your writing questions

Hmmm. Not many questions about how to write, compared with how to get published. Shouldn't the writing come first?

Finding similar phrases in others' works
Too many pronouns
Learning the grammar rules

Want-to-be writers are told to read... read as much as they can and take notice of author's work. How do we... want to be writers, know if we are plagiarising?
The more we read the more we learn. How do we know if we are subconsciously writing what other authors write? I understand that a person should be sued if they write somebody else's story. I read in an article " Don't copy any other persons work, and don't even try to change it.
I have read a few books, and I have read similar if not the same sentences. I read a book not to long ago for the first time. There was a sentence in it that I had written a few years ago in my own novel ( It is not published yet)

A quote from a novel...'There was a hard lump in her throat and she wanted to cry, to tell everyone of her pain but who would want to know?"

My version..."A hard lump formed in Carole's throat and she felt like crying, she wanted to tell him about her pain but would he want to know"

Or "Her attempt to change the subject fell on deaf ears. Jono leaned across the table and imprisoned her hand in his."

My version "Her effort to change the subject dropped on deaf ears. Mick leaned forward and took her hand in his."

Is that plagiarism?

Plagiarism is a very big problem, and many of us are scared that we have unconsciously repeated something we read somewhere else. Whether it can be called plagiarism depends on how much we have borrowed.

Some things can not be copyrighted, and therefore cannot be plagiarised. These include ideas, which in terms of literature translates mainly into plots (think how many versions of Cinderella exist, or novels dealing with male rites of passage, for instance). However, other things can be copyrighted: characters, situations, names may cause trouble if someone thinks you have borrowed wholesale from a previous work in print.

The examples that you offer cannot be considered plagiarism. The situations are so very commonplace that no-one could possibly argue they thought of it first. What you might consider is whether, if many people are writing such very similar stuff, the problem is not one of copying, but of lack of originality. If you found an entire large paragraph almost word for word, you might start worrying about theft (or triteness). An occasional single sentence should cause no great trouble.

I hope you can help me with my query. I am writing a novel for kids 12 - 14 age group. When I write scenes, I find the following is happening: Too many he, she, him, his, her, John sat down, Mary stepped into etc. Basically, I feel these constant third-person references jar the natural flow of the prose. The characters must be there and the action must take place of course, yet it appears a little amateurish at the moment which is spoiling an otherwise (hopefully) gripping tale. Any suggestions?

This is always a problem for writers, and there is no easy solution. As every sentence has to have a subject, John and Mary are going to be mentioned very regularly.

One thing to do is vary your sentence patterns so you don't have a lot of sentences all starting with the subject. Instead of this:

John looked around. He saw the gunman take aim. John ran for the gunman. He threw himself at the villain.

You could have this:

Looking around, John saw the gunman taking aim. He ran forward and threw himself at the villain.

Another approach is try for complex or compound sentences: 'John looked around, saw the gunman, and dived at him’, which gives him three things to do with only one noun or pronoun to bother you.

In conversations, it is often possible to go for a long time without mentioning who is speaking, as long as the sentences are shortish and the readers know who the speakers are at the very beginning:

'Where are you going?' asked John.
'To the store,' replied Mary.
'What for?'
'Bacon.'
'And eggs?'
'No; we have eggs.'
'They're pretty old.'
'All the more reason to eat them soon.'

You will find other ideas in writing manuals.
  

I am attempting to write my first novel and am enjoying it very much.  I realise it may never be a best seller but I do  want to  make it professional and eventually finish it.

I am going OK with content but am not sure about the rules of punctuation,  grammar, paragraphing, use of italics and quotation marks etc. Can you recommend a book that would give me the basic rules of such things.  Sort of like "Writing Novels for Dummies".

There is actually a Grammar for Dummies, which you can order from Amazon if it isn’t available locally (or try the Australian on-line booksellers, Fishpond). I can’t find one on punctuation, however.

Everyone needs different things, and the best way to find the book that is right for your needs is to go to a bookstore and browse. Borders is really good for this (nice muffins) and usually has a good selection to look at. I find the ones I like and then buy them second-hand; that way I can afford more.

I am delighted to find a writer who realises that grammar and punctuation are important. They do make a difference to how a story reads, and having an editor do it all can sometimes change the ‘feel’ of a sentence, Editors have their uses of course; but getting the story the way you want it is the first big challenge.

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