began

Maryn said:

Began, started to, and similar words introduce hesitation which is not there in the reality. I reserve them only for acts in which the beginning, taking that first step toward one's goal or fate, is what matters.

There is literally no way one can begin to scream. You're either screaming or you're not screaming. Writing or not writing. Crying or not crying.

Those words are on my edit-yourself list to seek and destroy.

Maryn, who never misses them

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You can begin screaming, and you can begin writing. Saying you can't is just wrong.

I began writing my latest novel two weeks ago. It isn't finished.. I didn't write it two weeks ago, I began writing it.

And when someone begins screaming, it means it's an ongoing process that didn't stop with one scream. You can scream over, and over and over, which is what "began screaming" is supposed to mean.

Everything has a beginning, a time when you start doing it.

"screamed" is often the right choice, but it means it's was done, finished, over, past tense. He screamed, and that was that.

It's like asking when do you jump off a cliff? If your feet are still on the ground, you haven't jumped. If your feet are in the air, you've already jumped. It's a philosophical nitpick that simple isn't true in real life.

Everything has a beginning, including screaming, writing, and crying.

He opened his journal and began to write says a completely different thing that He opened his journal and wrote.

James is right. "Began" refers to the start of something that is or was ongoing. All of the sentences in all three examples are correct. They just say different things. To decide which is preferable, one must know the intended meaning.

tko said:

John rolled down the window and began screaming.

vs

John rolled down the window and screamed.



She opened her diary and began to write.

vs.

She opened her diary and wrote.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She told him an he began to cry.

vs.

She told him and he cried.

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I would add that "began" and "started" are also useful to show interrupted action, if you want to emphasize that the person didn't get very far into the intended act. For example: "I had just started to set the picnic table when it began to rain."

Maryn said:

Began, started to, and similar words introduce hesitation which is not there in the reality. I reserve them only for acts in which the beginning, taking that first step toward one's goal or fate, is what matters.

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This is especially a good call when writers get in an unconscious "began to"/"started to" habit. I remember being called on it as a very young writer (in my sixties ), and I have two current clients who abuse it several times a chapter unless it's pointed out.

"The bomb began to explode" is not equivalent to "The bomb exploded."

How about "The bomb began to explode suddenly."

caw

The bomb began to suddenly start exploding.

Rufus Coppertop said:

The bomb began to suddenly start exploding.

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Yes, the chain reaction in the fission bomb suddenly began.

Rufus Coppertop said:

The bomb began to suddenly start exploding.

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The bomb began to suddenly start exploding violently.

We laugh at this, but I've seen more than a little writing that fills sentences with such ridiculous fluff, often from writers who insist that nothing further can be trimmed from their writing.

Including things posted for critique on this site.

caw

Me too. And yes, they often do insist that nothing can be trimmed because they just can't see the problem.

The unnecessary "began to" is something I catch sometimes when beta reading. It's a pretty common mistake.

The two times when I'll deliberately use began/started are when the behavior in question is subsequently interrupted, or when the action or event is something that has a discrete and noticeable beginning, but it is going to be going on for a while.

So in the first case:

She started to scream, but the man clamped his hand over her mouth.

She began to run down the hall, but tripped over the rug and went sprawling.


In the second case:

It began to rain.

She started to sweat.

He began to cry.

In these cases, just writing, "it rained," or "she sweated," or "he cried," changes the meaning.

And "An alarm shrilled," sounds to me like it shrilled once, whereas, "An alarm started to shrill," implies the shrilling will continue for some time.

But saying, "The bomb began to explode?" No. Not unless it's a really sustained reaction we're talking about here, or something's going to stop its explosion from going to completion.

Roxxsmom has pretty much nailed it for me. If an action last for a sustained period of time, such as raining or screaming, then I don't see a problem with "began to..." as in "began to rain" or "began to scream".

But it does slow the pace of the text down, so I would only use it if the beginning of the action and its continuation were important somehow. For example, if we are describing rainfall we might want to say "it rained", but that finishes the description as soon as it starts. Instead we could describe the sky gradually darkening, the first drops falling, the air getting cooler ... and then we might want to include a "began to" phrase.

"Began to" does not work so well for actions that are over and done with almost instantly. "The bomb began to explode" doesn't really make much sense unless we have some unusual kind of bomb which takes a while to explode.

"He screamed" suggests a short sharp scream.

"He began to scream" suggests that he carries on screaming.

Neither is right or wrong - just different nuances of meaning. The problem comes when "began to" is used in the wrong context or is overused.

