Grammar Didn't Kill Your Story
Segun Iwasanmi@iwasanmisegun212159
18 days ago
© Segun Iwasanmi
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I once read a story that had fine grammar, everything neat, commas sitting where they should sit. But by the third paragraph, I didn’t even know who was talking again. I went back, read it twice, still the same confusion.
It felt like listening to someone gist you in the dark, you can hear the voice clearly but you can’t see the face, so nothing is landing the way it should. And that one is worse than mistake.
A lot of writers think their problem is grammar. So they polish sentences, change words, add big English, but the story is still moving like a road full of potholes. You read one line, the next line drags you somewhere else.
Even in real life, confusion is what frustrates people. Not small mistakes. If someone is explaining something to you and you keep asking “wait, what do you mean?” you’ll lose interest fast, no matter how correct their English is.
The real work of editing is not just correcting. It’s clearing the road. Making sure every sentence leads somewhere, every thought connects, every scene knows why it exists. That’s where flow comes from.
Most times, when I sit with a story, I’m not fighting grammar first. I ask myself Why is this here? Who is speaking? What should the reader feel at this point? Once those answers settle, even the grammar starts behaving.
Because a clean sentence inside a confused story is still a confused story. But a clear story, even with rough edges, already has life in it… and that life is what people actually stay for.
Sometimes I wonder how many strong stories are sitting somewhere, well-written, well-punctuated… but still not being read twice.
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© Segun Iwasanmi | ™The Man With The Story.
Book Writer | Screen and Scriptwriter | Creative Fiction writer | Book Editor.
I help people turn rough ideas into bold stories that work
