That and That
Prior to writing my soundbites and my subsequent book filled with these stories I wrote some fictional pieces. This included a possible script for Frasier. I called it “Uncle Felix.” I decided Felix Unger from The Odd Couple was Frasier and Nile’s uncle.
Alas, the only thing I did with the script was show it to my brother. He reviewed it at different times of its development. He educated me on the use and my misuse of the word that.
I saw his point. I overused the word.
I took this advice to heart. I started to always check for how often I would use that in my stories. I almost always got rid of them.
For the second edition of my book I had the book reviewed and edited by a professional.
Well, lo and behold, he added a lot of that’s back into my stories.
I had gotten so used to not using the word I had forgotten when to use the word.
The editor I used quoted The Elements of Style to get me to understand:
There are times when the ear not only guides us through difficult situations but also saves us from minor or major embarrassments of prose. The ear, for example, must decide when to omit that from a sentence, when to retain it. “She knew she could do it” is preferable to “She knew that she could do it”—simpler and just as clear. But in many cases, the that is needed. “He felt that his big nose, which was sunburned, made him look ridiculous.” Omit the that and you have “He felt his big nose…”
So used to not using the word that was I that (purposely used) it took me awhile to understand the above paragraph.
It makes me wonder how many times I can get stuck in something because I’m so used to doing it a certain way. Even if it’s something I changed and works better because of the change, doesn’t mean it should stay that way forever.
I suppose I could spend my entire day questioning how and why I do things. I’m not going to do that.
But when I’m open to different ways of doing things which had become routine:
• New ideas come above
• Different scenarios are played out
• I’m open to new outcomes
I will now include more that’s in my sentences.
That works for me.
Or is it
This works for me?