You could go down Maryn's route and never use "began to". Or you could use it sparingly and in the right context. I don't see it as an auto-fail word.

Insofar as it relates to character actions, to me the use of began should be reconsidered if it's use does not create an image of how the character is beginning to do whatever he has apparently begun to do.

As usual, context is very relevant.

tko said:

John rolled down the window and began screaming.

vs

John rolled down the window and screamed.

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Both versions are a bit off. The orchestration. Acted out like a stage play, somewhat. That he felt like screaming, but first had to roll down a window as if following a set procedure, somewhat. Emotions aren't like that, by and large. At least authentic ones, for the most part. They happen, for the most part. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! imo, of course, for the most part. probably lousy advice. feel free to ignore it and go with the replies upstream. 14 all told !

I had this one (better worded), caused me a lot of thought.

'G. began to run toward the tower.
"Wait!" his friend shouted, and G. stopped in his tracks.'

Here it is 'began', because the intended action wasn't finished.

John rolled down the window and began screaming.

vs

John rolled down the window and screamed.

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To reiterate what I said in my post, the first one implies that John's screaming was going to be a sustained effort, something he'd be doing for a while. The second implies one scream. Further description, of course, can paint an even clearer picture.

John rolled down the window and began to scream like a siren. "Eeeeeeeeeeeee." What was wrong with the kid?

vs.

John rolled down the window and screamed, "Help!"

John rolled down the window and began screaming "Eeeeeeee." is exactly the same as saying John rolled down the window and screamed "Eeeeeeeee." One or the other doesn't change the length of the scream.

The writer's intention of "began screaming" could be for the reader to imagine John contorting his face as if about to scream but never actually makes a sound. The beginning of a scream doesn't necessarily begin with sound.

The OP's original sentence "John rolled down the window and began screaming" would work well in explaining actions of a character in a movie script. When acted out, John starts to scream, but the scene cuts off as his scream intensifies (maybe with a reverb trail expanding to fill 100% of the stereo spectrum).

Sorry, David. Don't agree. If you meant to quote the phrases already used in a previous response they are not exactly the same. One is suggesting continuity and the other a single action.

And there is no way 'began screaming' can convey an attempt to scream but with no scream resulting.

To me (although it is out of context again), ...began to stand up... is a better instance of perhaps scratching one's head re the 'how does one begin to do that?' intent. I accept that intent and context are the important elements missing here and 'began to stand up' may make sense in the right context. Context is all.

1. John rolled down the window and began screaming "Eeeeeee."
2. John rolled down the window and screamed "Eeeeeee."

Either way "Eeeeeee." is the same length and sound.

How about...

3. John rolled down the window and screamed "Eeeeeee!" until he couldn't scream any more.

or

4. John rolled down the window and screamed "Eeeeeee...."

Maybe Example 3 or 4 conveys John's action better?


One could argue that "screamed 'Eeeeeee'" is actually a longer sound, because "began screaming 'Eeeeeee'" could infer that the scream was stopped at some point earlier than being completed.

1. I began running from the cops.
2. I ran from the cops.

Bufty, are you saying Sentence 1 infers I kept running and running and running on into infinity, while Sentence 2 infers I got caught by the cops or possibly started walking at some point earlier than Sentence 1?

You're basing your conclusions on what you believe the sentence means. Neither of the "running from the cops" examples above infers continualness or temporal measurement.

Also, in a real event when you are going to scream, let me know if it's an action limited only to your voice, or if it also includes a faster beating heart, feelings of anger or fear, muscle movements, etc. If we want the reader to empathize with the character, we'd have to assume the reader will understand that the keyword "scream" includes body functions a scream is made up of. Sure the context surrounding the scream will help to build up the scene, but we can't assume the reader is going to just imagine the character letting out a sound with an open mouth and that's it.

"Began to scream" might also infer someone is about to scream, but never actually lets out the sound. Imagine you're in the library and you're with a little child who opens his mouth about to scream. You might say the child began screaming but I stopped him just in time.

"Began screaming" is very vague and doesn't infer anything, except what one wants to believe it means.

Agree with Sage.

Re your repeated examples, DavidMischvek, they were your examples deliberately constructed to focus on the sound to justify your particular approach - they were not quoted from any prior posts, which focused more on the use of the verb 'to begin'.

All in all, I'd agree on it's hard to determine the quality of the sentence without knowing the context. But I wouldn't ever agree that simply saying someone began doing something ever equates to length of action.