Subject and Predicates

[maestrowork]

ARGH!

I'm editing something and I swear, 8 out of 10 times the writers do it wrong. Here are two examples (and I'm not even halfway done with the edit):

"Sporting a pearl necklace and harness, I photographed this cute pug sitting on the lawn." (is it the pug or the photographer who is wearing the harness?)

"Knowing that there would be many submissions, a question was posed..." (the question is a very smart person)

And these are PROFESSIONAL writers!


/end venting

[RedScylla]

Just imagine how bad it is grading Freshman Comp essays... *sigh*

[Shadow_Ferret]

Reading those quotes, a response felt required.

[maestrowork]

Seeing your response, a laughter was let out loudly.

[dpaterso]

Reading this thread, what is the question?

-Derek

[backslashbaby]

I have one!

Am I doing it here?

It reminded her of lying in the back of her parents' car driving to Myrtle Beach before the sun came up, one back tire thumping a hypnotic rhythm.

[dpaterso]

It reminded her of lying in the back of her parents' car driving to Myrtle Beach before the sun came up, one back tire thumping a hypnotic rhythm.
I do not believe that you are! A busy sentence perhaps, but I didn't lose track of the POV subject. Mayhap if a comma had slipped in after "car" I might have been confused over how she could be lying in the back of the car while driving.

-Derek

[Izz]

Hmmm... i think i have this problem too. For me, it comes from attempting to vary sentence structure, though i don't think i've ever written one this bad:

"Sporting a pearl necklace and harness, I photographed this cute pug sitting on the lawn."

Oh dear. Now i have a compulsive need to go back through all my writing that's out on sub and check.

[maestrowork]

I have one!

Am I doing it here?

It reminded her of lying in the back of her parents' car driving to Myrtle Beach before the sun came up, one back tire thumping a hypnotic rhythm.

Not necessarily, but it's convoluted. In context we know the back tire refers to the car, but you followed that with a few more things: Myrtle Beach and the sun. It's probably better to rearrange the sentence for clarity:

It reminded her of lying in the back of her parents' car, one back tire thumping a hypnotic rhythm, driving to Myrtle Beach before the sun came up.

[StoryG27]

"Sporting a pearl necklace and harness, I photographed this cute pug sitting on the lawn." (is it the pug or the photographer who is wearing the harness?)


I think the pug is wearing the pearls, and the photographer is wearing the harness.

I know if I had a pug, it would wear pearls. And if I had a harness. . .Well, that is probably a topic for another day.

[Jamesaritchie]

In that first example, I don't even know which one is sitting on the lawn.

[The Lonely One]

Just imagine how bad it is grading Freshman Comp essays... *sigh*

My Flash Fiction professor was considering giving this test (http://www.pindeldyboz.com/gaitest.htm)to his freshman comp students :evil

[StoryG27]

My Flash Fiction professor was considering giving this test (http://www.pindeldyboz.com/gaitest.htm)to his freshman comp students :evil
If I was given this test when I was in college, I would have fainted. That would just be so cruel. Funny, but cruel.

[BigWords]

By 'pearl necklace' do you mean...

No, never mind. :D

[scarletpeaches]

Dagnabbit, BigWords stole my joke...

[dawinsor]

My pug would wear armor:

http://www.organicarmor.com/Products/Pets/index.htm

[Matera the Mad]

Maybe the pug is really the photographer?

In recent beta reading, I found only two danglers in a whole novel. Thank goodness for AW grammar consciousness-raising.

[backslashbaby]

Thank y'all for the thoughts on mine :)

[Fallen]

ARGH!
"Sporting a pearl necklace and harness, I photographed


Shouldn't this be in the adult section under fetish? :D