[New-Poetry] Not For Grammarians

[Suzanne Burns]

On 9/3/06, JforJames at aol.com <JforJames at aol.com> wrote:
>
>  Another thought on this subject: Think if we asked our playwrights
> to compose dialogue in proper sentences?
>
> Mamet could go probably go three full acts without a complete sentence...
>


Mamet is brilliant for his attention to how people actually speak in
conversation, what is said, what is implied, and what is left unsaid.

I think the whole point of using "proper" grammar (or not) is to achieve a
kind of dramatic effect-- if you are breaking the rules, let there be a
reason for doing so, and please let it be effective.  If it is disruptive,
or comes across as a mannerism or bad habit, or a parody of another writer
(yes, Mamet is often parodied) it just doesn't work.

For example: I have worked for years as a technical writer/editor-- when I
am composing a technical document I follow the rules very carefully, not out
of pedantry but because doing so is the least disruptive for the reader, and
reflects best on the client.  Experimental grammar in the Help section for
some high end and very expensive software is not going to sound poetic but
unprofessional.  If I am writing a poem, a play, or a story everything is
completely different-- my reader also has completely different expectations,
and playing with grammar, syntax, or punctation is a way of challenging
those expectations and startling the reader with something new.  Its funny
that you bring this up Jim because right now I am reading Heinlein's The
Moon is  Harsh Mistress, much of which is narrated by a speaker whose
grammar stumbles-- it works because there is a reason for it.

That's the key for me:  there has to be a reason for it.  It has to do some
work.  I only get annoyed by the misuse of words ("That word does not mean
what you think it means....") or sloppy grammar and punctuation when I think
it is genuinely sloppy, done out of ignorance, or as a tick, or out of
habit.

Suzanne Burns
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