Wednesday, July 01, 2009

I had an online run-in with a facebook friend last night(if you read that sentence 4 or 5 times, it sounds absolutely ridiculous), and according to my lady I should have let it go, but I simply can't do it yet. Maybe after I write this blog entry.

Last week, after the NBA draft, I posted a series of audio clips live from the Verizon Center, home of the Washington Wizards. I had audio, I wrote a brief introductory blurb to accompany it, and boom, it was up on the site. It was quick, painless, and the point was to get it online as quickly as possible, so loyal fans of Hoops Addict could be kept abreast of Wizards related activities.

This was one of the articles I posted, and in case you're too lazy to click on the hyperlink, allow me to show you the one and only sentence I typed:

"Fresh off his introductory press conference with the Washington Wizards, guard Randy Foye talked to members of the media about his true position, his initial reaction to being traded, his thoughts on Kevin McHale’s influence on his game, and his memorable duel with Dwyane Wade last season."

Now, is that sentence a run-on? Maybe. Did I think I had a bit of leeway because it was simply introducing an audio clip? Yes. Would I have inserted that sentence in a longer piece? Probably not. Do I usually ask and answer my own questions? No.

Now I wrote this on Thursday. Last night one of my facebook friends finally got around to reading this, and his comment was, "I will nominate you for Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest next year..." In case you don't know what the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest is, its a contest where individuals are invited to deliberately write bad opening sentences to bad novels. Its satirical, its tongue-in-cheek, and its actually pretty funny. But it didn't apply to what I wrote. So this guy and I proceeded to go back and forth with smart ass one-liners that bordered on insults, and then we just stopped, but it annoyed me all night and during my morning run.

I don't mind smart ass comments being directed towards me and my writing. In fact, sometimes I get so few comments, that I secretly hope someone slams what I've written, so I know my reading community has a pulse. I also know that I have a smart mouth that is a bit capricious, which leaves me wide open to any and everything. I get that. But if you're going to insult me, zing me, or take a witty swipe, you better be sure you know what you're talking about, and since I feel like he didn't, I was pissed. Plus when I write something, however small it may be, I brace myself for feedback, for up to two days after its posted. Once we've reached the fifth or sixth day, I have forgotten about it, so I felt blindsided on top of everything else.

Plus, the more I read that sentence, the more I think it is NOT a run-on. Ok I'm letting it go now.

Alien Ant Farm - Smooth Criminal

2 comments:

Neil MacLean said...

I consider myself a pretty good editor, even though I'm not a very good writer. I edit my wife's stuff all the time, and I wouldn't consider that a run-on sentence. So there's my two cents. That would piss me off though.

RD said...

Did he specifically say the problem was a run-on? It's not a run on. Initially, the clauses seem independent because they don't start with the usual sub. conj. or rel. pronoun. However, they are not because they would not make sense without the initial clause.

He could be making the horrible mistake of thinking run-on sentences are determined by length and not proper punctuation of clauses, or he could be referring to an obscure grammar rule. Now, there are a couple of errors within that sentence, but I wouldn't call them run-ons :-)

I would say ask him, but he sounds like an a$$.