Hmm

Hmm – I’m beginning to think that I have completely misunderstood what this site is about. I took this site to be an ‘interactive creative-writing’ site where people could predominantly exchange experiences and perceptions (and formal techniques) in a supportive and caring environment. It is, after all, called ‘ABC TALES’. But, I’m beginning to wonder if I may have made an incorrect assumption here and that the site is, in fact, predominantly a ‘literacy-training’ site or, indeed perhaps, a ‘grammar-training’ site or, indeed perhaps, a ‘rap-on-the-knuckles’ site. (And no, I don’t know if that should be ‘wrap’ or ‘rap’, and I can’t be bothered to look in the dictionary right now. lol)

I also find myself wondering whether grammar and ‘flow’ are always in harmony with each other, and I wonder if (1) linguistic correctness and (2) seeking one’s voice and theme, necessarily, are two things that one should attempt in tandem. And anyway, when it comes to publication, there are no end of editors who can handle that stuff very proficiently, if the publisher decides they want a ‘standardised’ text – in my experience, they don’t always for fear of actually alienating their target market.

Also, in my view, there is not one grammar of English, or of any language – every individual has their own ‘grammar’; the beauty of any single language is that it is able to be a collection of millions and millions of mutually intelligible, individual grammars. Also, it’s a moot point, in my view, where grammar ends and idiolect (and, for that matter style) begins. A seemingly quirky or unusual idiolect or style is not, of itself, wrong – it is just a slightly subtler challenge for the ‘punctuationist’ than a more essentially conformist style of language use. And, there is the whole question of regional variation of language use, particularly with a language like English that is spread over so many different continents and a sub-continent or two. (There is an interesting and thought-provoking book in this area called ‘World EnglishES’, published by C.U.P.)

I have this feeling, in part from studying some of the discussions on this site, that the ideas of grammar and literacy are often confused. I think they need to be kept distinct. For example, if someone were to SAY 'your write' to mean 'you're right', then, in terms of auditory decoding, that would be correct grammar. But if someone were to WRITE 'your write' to mean 'you're right', would that then be incorrect grammar? - I'm beginning to think that, no, it wouldn't - it would simply be incorrect literacy (within specific regional or social norms of acceptability), in that it would only reflect a relative lack of awareness of , or more probably an interest in, how the underlying grammar is expressed in a particular regional-standard graphology and punctuation system.

If my thinking in any, or all, of these areas is nonsensical, then I wait – no, I genuinely do – wait to be enlightened. Maybe, mine is something of an extreme position, and I am happy to accept that view. However, in my view, what I might style an over-rigid position on linguistic correctness militates against what I feel works creatively and in terms of the enablement of self-expression and self-individuation. I haven’t expressed that very well (I know), but those final two issues are , for me, vastly more important, certainly within a creative-writing context (as opposed to an academic, or negotiatory or professional context), than any ‘Academie Anglaise’ absolutes of grammatical correctness. Surely, within a CREATIVE process, one does not have to be negotiatory, nor culturally or linguistically conformed – your text is your truth and your right.