This series of articles discusses writing habits that upset editors.

Here’s article #5. Do you see the problem?

Introduction to Excerpt

Although this isn’t a verbatim extract from a single source, you’ll find similar wording in many books.

Excerpt

Brian poked at his veggies with one finger. His mother gave him a “you’d-better-not-do-that-again” glare. Because he didn’t wanna be sent to bed one more nite without dessert, he grabbed his fork. Donuts tonite. With chocolate icing and xtra sprinkles! But even tho his mouth watered when he thought of his fave treat, he couldn’t bring himself to eat the disgusting diced carrots on his plate.

Here’s the Problem

The excerpt contains several nonstandard words — shortened forms of conventionally spelled words. Although this style might work for some types of fiction, most editors will redline the irregularities.

Read It Again

Brian poked at his veggies with one finger. His mother gave him a “you’d-better-not-do-that-again” glare. Because he didn’t wanna be sent to bed one more nite without dessert, he grabbed his fork. Donuts tonite. With chocolate icing and xtra sprinkles! But even tho his mouth watered when he thought of his fave treat, he couldn’t bring himself to eat the disgusting diced carrots on his plate.

Here’s the Solution

Brian poked at his vegetables with one finger. His mother gave him a “you’d-better-not-do-that-again” glare. Because he didn’t want to be sent to bed one more night without dessert, he grabbed his fork. Doughnuts tonight. With chocolate icing and extra sprinkles! But even though his mouth watered when he thought of his favorite treat, he couldn’t bring himself to eat the disgusting diced carrots on his plate.

Takeaway

Shortened spellings save room and time in text messages. However, they don’t belong in creative writing.

“What about dialogue?” you ask.

People don’t speak with cartoon bubbles over their heads; therefore, readers can’t see the way characters spell words. In a note to a friend, someone might scribble extra as xtra, but you should spell it properly in your WIP’s verbal exchanges.

Dialogue exceptions: words such as veggies, gonna, gotta, dunno, and wanna, which reflect the way many people speak, are acceptable in conversation and some informal narrative. If your book is written from a teenager’s perspective, you might intentionally include similar words.

Language Evolves

Over time, many nonstandard words become an accepted part of the English language, and they replace their longer forms. For example, legitimate’s short form, legit, first emerged in 1897 and now appears in modern dictionaries.

Donuts is gaining traction, probably thanks to the marketing tactics of large companies such as Dunkin’ Donuts, Daylight Donuts, and LaMar’s Donuts.

By the way, if your editor insists that OK is not okay, consider this:

OK came into the English language in 1838, as the abbreviation for oll korrect (a deliberate misspelling of all correct). Okay didn’t appear until 1929. Exercise your judgment, but know the facts if you and your editor disagree on its usage.

Beware the Ambiguous

Consider this sentence: Cuz Willie didn’t want to go with me, I decided to go alone.

Cuz is a shortened form of both cousin and because.

If the example sentence represents the work of an author whose style includes comma splices, the sentence could be interpreted in two ways:

Cousin Willie didn’t want to go with me. I decided to go alone.

Because Willie didn’t want to go with me, I decided to go alone.

Readers will need context to decide which meaning is correct. Why confuse them? Eliminate comma splices and ambiguous words.

Here’s a Short List of Words Your Editor Might Redline

ain’t: aren’t
alright: all right
altho: although
cop: policeman
coz: because
cuppa: cup of tea
cuz: because; cousin
donut: doughnut
dunno: don’t know
enuff: enough
fone: phone
foto: photo
gimme: give me
gotta: got to
hilite: highlight
hiway: highway
innit: isn’t it
kinda: kind of
kno: know
kwik: quick
laff: laugh
lemme: let me
lil: little
lite: light
lotta: lot of
luv: love
outta: out of
pix: pictures
pleez: please
r: are
sez: says
sorta: sort of
sox: socks
sucks: sux
thanx: thanks
thorofare: thoroughfare
thot: thought
thru: through
tonite: tonight
u: you
ur: you’re
veggies: vegetables
wanna: want to
wot: what
wotcha … what are you …
Xmas: Christmas
xtra: extra
xtreme: extreme
yeah: yes

P.S.

US English has developed shorter forms of many words. That doesn’t make them wrong.

Check this brief list of examples:

airplane: aeroplane
aluminum: aluminium
analog: analogue
anesthetic: anaesthetic
armor: armour
ax: axe
behavior: behaviour
catalog: catalogue
check: cheque
chili: chilli
color: colour
eon: aeon
endeavor: endeavour
estrogen: oestrogen
filet: fillet
glamor: glamour
harbor: harbour
jewelry: jewellery
maneuver: manoeuvre
mold: mould
mustache: moustache
neighbor: neighbour
odor: odour
omelet: omelette
plow: plough
program: programme
sulfur: sulphur
traveler: traveller
yoghurt: yogurt

If you write for UK or Canadian markets, you might want to scrutinize your spelling. That said, many Brits and Canadians follow US spelling, grammar, and punctuation conventions.