: Should I use contractions in my narrative? Should I use contractions in my narrative, or only use them in dialogue? I have noticed that in some books, like The Passage by Justin Crownin, contractions

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Mark Twain used them all the time...ironically to create "stupid talk"...meaning writing "hokie-isms" is hard work because the spoken word is filled with t'aints and t'isms and all sorts of clap-trappery. There is an irony to the lyricism of apostrophes and ampersands etc. You would think clear writing would contain the minimum of punctuation but that is not in fact how we speak.

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I don't understand this fear of using certain kinds of words. Yes, you can use contractions. Yes, you can use adverbs. Yes, you can use "bookisms" (alternatives for said which give additional information, like hissed, muttered, shouted). I'll even allow the occasional split infinitive if the circumlocution to avoid it sounds ridiculous.

Bookisms and adverbs can be used badly and/or too often, which I'll readily admit. But fussing over contractions seems to me like an extremely prescriptive rule, like "you can't ever use passive voice." Not you shouldn't do it, or active voice/formal speech is stronger, or don't overdo it, but a blanket rule of "don't do it at all."

In my opinion as a writer and editor, writing should be clear, natural-sounding, and easy to follow. Sometimes you can do that with a dense sentence if your audience knows the jargon; other times you have to spell things out at length. Sentence fragments? Sometimes they work. I'm in favor of whatever aids comprehension and reads smoothly.

I haven't read either Crownin or Gwynne, so I can't comment on them. Tolkien was deliberately writing in "high fantasy" style, which he basically invented. Tolkien was also a professor of linguistics who invented several languages, so he can use or not use whatever parts of speech he damn well wants.

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