Writing focuses on word selection. English overflows with words. Choosing the perfect word is fun, and it is hard. Some words are tired like awesome, cool, and fuck. They appear so often that they lost their impact. Other words are obscure and snooty: ascertain, utilize, and hitherto. They make you appear arrogant. There are two sins in writing: using boring language and using jargon. Boring language lacks action and falls back on cliché. The biggest cliché on the Internet is gruff, aggressive language. These blogs are common. Expletives appear everywhere, and the writer uses excessive sarcasm. Expletives are weak words and lack definitive meanings. They are boring. They act as adjectives, adverbs, verbs, and interjections. More specific words make better choices. Anger can be expressed through forceful and short sentences without compromising your integrity as a writer. Writers who use excessive expletives undermine themselves. They appear ignorant, and their thoughts become lost in the barrage of fucks. And, ironically, this style of writing prevents the reader from sharing your anger. It comes off as a rant. If you want readers share your anger, give them reason. Show why you are angry with examples and context. Explain the injustice. Use carefully selected words to stoke the anger of your reader. Expletives cannot do this. If you write well, the reader will think the expletives for you.

Sarcasm muddies your ideas if used too much. Small amounts can work, but sarcasm is situational and easily misunderstood. It depends on shared understanding, and when you write for the Internet, shared understanding can be rare. Sarcasm requires facial expressions and variation of voice you can’t do with writing. Emojis help, but they are out of place on most blogs. Sarcasm works against the main rule of writing: clarity.

Boring writing contains boring verbs. The worst offenders are to be words like is, was, and were. Passive voice is a respectable sentence structure. It lays out facts, but too many passive sentences bore readers. These sentences state how something exists. Nothing happens in them. They sit there. No action. No movement, and good writing needs to carry the reader forward. You can fix passive voice by rewriting sentences with action verbs. Let’s look at an example.

Inuyasha is a demon-dog who fights Naraku.

The grammar is sound, and it conveys a single thought. It is good sentence, but it is static. It states who Inuyasha is and what he does. Nothing happens in it. Now look at this sentence:

The demon-dog Inuyasha fights Naraku.

In this sentence, the subject Inuyasha does something. He fights. It contains the same information. It isn’t an exciting sentence by any means, but it is more dynamic than the first sentence. Something happens. Past tense works the same way.

Roy Mustang was a powerful fire alchemist.

Roy Mustang practiced fire alchemy.

Some passive voice sentences require you to change the entire structure of the sentence. You have to decide if the restructure benefits the rest of the surrounding sentences. When you edit, you need to keep an eye on how each change affects the rest of the paragraph. Too many statement sentences bore readers. Too many active sentences make readers feel bounced along without a chance to rest. Active and passive voice combine to weave an article. Nonfiction writers, like anime bloggers, slip into passive voice without realizing it. When writing about facts, the patterns feels natural. Look at the article as a whole and consider how the passive sentences work together. Do you have too many? Does the article feel like it moves or stays static? Does the article move too fast? Add or remove passive sentences until you achieve the feel you want.

Using Jargon

As an anime blogger, some jargon is unavoidable. Jargon is defined as language used for a particular activity or by a particular group of people. However, throwing around transliterated Japanese words hurts your writing. It is fine to do this when no English word exists. Shonen (or shounen) and shojo (or shoujo) are good examples. English lacks a good word to describe these anime genres. However, your prose can become unreadable if you use transliterations too often. Consider these two passages:

Kitsune-kami share illusion magic with their physical canids, but kitsune-kami can induce psychosis by taking control of a person’s executive facilities. Kitsune-tsuki allows the yokai to take control of the victim and directly shape the victim’s perception of reality. The belief in kitsune-tsuki and bewitching yokai can still be discovered in rural populations. Westernization during the Meiji Reformation could do little to stop the proliferation of such beliefs.

Transliterations that are not a part of regular English can be italicized. For common transliterations like shojo and shonen you can drop the italics. Common loan words are not italicized. The passage is hard to read, isn’t it? Jargon and transliterations trip readers who are not used to them. Check out this passage:

Fox spirits share illusion magic with their physical sisters, but fox spirits can possess people to create more powerful illusions. Possession allows the fox spirit to take control of the victim and directly shape the victim’s perception of reality. The belief in possession and bewitching foxes has remained surprisingly stubborn. Westernization during the Meiji Reformation did little to quell the beliefs.

Much better isn’t it? The passage drops all the ugly words like utilize along with all the Japanese transliterations. Words that end in –tion and uppity words like utilize hurt clarity. They should be used only when alternatives won’t work.

Grammar’s Dirty Secret

Are you ready to hear grammar’s dirty secret? The secret deals with the reason grammar exists in the first place: to allow ideas to be expressed clearly. Grammar can prevent an idea from being clear. Emotions, in particular, are tough on grammar. For example, consider this excerpt from my novel, Vixen Hunted:

Kyle pulled at his ridiculous mask. “I didn’t know my nose could sweat such,” he complained for the fifth time.

“Why are you wearing it?” Timothy asked.

The sounds of the chase drew closer. Whatever they hunted had to be exhausted by now. Timothy took a steadying breath.

“I’d rather not have to run away from town once this is over. If they don’t know who I am, I won’t have anything to worry about,” Kyle said. “Besides, it makes me look dashing, doesn’t it?”

A cloud engulfed the moon. Timothy swallowed anxiety. A horse and man screamed in pain, and Timothy jumped.

“Last trap.” Kyle adjusted his pack.

Timothy forced himself to breathe. He needed to stay calm and think. Little chance of that. He was a fool.

The bolded phrases above are sentence fragments. Normally, grammar requires sentences to be complete with subjects and verbs. However, grammar allows you to break its rules to express an emotion or action. The comma-splice (grafting two sentences together with a comma instead of a comma/conjunction) can work well in dialogue. When people are excited, sentences run together. Grammar’s secret rule doesn’t allow you to be lazy. The rules can only be broken with good reason, and this requires you to understand grammar first. Good writers know (through trial and error) when a rule needs to be broken and when not.

Using Japanese Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana

When writing about anime and manga, sometimes you have to use kanji, hiragana, and katakana. Kanji are symbols derived from Chinese writing that stand for a concept, verb, or phrase. Hiragana is a Japanese writing system used for words not represented in kanji. Katakana is used to write foreign words. Unless you are writing a blog focused on teaching Japanese language, keep these to a minimum. A blog post filled with Japanese characters can confuse readers. Including the Japanese word with an explanation is a great way to be thorough. For example:

Kitsune-tsuki (狐憑き), or fox possession, is the second most famous ability of the Japanese fox—shape-shifting being the best known. Fox possession involves the fox taking complete control of the victim.

After linking the transliteration and original Japanese with the English phrase, use the English phrase. In the above example. the blog post would use “fox possession” instead of kitsune-tsuki.

When writing blogs, follow grammar rules, but don’t be slaves to them. Your grammar will never be perfect, no matter how many times you edit. But well-chosen words and reasonable grammar will help your posts stand out.

References

Hale, C., Sin and Syntax: How to Craft Wicked Good Pros,. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2013.

Strunk, W., and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. Longman 4th Edition. 1999.

University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010.