Contractions - to do or not to do?

by Carla Devereux
10th April 2014

I've been researching the use of contractions in fiction and the more I explore the more confused I become.

There appears to be an acceptance of contractions when writing dialogue, which is a direct copy of how we speak (I'm ok with this one).

The main body of fiction (ie. not dialogue) however, seems to be mixed. Some authors will and others don't (or do not).

What is the correct method for today's literary world?

Replies

Well, normal speech like 65-75% and the rest would be 35-25%. Something like that, I suppose.

Profile picture for user ritesh.l_27497
Ritesh
Nimmagadda
330 points
Developing your craft
Fiction
Business, Management and Education
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Adventure
Autobiography, Biography and Memoir
Middle Grade (Children's)
Picture Books (Children's)
Food, Drink and Cookery
Media and Journalism
Speculative Fiction
Historical
Gothic and Horror
Philosophy and Religion
Romance
Sports
Ritesh Nimmagadda
10/04/2014

Thank you Ritesh and Neeraj.

How would you balance the mix?

Profile picture for user carladev_1368
Carla
Devereux
330 points
Ready to publish
Fiction
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Adventure
Comic
Food, Drink and Cookery
Business, Management and Education
Popular science, Social science, Medical Science
Practical and Self-Help
Romance
Autobiography, Biography and Memoir
Carla Devereux
10/04/2014

People generally speak too informally, so I'd say it's a better choice to have a mix, keeps the realism and gives you the chance to write better dialogue. :)

Profile picture for user ritesh.l_27497
Ritesh
Nimmagadda
330 points
Developing your craft
Fiction
Business, Management and Education
Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Adventure
Autobiography, Biography and Memoir
Middle Grade (Children's)
Picture Books (Children's)
Food, Drink and Cookery
Media and Journalism
Speculative Fiction
Historical
Gothic and Horror
Philosophy and Religion
Romance
Sports
Ritesh Nimmagadda
10/04/2014