Writing Tip: Confusing Words

As writers, I’m sure we have all come up to a word or phrase that has been a bit confusing.

I was thinking about some of those confusing words and how they can be mis-used. I want to discuss a few of them and see if I can help remove some of the confusion.

Here are just some of these confusing words that came to my mind.

• Farther and further.

• Wither, weather and whether.

• Your and you’re.

Farther and further

• Farther refers to distance.

• Tom ran farther than Jim in the race.

• Jane is farther along in the book than is Mark.

• Further means In addition to or additional.

• Before they can make a decision, they will need to look further into the matter.

• I think the dictionary definition actually muddies the water in the definition of Further. In strict terms, the dictionary states that Further can be used to mean both distance and additional.

• To avoid any confusion, I have adopted a policy of using Farther to indicate distance, any physical distance. I use Further to indicate, in addition to.

Wither, weather and whether

The confusion with these words stems from the fact that they sound very similar.

• Wither is a verb that pertains to something aging.

• To become dry and shriveled.

• To become shrunken or wrinkled from age or disease.

• To fall into decay or decline.

• Weather is a noun - the state of the atmosphere at a place and time as regards temperature, wind, rain, etc. A less used form of Weather is ta verb to endure. They weathered the attack.

• Whether is a conjunction. expressing a doubt or choice between alternatives

Your and you’re

These two words are commonly interchanged simply because they sound exactly alike.

• The word your is what is called a “possessive determiner.” It refers to something that is belonging to, or is associated with, the person or people that the speaker is addressing.

• You’re is a contraction of, “You Are.”

The reason it is important to avoid any confusion is that and misuse of these words can result in a rejection. As I have often written, many publishers and agents have, what I call, First Readers. They have different names, but their job is to screen submissions. If a submission comes in and has any mistakes, that submission is mostly likely rejected on the spot.

The above words are just some of the very obvious instant rejection indicators that the First Readers will see.

As writers, you will develop your own literary voice. It is your literary voice that lets you capture a mood or develop a character. However, any freedom you have in the body of your manuscript should not be assumed in a submission. The submission must be perfect in terms of grammar, punctuation and formatting. Don’t give the First Reader a reason to stamp your submission - REJECTED.

Any thoughts or comments? Drop me a line at: kercherblog@gmail.com