User:AKAAkira/Language Editing Guidelines (draft)

This page is a generic guideline on diction, mainly for editors whose respective narrative styles may come into conflict with each other. These guidelines should be the default protocol for all pages containing prose. However, for as long as this page remains incomplete, there may be exceptions to the listed cases; use common sense when applying it, and please amend this page by adding any such exceptions. Also, these guidelines may be overruled by individual project guidelines. As such, editors should read this page, the Format guideline, and a project's individual guideline pages before performing any edits.

However, this page's secondary aim is to teach the finer points of the English language to all whose knowledge on this subject is incomplete—in other words, everyone, from the newest readers taking English as a second language to veteran editors with university-level mastery under their belts. Therefore, this page also strives to be the perfect guideline on editing prose derived from light novels, in such a way that projects will be discouraged from deviating from any of the precepts.

This project was initially drafted by one user, and as such most cases listed at the beginning would reflect the user's opinions only. However, rectification should be made by the collective efforts of all editors, such that the eventual final version of this page should reflect the consensus of the Baka-Tsuki community. As such, editors are encouraged to pitch in, whether by adding more examples, further explanations, clarifications, or new cases. (Direct conflicts, however, should be taken to the talk page instead of immediately amended.)

Grammar

Common Errors

"both of them" vs "the two of them"

The phrase "the both of them" has become common colloquially; however, this is ungrammatical. "Both" is already a determiner; another determiner like "the" cannot be used to also refer to "them". Use one or the other.

E.g.:

The two of them were asleep.

Both of them were asleep.

Punctuation

Ellipses

There are three way to render ellipses:

1. three periods (...);
2. the ellipsis character (…); or
3. three spaced periods (. . .).

As it is the easiest to search and reportedly uses less bytes than the second option, using three periods is the most recommended option on Baka-Tsuki. However, as the literal ellipsis character is automatically input in a word processor and it may become too tedious to change all instances by hand, the second option is acceptable on Baka-Tsuki (i.e. does not warrant an edit for replace by itself).

The third option is an older style of rendering ellipses, and is "unnecessarily wide and requires non-breaking spaces to keep it from breaking at the end of a line"; there should never be a case where this is needed.

In light novels, ellipses are used abundantly. However, in English only three dots are sufficient to convey an ellipsis' functions; any more are redundant. On Baka-Tsuki ellipses should be represented by only three dots, not the number of dots in the source material.

There are four instances in which ellipses are used:

1. To indicate a pause in sentence recitation;
2. To indicate a trail-off at the end of sentence recitation;
3. To gradually resume speech; or
4. To remove a portion of text from a quote

1. Whenever a noticeable, hesitant pause exists in speech, an ellipsis is used. This pause may occur in the middle of a sentence, or even before uttering a sentence. In this case, the ellipsis should be rendered with no space to either side. Also, if the pause occurs before a sentence is started, the first word after the ellipsis should be capitalized.

E.g.:

"I...can't," she admitted.

"...I see?"

2. Trail-offs, again of the more gradual variety than dashes, are marked with an ellipsis. In this case, the ellipsis should be rendered with space on the right side with the next word capitalized, to indicate that the next sentence is a new one.

E.g.:

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

Instead, she hesitated, and gave me a look of... If I didn't know better, I'd say it was a look of reluctant admiration.

2. (cont.) Though it may become difficult to distinguish between #1 and #2, there is a test: mentally replace the ellipsis with either a comma or a period. If the comma makes more sense in that spot, then that ellipsis' purpose is to be a pause. If the period appears more appropriate, then that ellipsis' purpose should be a trail-off.

3. Ellipses are used to "resume" sentences, usually in a more gradual manner than using dashes. In this case, the word immediately after the ellipsis is never capitalized (unless it is a proper noun), as that point is not the true start of a sentence.

E.g.:

[...] I was mostly dead to the world. Eyes closed, arms sprawled, sleep about to overtake me—until a strange phrase struck my consciousness and sparked the entire mess.

"...wasn't for that other blacksmith!"

"[...] Our only solution is to find her and hope to negotiate, and for that we need—" Here Agil suddenly stopped, and turned to me. He ran a critical eye over my frame, his expression frozen in one of contemplation. "...a good tracker, and a good talker," he completed.

4. Ellipses are also used in quotes, whenever a portion of its text is cut out. In these cases they are rendered with a space on either side, and may be framed by square brackets (such as [...]), especially if the quoted text has ellipses of its own, to avoid confusion. However, this should not be needed on Baka-Tsuki.

Dashes

There are two types of dashes: em dashes (—) and en dashes (–). Em dashes are, usually, rendered with no space on either side of the dash. En dashes are rendered with a space on both sides, unless one of those sides has a punctuation mark (such as a quotation mark, and exclamation mark, and a question mark).

