Writing Thoughts

Grammar

I'm sorry but this needs to be said. Hindi lang ako, kung hindi marami ang nao-off sa isang story kapag wala ka pa sa kalahati ng first chapter ay bombarded ka na ng grammatical error (specifically, in English). It's not that we're criticizing the author's way of writing, but it's the reading of the story itself that is kind of DISTRACTING when it has lots of grammatical error.

Personally, kapag ganito ay hindi ko na talaga magawang basahin pa ang susunod na chapter. It's like trying to walk habang may bubog ako sa paa. It's annoying and painful. Do you get me?

Before anything else, I'd like to point out na hindi ako perpekto sa pagsusulat. I'm very much aware that my writing has lots of flaws too that I could improve on. I do try to improve. Please don't hate me, lol.

In case you're wondering why readers don't proceed to your next chapter but no one steps up to tell you why so you're stuck wondering why, then let me help you. This might be the reason why. Distracting kasi talaga doon sa mga medyo grammar nazi ang nasa first chapter ka pa lang ng isang kwento, ang first impression mo na sa story mo is puno ng grammatical error.

I really don't mind grammatical error when I communicate with people or when I'm reading random opinionated posts in Twitter and Facebook (gets ko namang hindi natin first language yun), but when it comes to reading a story... it irks me—I'm sorry. I just think that when honing your craft, more effort must be exerted.

I get this though, lalo na sa mga medyo bata pa. Kahit naman ako dati, ang mga luma kong kwento kapag binabalikan ko ngayon ay may mga grammatical error din kaya nakaka-cringe, lol. Kahit naman ganun ay sinusubukan ko noong i-improve yun.

Of course, pwede itong ma-improve. I recommend you read more if you want to include English language in your story. It doesn't need to be a novel talaga. You can read articles too! Marami riyang interesting articles. Watch more English series and movies as well. Kung talagang gusto mong maging direct, marami riyan sa Youtube na nagtuturo ng English. Meron pang diretsahang common grammar mistakes ang tina-tackle. You can even ask help from your friends na kung pwedeng i-check ang chapter mo bago mo i-publish. Maraming pwedeng paraan.

Hindi kailangang maging perpekto sa grammar. A bit of grammatical error is perfectly tolerable and ignorable for most readers. It's the bombarding of grammatical mistakes na parang mapapaisip kang "Wala bang pakialam tong writer na to sa grammar? Nagre-revise ba to o ano?" that's annoying.

Keep in mind na hindi na baby pa ang Wattpad. Sobrang lawak na ng mundo natin dito, kaya marami pang ibang kwentong pwedeng mapagpilian ang readers diyan. Some writers are not better than others in general, but they're more eager to learn and improve. They're more open to owning up to their flaws para ma-furnish nila nang ma-furnish ang pagsusulat. That's it. That's why umaangat sila.

PS. I'm not criticizing any author. I'm criticizing this detail na parating hindi binibigyang pansin sa pagsusulat.

As always, laban lang, manunulat! 🌼🌼