The Use of Contractions in Fiction
Can't get by wi'out 'em!
Contractions are in common use among us English speakers (I won’t delve into their use in other languages here, but I can say that French speakers use them to help spoken flow). When to use these is a matter of debate for us writers of fiction.
A contraction is where two words are joined with an apostrophe (’) and some letters are removed.
Examples:
I would = I’d
Do not = don’t
Should have = should’ve
You will = you’ll
Will not = won’t (an odd one)
They can be very useful but they can also be a big pain.
Where Contractions Are Useful
The big use of contractions is in conversation (dialogue) in your story. They make the speech sound more natural and flowing.
Examples:
“I could have gone with her, but I had thought better of it.”
Versus
“I could’ve gone with her, but I’d thought better of it.”
NOTE: I tend to avoid contractions when the character is not a native English speaker. They can also be used to convey an regional accent.
Personally, I also think the “nots” being contracted throughout the text facilitates the flow.
Examples:
The shadows did not cross the sidewalk yet.
Versus
The shadows didn’t cross the sidewalk yet.
Where Contractions Don’t Work
Other than the “nots” (did not, would not, cannot, etc.) being contracted in narrative text, other contractions sound too informal and could cause readability issues, especially for those not as familiar with English as us native speakers.
But then, fiction is a bit looser than non-fiction writing that needs a higher level of clarity and formality. So you, the writer, will have to assess this usage yourself. I recently read a short story written in first person that used contractions in the narrative text. It sounded trite and amateurish. Maybe it is just my background as a technical writer. If the story had been good, I would probably have overlooked this impression, but it just made matters worse.
Just a little something to add to your writer angst. Or maybe not.
Your thoughts are certainly welcome.
Final Note
See my article: Publisher Agent Fiction Genres Defined, with downloadable PDF ().
Please check out my works in progress (WIPs). And thanks for reading.
In dialogue, definitely. I had a story reprint in an Australian anthology recently and the editor removed almost all the contractions. It read incredibly clunky. Not a good feel. In expository text, narrative passages, contractions need to be weighed carefully. Too much and the writing turns sloppy.
Well done, and useful.