Some sources uses em dashes with a space on either side (such as TVTropes). However, as an em dash's line should be sufficiently distinct from hyphens (unlike en dashes), on Baka-Tsuki em dashes should be used without spaces on either side. (This has a miniscule byte-saving effect as well.)

E.g.:

The whole problem started with Agil – more accurately, in his shop on the fiftieth floor.

"Come on, Rinko-san! I heard you out when you confessed your secret crush on Kayaba Akihiko –"

The whole problem started with Agil—more accurately, in his shop on the fiftieth floor.

The purpose of both em dashes and en dashes are identical; there are no situations in which one cannot be substituted for the other. The only reasons for using one over the other tend to be narrative inclinations and aesthetic preferences. As light novels use em dashes exclusively, and for another reason that will be outlined in the following point #3, on Baka-Tsuki em dashes are preferred over en dashes.

Dashes may be used for five purposes:

1. A break in running speech that is quicker than an ellipsis (may be for explanatory purposes, like the a (semi)colon);
2. A trail-off in speech that is quicker than an ellipsis;
3. An interruption in speech;
4. A resuming of speech (either after interruption, or when one is getting back on topic); or
5. An isolated comment.

1. This is self-explanatory; whenever a character speaks something with a sudden pause in the middle, a dash can be used, similarly to a comma. If the sentence fragment after the dash clarifies the previous statement, it may also be substituted with a colon or semicolon (which one depends on the sentence, as explained in the "Colons" section). Comparatively, a dash is more "dramatic" or "exaggerated" than a comma or either of the colons. "Dramatic" actually goes both ways depending on context, however—when the sentence is relatively calm, the pause is slightly longer that of a comma, while in action-filled sentences, dashes embody a more "sudden" break.

E.g.:

"The whole problem started with Agil—more accurately, in his shop on the fiftieth floor."

Her third blade nearly nicked my cheek, but I pushed on, dodging clear of the fourth blade aimed at my stomach, while the fifth sword I could just duck under—ACK!

2. Dashes are used at a trail-off quicker than ellipses. This is very slightly distinct from getting interrupted.

E.g.:

I frowned. "'Can't'? But if you still have some of the money you can at least give a partial refund—"

That's when the reason she suddenly seemed so defensive hit me with the force of the first floor's boss.

3. Whenever diction is interrupted, dashes are used.

E.g.:

"I have an idea—"

"No."

"Kirito, I'm hurt. I haven't—"

"No! You can't make me!"

3. (cont.) This includes self-interruption, which can sometimes be immediately resumed by another sentence. In this case, if using em dashes, this can be distinguished by having a space rendered in the succeeding sentence, as well as capitalizing said sentence. This is another reason em dashes are preferred over en dashes; en dashes cannot properly demonstrate this case.

E.g.:

"[...] Wow, that's a weird username. You've been playing through SAO with— That's not your name, is it."

4. Whenever a sentence that is interrupted gets resumed, a dash is used. Light novels primarily use this as a "get back on topic" or "freed from distraction" action. This appears replicable in English narration.

E.g.:

Whoa, that is so hot, Klein thought dazedly. —I mean, I need to stop this! Now!

4. (cont.) Similarly to an ellipsis, a dash can also be used on resuming a sentence after interrupting it. Dashes are used over ellipses if the resuming takes place quickly (for example, a character who keeps on talking as if he wasn't interrupted). In these cases, the first word after the dash is never capitalized, unless it is a proper noun. Where the dash goes depends on narration, however; if narration interrupts the dialogue, the dash is placed before the quotation mark of the second part of the dialogue (as if the character is interrupting him- or herself twice), while if dialogue with a complete sentence interrupts, the second dash is placed right after the second part of the dialogue's opening quotation mark.

E.g. of 3 & 4 combined:

"[...] They really don't like the business you're doing here, so I was asked—" Blackmailed, more like—"to investigate, and hopefully, solve this problem without any fuss."

"Come on, Rinko-san! I heard you out when you confessed your secret crush on Kayaba Akihiko—"

"I do not have a crush on Kayaba-sempai!"

"—so it's only natural that I can call in a favor from you too, right? We're friends, aren't we?"

5. Like using parentheses or a clause bracketed by commas, a clause can be bracketed by dashes as an aside comment.

E.g.:

I hurriedly ducked—ah, right, Blade Throwing had minimal delay—and it was only after a slight struggle to regain momentum that I was able to rush forward.

[...] and got herself more than a few "dedicated and loyal"—more like "rabid and obsessive"—fans

Resources

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:MOS and its own See Also section.