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Does he
have a well-muscled chest (please, yes!) or is his chest
well muscled?
Both of these are correct.
Read on to learn why, but first, I want to include a couple
of great comments I received in response to last month's
article which discussed the current climate of writing
romance, and the ongoing pressure to always write more,
faster, especially if you aspire to contracts with New
York.
"Tell me about it...most
upsetting are the tremendous obstacles a writer faces even
after getting picked up by a NY pub. Not only is there the
constant effort of exposure, exposure, exposure, but [while
attending RT's convention a friend] overheard a couple of
these authors discussing their fear of not meeting their
deadlines. Such pressure from something that started out to
be fun."
author Bonnie Dee
"Today, there are more authors,
more markets, and too many people with the idea that signing
is a miracle, that the moment you sign, you hit
instant fame and fortune, and become like Nora Roberts. You
don't. Writing is an ENTERTAINMENT job and I'm accepting
that you just have to strive, strive, strive. The reality:
writing may be a dream job but it is still a JOB!!!!"
NY print and e-pubbed author,
who chooses to remain anonymous
I seriously considered ignoring the
hyphen and devoting this month's column solely to the topic
"Has the Fun been Sucked out of Writing?"
I'd love to hear from more people on
this, the aspiring and established authors, and even
readers...does it bother you when you hear a favorite author
talking about the business of writing? Does it
take away any of the magic of their stories? Or, if
you're an author who's found a way to balance the reality of
writing as a job, and still enjoy the creative process, I
invite you to share your tips and experiences. I'll
address this topic again in the next few issues.
Larissa
RETURNING
TO OUR HARD-TO-USE HYPHEN
When I first began writing,
I tended to hyphenate everything. My official proofreader,
a lovely woman in her seventies that has taught me a
tremendous amount about writing (though I'm fairly sure my
writing has taught her a thing or two about erotic
activities!) would go through each manuscript, deleting most
of my instinctively inserted hyphens, but also putting in a
few of her own. Ahhhh! What to do? How do you know when
to use a hyphen and when it's unnecessary?
EVER-EVOLVING ENGLISH
To answer this, I consulted
several respected grammar resources and quickly determined
that part of the confusion surrounding hyphens comes from
the ever-changing rules of the English language.
One great example of this
is the simple word email. It isn't even in my trusty
1980s high school dictionary, so let's take a quick look at
how this word has evolved in less than 20 years.
Originally, it was
"electronic mail," and then, because it was easier to type
and say, the term soon became "e-mail." (Note, the hyphen;
in this instance, it not only indicates that the two
sections of the word are intrinsically connected, it also
doubles for a heck of a lot of missing letters: l, e, c,
t, r, o, n, i, and c.)
The general trend, as
stated by Mr. Strunk way back in 1935 (which I tend to agree
with after studying so many Regency words), is for two words
to first be connected by a hyphen, and then the hyphen
slowly moves out of the picture, making way for a compound
word. In this case, email.
BASIC
HYPHEN USAGE
Use with compound modifiers
and adjectives:
1. Anytime you use two or
more words that have a combined, connected meaning, you
indicate this with a hyphen. Example: The twenty-six
year-old woman.
2. More specifically, when
your connected words are used to describe another
word, a hyphen is often necessary to ensure that your
meaning is clear. Example: the rat-infested basement.
{TRICK: just like I do
every single time I write the word "it's" in order to
confirm that I'm using the correct spelling, I mentally say
the sentence substituting "it is"; I quickly remove the
apostrophe if it doesn't make sense, realizing the correct
word choice is "its." By the same token, we aren't saying
it is a "rat basement," (just rat-infested!) nor would we
say that he has a "well chest " (but instead, a well-muscled
one). By saying the phrase in this manner, it becomes easy
to know when a hyphen is necessary in order to convey the
meaning intended.}
EXCEPTION
Sorry! but there always
seems to be one with English grammar, doesn't there? When
the combined words include an adverb (usually, words ending
in -ly), a hyphen isn't necessary. Example: exceedingly broad
shouldered; her boringly predictable existence.
AND YET
ANOTHER EXCEPTION
If the compound descriptor
comes after the word it is describing, the hyphens
are usually omitted as unnecessary.
Example: her brownies were drool worthy.
This is where common sense comes into
play. Personally, I would probably hyphenate this but
according to my research, when the compound adjective is
placed after the item being described, unless the
hyphens are necessary for clarity, they are typically left
out.
I know, this can get really
confusing...and I've only summarized a few of the rules.
Great thing about editors, huh?
I think the most important thing here, as
with all of your writing, is to think about what you're
doing and have a reason why you choose a certain word
or punctuation mark over another and be consistent
whichever way you deem correct. Good luck!
POP QUIZ
Heh, heh…I always wanted to
play teacher, and it doesn't hurt to find out if anyone is
reading this darn article, either. :-) The first person
to send me the following paragraph, correctly hyphenated,
will win a $5 gift certificate to Amber Quill Press. I'll
post the answer and winner's name once I receive one.
Ready? Go!
The thirty something bank
account executive finally decided to clean her seldom used
basement. She feared it might be mouse infested, and had
put the dreaded, onerous task off for ages. Unfortunately,
she slipped on the rotting wood steps and let loose a hair
raising, ear splitting yell on her way down. Fortunately,
her well muscled neighbor heard and ran to investigate.
Moments later, carried by his exceedingly strong arms in his
mouth watering embrace, she was returned safely to her
Shaker inspired kitchen, where she proceeded to share her
latest batch of Triple Chocolate Brownies, quickly winning
his long term undying devotion. They announced their spur
of the moment wedding only days later.
POP QUIZ UPDATE
Egad! I didn't know
I'd made this so difficult! Even my writing friends
are afraid to give my little paragraph a try, so kudos to
those wonderful people who have emailed me! I've
gotten a number of replies, and several that are really
close to correct, but so far, no one has hit ye ole hyphens
spot on. Sooo.....I'll accept entries through this
weekend. If I don't get an absolute winner, I'll award
two $3 Amber Quill gift certificates, one to each of the two
entrants with the most correct answers. ~Larissa
Congratulations to Vicky and Jenny!
Each of them sent in the
closest-to-correct Hyphen Pop Quizzes and they will both win
$3 Amber Quill gift certificates. In
next month's column, I will
post the correct answer, with some commentary and
explanation--and also hope that everyone is still talking to
me after this pain-in-the-arse assignment. :-) Larissa
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