An opportunity to improve our writing by avoiding the use of ‘ing’ words in fiction. There are a number of reasons why the use of ‘ing’ words can interrupt the flow and meaning of your text.. here is a snippet from D.Wallace Peach and I suggest that you head over to read the rest of the post.
A few weeks ago, I had a blog-conversation with Jacqui Murray of Worddreams about editing out gerunds (those “ing” words). I’ve heard many times that these words should be avoided when writing fiction but never understood why. While some writing no-nos stab me in the eye every time I read them (such as filter words), gerunds never really bothered me.
So, a little research later, here’s the scoop:
Gerunds do three things:
They express ongoing action when combined with auxiliary (helping) verbs:
She was washing her hands.
The snow will be piling up all night.
They act as nouns:
Vacuuming kept the dog hair to a minimum.
Walking helps me stay healthy.
They act as adjectives:
The falling apple bonked her on the head.
A failing grade won’t get me into college.
Head over and tighten up your writing where necessary…
Really good post.
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Definitely Jacqui x
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Thanks again for sharing, Sally. I love how we learn from each other. 🙂 Thanks to Jacqui for the inspiration. 🙂
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Always good to have a refresher course..hugsx
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Grammar nerd here. It’s a common misconception that all “-ing” words are gerunds, but a gerund is defined as a verbal that acts as a noun.
Source: https://owl.purdue.edu/search.html?q=gerund
Most of the time, the “no gerunds rule” is used for the progressive verb tenses (the first two examples), but it’s a misnomer.
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Thanks for your input Gifford.. I hope you have added to the original post too…
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I have now — thanks for pointing it out!
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I’ll never look at “ing” words the same way again!
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I know where you are coming from.. disturbing…lol
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🙂
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Thank you for the great lesson. Gosh, i will have to learn much more. Michael
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You and me both Michael..hugsx
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😉 What an understatement of you, Sally! You are a grammar guru! 🙂
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Oh no… a work in progress Michael..hugsx
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😉
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This was a great refresher! Thanks for sharing, Sally!
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Thanks Jan..hugs
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