Grammar Corner: Further versus Farther

I was advised recently by my MFA mentor to look into the difference between these terms.  While I'm not sure if my misuse stems from misinformation or from a repetitious typo (I somehow always type breath when I mean to type breathe), I followed my mentor's advice and here is what I've found.

It's confusing to say the least as one appears to speak of actual physical distance while the other does not.  But if we look at the further, freedictionary.com tells us this:

fur·ther (fûrr)
adj. A comparative of far.
1. More distant in degree, time, or space: a result that was further from our expectations than last time; the further lamppost.
2. Additional: a further example; a further delay.
1. To a greater extent; more: considered further the consequences of her actions.
2. In addition; furthermore: He stated further that he would not cooperate with the committee.
3. At or to a more distant or advanced point: went only three miles further; reading five pages further tonight. 

So when it comes to further we might say: Jimmy has come a great deal further with his studies than little Janie.  We might also say: I want to take my game further than it's ever been before.  In the previous sentence, 'further' indicates an intangible destination.  But what about concepts that two possible interpretations such as heaven/nirvana/the ether?  "I wanted to go to heaven but knew I would have to go much further to get there," versus, "I wanted to go to heaven but knew I would have to go much farther to get there."  Does one mean spiritual distance and the other mean down the road?  That's where it gets confusing for me. 

far·ther (färr)
adv. A comparative of far.
1. To or at a more distant or remote point: ran farther than the others.
2. To or at a more advanced point or stage: I went no farther that day.
3. Usage Problem To a greater extent or degree: carried the idea farther.
adj. A comparative of far.
More distant; remoter: the farther shore.

Methinks that the free dictionary might not be enough to answer this grammar question.  I've called in some experts, namely Grammar Girl.  

In this article, she breaks it down simply into:

Farther = Far(ness) as in the physical distance ('far' being a pnuemonic device)

Further = Figurative distance, which can include abstracts like degrees

This is satisfactory for me, but now that I've focused on these words, I feel like the simple breakdown might be too simple.  English has a knack for breaking all of it's own rules, after all.  But for now, I'll try to keep farther down the road and further up the scale.  And when it comes to 'death' or 'heaven' or 'hell,' I suppose it depends on the meaning the author is going for.  "I wanted to go to Heaven, Mississippi but it was farther than I realized," or, "I wanted to be a good girl and go to heaven but preacher said I was further into sinning than a Saint into praying." 

Grammar Corner: Forget Grammar

That's what the editor is for! Not to mention the second draft.

Now this grammar suggestion, this one is quite controversial in the writing world, and has been a point of contention between authors and the different schools of writing. However, as far as I am concerned this is one of the most important rules. Allow me to explain.

Grammar is a necessary and innate part of our culture as a writer. This we know. The key word in that phrase is innate. If we want to call ourselves writers, something we are already quite familiar with is the English language (or any language in which you are writing in), and how to use it. We have a lot of practice in the realm of grammar just out of practice alone. We know simple sentences have a noun, verb, and predicate, and end in periods, questions end in question marks, and exclamation marks can be an eyesore when there are too many in unison. We get this and our hands and brain know how to deal with it naturally.

So what do I mean when I say forget grammar?

Simple.

I mean literally, forget it. Not in the sense where you completely disregard it, or go out of your way to make every sentence you write a grammatical fallacy. No, nothing like that. What I mean is simple. Do not let grammar dictate your writing. Do not spend hours and hours letting the sentence structure of one section of your prose keep you stuck for hours because it's just not right. We're all guilty of this, I know I am. When a sentence doesn't flow right, we fixate. Every writer is a little bit OCD in my opinion, and like any OCD it starts to interfere not only with the writing, but the life of the writer.

So forget it.

Now this is easier said than done of course, as is anything with writing. Because we've been trained, no conditioned from a very young age to be very attentive to grammar and grammatical fallacies. We've been taught to worship the academic essay and the 9 sentence structure.

Stop! Right now! Just throw that all out of your mind, because if you're here, you are writing for pleasure, you are writing because it's something you enjoy, because you're embracing something deeper than the academic essay. Any manual can teach you how to write a good research paper, but no manual in the world can tell you how to properly break all the rules and become a New York Times Bestseller.

One of the greatest things about being a writer is the freedom we are given. When we let go of the mental constraints that grammar puts on us, the need to make sure we always use the right word at the right time, the right, right or write, then or than, or even where we put a comma in a sentence. Constantly watching for little mistakes that are easy to spot and edit later, we are inhibiting our natural writing process, and inhibiting our ability to write all together.

And sentence structure, that's another matter all together. We are given all these rules that tell us how to write a sentence, but those rules often lead to dry and frankly boring commentary that wouldn't be fit in a 'How-To' manual. So forget about those rules. Writing is an art form, and one of the greatest achievements an artist can make evolving the art. Many authors have adopted a lyrical or poetic approach to their writing, replacing periods for commas, or quotations with never underestimating the intelligence of the reader. Play with your writing, build on your writing, and worry about grammar later.

Those little mistakes that everyone nags and nitpicks about, those can be edited in the future. But losing your story because you're not able to focus because all the rules are holding you down, that can sometimes be devastating. So just write, and enjoy what you're writing. Grammar, sentence structure, rules; all of those can wait until later.



