was dumbfounded.
She was flabbergasted.
She was speechless.

Writing it's instead of its. (Or writing its instead of it's.)

Writing different than instead of different from.

Writing lightening (as in dying your hair) instead of lightning (as in thunder and lightning).

Look up the definitions for inferring and implying. Don’t use inferring when you mean implying. Don’t use implying when you mean inferring.

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Q. What is an essay and what exactly is poetry? I mean I know but I don't really know exactly.

A. I love Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essay

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetry

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Q. What is your favorite book?

A. I always have two, the book I writing and The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame.

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Q. Every time I use a hyphen my teacher marks it wrong. When can you use one?

A. From The Bedford Handbook, 6th Edition:
www.bedfordstmartins.com

The dictionary will tell you whether to treat a compound word as a hyphenated compound, one word, or two words. If the compound word is not in the dictionary treat it as two words.

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Q. What is the weirdest word in the English language?

A. The word "weirdest" is the weirdest word. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist.)

A few links:

http://phrontistery.info/ihlstart.html

http://www.squidoo.com/weird_words

http://listverse.com/2007/09/22/20-weird-english-words

http://www.brownielocks.com/words.html

http://erikpersson.com/journal/2006/08/16/9-weird-words-that-amuse-me

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