Starting a sentence with But

Zoe R

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I am writing 1st person POV past tense, in her flow of thoughts it often seems natural to start her next thought/sentence with But, but is this something that's a no-no that I will regret and have to edit out later? Or is it one of those okay if you like things?

Example:

I had never been able to clear my mind enough before, so it was a laughable exercise to try now. But I had nothing else to do.


Thanks!
 

cornflake

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I am writing 1st person POV past tense, in her flow of thoughts it often seems natural to start her next thought/sentence with But, but is this something that's a no-no that I will regret and have to edit out later? Or is it one of those okay if you like things?

Example:

I had never been able to clear my mind enough before, so it was a laughable exercise to try now. But I had nothing else to do.


Thanks!

You'll probably regret it and have to edit it out later, which is why it's taught to kids as a no-no. It's not that it's grammatically not proper; it's that once people feel it's ok to use, they use it, and use it, and use it. Soon it's everyplace, starting a ridiculous number of sentences, for no reason. If you remove it (or and) from the sentences it starts, there's usually no difference in meaning. People just stick it on, and it becomes a ubiquitous thing. Look at your example. Does it change the meaning if you remove the but?

Stop doing it; you'll be better off in the long run. Don't replace it with 'and!'
 

Marlys

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Psst: "And" is okay, too.
 

BethS

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Nothing wrong with starting a sentence with "but" or "and."
 

VeryBigBeard

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I agree with cornflake that if you're starting to find yourself starting every sentence that way it might be worth some consideration. That's true for just about any sentence construction, though. Use variety rather than absolute rules.

This is also a question of voice, however. When we speak, we very frequently begin sentences with conjunctions. Which means it can sound more natural to use them, especially if our narrator has a very conversational tone. Not using them at all would end up looking if not unnatural than oddly academic or forced--might work for some narrators but not others. (Dialogue, being privileged, depends on the speaker.)

As with anything, weigh the situation. More practically, write a line however it comes to you. If, on re-reading, you find you're overusing, go take a few out. Won't usually change the meaning. Just don't worry about it while writing, or that worry will stop you from writing naturally and that's far harder to edit in than it is to edit out a few conjunctions.
 

Zoe R

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Thank you all! I know there are things that grammatically can be done, but are not recommended (like overusing adverb - I use those all time when I talk), so I was just making sure I wasn't using a speech pattern that is looked down upon in writing. I agree it doesn't usually change the meaning, but it does soften the language and flow better. I'll watch my frequency though. As always you guys are great, thanks!
 

blacbird

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Most of the kinds of advice that say things like "Never start a sentence with a conjunction" are aimed at formal academic writing, not at narrative fiction prose. The latter is much freer from such constraints, as it is concerned with style as much as grammar.

caw
 

skyhawk0

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Never start a sentence with a coordinating conjunction without a reason. Know your reason for doing so every time and you won't find yourself doing it lazily.

If it gets to the point where you're trying to tell the reader how to read the story, then that'll be a problem. If you start a sentence with 'And', 'But', or 'Or, it should be because the meaning is different (however slightly) if you don't use that conjunction or if you join the sentence to the preceding one. If there's no change in meaning, there's no point in doing it.

Except dialogue, of course. There, it's about the style of the speaker.
 
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