Note: This is merely the thoughts and ideal expressed by me personally and may not be shared with other contributors on this blog. And remember, editors are there to help you.

Grammar Corner: Gerunds and Particples

Most of us know what these little critters are even if not all of us know what they are called.  Let's start with gerunds.  A gerund is a verb ending in 'ing' that has been re-purposed in the sentence to act as a noun.  You can find another definition and several examples here, but I've also included my own take on this grammar component below.

• Teaching is my favorite profession. (In this sentence teaching becomes a noun and the subject.)
• Sometimes all I can think about is teaching.  (Again, teaching is a noun but it become the direct object of the subject.)
• I don't like running on sand.  (The gerund is still running but it now acts as a gerund phrase for the entire direct object is 'running on sand' as the thing that is disliked.)
• Running never held much enjoyment for me, particularly when done on sand.  (Running is clearly the subject.)

When it comes to participle phrases, the 'ing' verb remains a verb but does not act as the link between subject and predicate.  These phrases appear at the beginning of a sentence and let us know what has happened, or is happening, at the time of the sentence which they accompany.  A past particle phrase indicates something happened and a present participle phrase indicates it's happening right now.

• Tossed about during the boat ride, she felt like throwing up when they finally reached shore.  ('Tossed about during the boat ride' is the participle phrase and as it is in the past tense, it is a past participle.)
• Glaring, he imagined his fist making contact with his brother's smug face. (Glaring is a stand alone present participle.)
• Glaring at his brother's smug face, he imagined punching him. ('Glaring at his brother's smug face' is a present participle phrase.)
• Thoroughly drenched by the sudden downpour, Elaine changed her mind about meeting Mr. Sampson for tea.  ('Drenched by the sudden downpour' is a past participle phrase and thoroughly modifies it.)

Amanda LaFantasie (Skoora) © 2013

Grammar Corner: Analogy and Metaphor

In the literary world, analogy is like duct tape while metaphor is a fun house mirror.  These are the rudimentary tools used to engage the reader.  In an analogy, you compare one thing to another thing and in so doing, add to and enhance the meaning of the first thing.

ex) My writing is like a river filled with sharks.

ex) Her pregnant belly was as a big as a beach ball.

The key to analogy is comparison.  Metaphor, on the other hand, foregoes comparison and ups the ante.  In a metaphor a thing is called something else entirely and the desired effect is to create vivid imagery and give the reader greater insight into the scene, character, or theme.

ex) My brain is a broken computer.

ex) The dog was the master of the house, lording over his human subjects.

Amanda LaFantasie (Skoora) © 2012

Grammar Corner: Past Tenses Aplenty

The English Language is a fierce and complex thing, not just in the words, but in the grammar as well.  As writers, the English Language, is our most valuable asset (that and imagination and life experience), and there are many aspects of it that we take for granted.  Taking it for granted is not a bad thing at all - we converse, we read, we write, and through all of this we learn what sounds organic and makes syntactical sense without having to know anything of formal grammar.  Something that usually comes to us quite naturally is the usage of past tense in writing.  Did you know that there are nine different forms of past tense?  I didn't.  I only looked it up because the book I'm currently reading, How Not to Write a Novel by Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman, mentioned that there were six.  I won't go into all nine forms here since most of us handle 'had, would have, had been, etc' with ease, but if you are curious about the specifics please visit Daily Writing Tips.  It is not necessary to know what a gerund, participle, or appositive phrase is in order to be a magnificent writer; however, it never hurts to be knowledgeable of one's craft even to the point of being able to say, 'that there's a perfect example of past habitual!'

Amanda LaFantasie (Skoora) © 2012

Grammar Corner - The tense you didn't know about!

I'm not talking of past tense, present tense, or even future tense. But rather, paragraph tense, or formally named tense consistency. When I was a sophomore in my Beginning Fiction Writer's course, there was a rule that was hounded into my mind.

Particularly the idea of -ed vs -ing and -ed vs -s 

But what about them!  What is so important about prefixes and suffixes, especially these two? That was what I wanted to know! Apparently a great deal! A common grammatical error that writers stand to make on a regular bases is forgetting their verb tense.  It is not something that many people - I know I don't - think about, because it just does not feel natural. However, for writing, natural isn't always how one goes and gets published.

So what can you do?

Stay consistent!  This very easy idea is actually very hard to execute when writing.  I myself have gone through several of my previous texts in order to check my own consistency. I will spare you the pain of such an experience.  How can you remain consistent? Make sure that if you have a paragraph/page/book that uses the -ed verb tense, keep it that way! Or if you have a paragraph/page/book that uses the -ing verb tense, stay consistent. This one little rule may surprise you in how often it is misused.

Keep in mind this does directly correlate to past, present, or future tense, and as that can change in a paragraph, well, so will your verb tense. Let's make it more complicated!

Let me give you an example so this is easier to grasp. This is a short excerpt from my own short story, "Shoes". Lo and behold I made this mistake more than fifty times in the first draft.

ex 1)"..."Chatty?" he asked, looking down at his older partner..."

ex 2)"..."Chatty?" he asked as he looked down at his older partner."

See the difference there? That small edit changed the entire tone of the sentence, and created consistency, whereas the other sentence led me into a five comma run on!

This is just a brief look at this rule, but for more on verb tense, I have provided a link below that discusses the real nitty gritty of the rule!

Verb Tense Consistency

~Beth