WIP Challenge Day 28, Friday

[jagnikjen]

TGIF!!!

We're almost through another work week. HOORAY!

How's the writing going today?

~ Don't bother me, I'm writing!
~ Things are progressing quite nicely, thanks.
~ Not too bad...
~ Thank goodness for the check-in post, I could use an excuse--I mean I need a break...
~ Writing? I ain't no stinkin' writer...

Discussion topic...one thing I've seen a lot of lately is words that need to be capitalized that aren't and words that don't need to capitalized but are.

For example, "Internet" is still considered a proper noun and *should* be capitalized. Other things, like mind meld or tri-corder from the Star Trek universe *don't* need to be capitalized but sometimes are.

Also, generic terms of endearment should not be capped, according to the current version of the Chicago Manual of Style. If you use a specific nickname interchangeably with someone's name, then it should be capitalized. I.e. I sometimes call or refer to my son as Sonshine.

I understand for the most part why she does it, but JKR's capitalization of certain words drives me barmy. Quidditch is one of them. If it falls in the middle of my sentence, why am I capitalizing it?? I don't capitalize baseball or football or tennis, do I??

So what words do you come across that should or shouldn't be capped but aren't or are as is applicable?

Comments

[linaewen]

Things are progressing nicely! My longest-running WIP got its yearly chapter posted today!

While I'm thoroughly embarrassed that I have fallen so low as to only update my favorite WIP once a year, that's just the way it is around here. However, I truly hope that this chapter posting will break the ice and I'll be more regular about it from now on. At least I have other writing out there to prove that I haven't just been sitting on my hands this year. Though I've been doing that, too....

I have some struggles with capitalization in my own work -- things like when should I capitalize lord or captain? And what about names of races? I have reasons for capitalizing or not capitalizing, but it's hard to be consistent when the story is a long one. Especially when I change my mind midstream about how to do it!

[lacerta]

I am writing, but I could do with a break and some chocolate.

Re capitalization, I'm just glad that the rules are so much easier in English than they are in German. I would not have wanted to learn that in a foreign language.

[lilly_c]

No writing at all for me today and I was a bit of a roll these last couple of days as well :'(
I've been up since 4am - my flatmate got taken to hospital. Then lectures most of the morning and appointments most of the afternoon. Busy as :(
Tomorrow there will be some writing done, even if it does end up as total gibberish. After I've edited my sociology essay that is.

I'm not doing a lot of reading at the moment apart from sociology and psychology textbooks [don't have the time) so I've not really seen/noticed the capitalised words thing in fics. I do know I have done it (unintentionally) in some of my fics but I do try to stick to the rule of using only capitals for names, places, brands etc... in sentences.

[msmcknittington]

Eh, as long as the words are capitalized consistently throughout the piece, as if a style guide of their own devising is being followed, then I don't really care. The rules for written English are fairly arbitrary, and there isn't a lot of consistency in capitalization across the approximately one million style guides there are out there, so as long as the author picks a method and sticks with it I'm cool. It might take me a while to get used to it, but if it's regularly used, then as far as I'm concerned it's a style decision and not an error. Just a different usage than I'm used to.

[littlebutfierce]

I keep forgetting to check in. >_< I see the posts & then by the time I've actually done any writing for the day, I'm falling asleep at the keyboard & drag myself off to bed.

Anyway! I did write some words yesterday, but I honestly have no recollection of what they were (see above re: falling asleep ;). I have done some editing over the past few days on some WIPs, including my Kaleidoscope fic, & that's what's on the agenda for this weekend.

I'm reasonably flexible about capitalization in some cases -- as someone else mentioned, sometimes it's a matter of what style guide you look at. Though I get annoyed when people capitalize roles that are also titles, but are not being used in the sentence as titles (eg. "president" isn't capitalized in a sentence like "The president said..." if you are not saying "President Obama"). I get into it w/people at work about that too, heh.

[sharpiefan]

I posted a second chapter to a prompt on an anon kink meme yesterday, and started the third (and hopefully last. If not last, then penultimate) and I'm hoping to finish it by the end of Monday. (Tomorrow I may be too busy IRL to write anything.)

Capitalisation... Proper nouns should always be capitalised - names of people and places. Words longer than three letters in fic titles should be capitalised, unless it's the first word... But then, I get confused with what to do if the title is all or mostly two or three letter words - how on earth am I supposed to write To The Ends Of The Earth and make it plain it's a title? To the Ends of the Earth doesn't look quite right to my eye, but neither does the capitalised version.

As littlebutfierce says, roles that are also titles get capitalised when referring to the person who holds that title. I come across this all the time in my writing, because I'm active in the Age of Sail fandom, which has a lot of military and naval characters. It's Captain Aubrey, but the captain of the ship, Jack Aubrey. "The major said so!" but "I heard that Major Sharpe did this..."

Again with Lord/lord. 'Lord', capitalised, is a title. The Lord God, the Lord of the Manor, Lord Saltash... I think I would pretty much always capitalised it, myself, because 'lord' doesn't look right to me. But that is my own personal opinion, and you may disagree with that. My reasoning is that it's a title, always, and not a role/position in the same way that Captain/captain is. I think it's the same with the peerage, but again, I'm not so sure. The Earl of Edrington... but I would capitalise it in the sentence "The Earl said so!" rather than write "The earl said so!" Again, that may be my style of writing rather than a grammatical rule.