RE: "and then," or simply "then"?

["Downing, David" <DavidDowning -at- users -dot- com>]

From: "Sean Brierley" <sbrierley -at- Accu-Time -dot- com>
Subject: RE: "and then," or simply "then"?

is this topic still going well remember that oral and written
communication are actually different and if you have three choices for a
sentence and two are grammatically correct and one is not and all three
are clear concise and unambiguous and your reason for not writing the
correct one is only that when you personally speak the sentence you dont
pause as much as the correct grammar would indicate to you then i
suggest you consider your approach to writing in general for it might be
that none of the common underpinnings of the written language really
work for you personally when you speak and you might just prefer to
chuck the lot as for me im open to breaking a rule on a consistent basis
if i have a good reason to but you know your audience so if theyre going
to judge incorrect grammar in light of your speaking preferences then go
for it i do however recommend you be consistent in that approach cheers
sean

---------------------------------------------

Thank you, James Joyce.

This is a good point, though. I think the reason that the "Then" by
itself, with the comma seemed okay to me is that it reflects how I would
say the sentence out loud, and the natural patterns of speech do NOT
always line up with the rules of good writing. Therefore, you should NOT
use how you speak as a model for how you write.

In fact, one piece of advice I've heard many times in fiction writing is
that when writing dialog, you should NOT actually try to capture every
single nuance of actual speech. The dialog must sound natural, but that
does not mean including every pause, false start, "uh," and "Umm."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and 
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical 
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.