Technical Guidelines

Fiction, like all communication, needs to be in a format that is understandable to readers, so that your ideas are being communicated on the screen in the way you wish them to be communicated. We understand that language is a living thing and that certain stylistic choices mean that some standard technical rules go by the wayside. When that's the case, there's an obvious choice being made, and we'll recognize that when we see it in your story. On the other hand, the incorrect use of punctuation and grammar, a demonstrated lack of understanding of sentence and paragraph structure, confusing or randomly-switching Point of View (POV), problems with subject/verb agreement or wandering verb tenses can go a long way to making the most imaginative plot and the most spot-on characterization seem less shiny. Here are some common issues that are easily corrected before you submit your story for publication:

General Punctuation

Periods are solitary creatures. Only use one.

Exclamation points and question marks are also solitary and they hate being forced together at the end of a sentence. It makes them cranky. !?!

Ellipses should be used sparingly and for conscious effect.

Em dashes are to be used for dramatic pauses.

Colons link together two separate sentences that don't seem to follow each other naturally, but contain related information.

EXAMPLE - Dean locked the Impala's trunk: the guns were inside.

Colons also set off a list to come.

EXAMPLE - Things in the Impala's trunk: guns, knives, rope, and rock salt.

Semi-colons join up two sentences that are obviously related.

EXAMPLE - Dean was sure that Sam was ok; his brother could never be evil.

Commas

Pretty much everyone knows that a period means stop, but does a comma mean wait or take a breath? It is usually taking the place of a conjunction that would make the sentence awkward if you used it.

BAD EXAMPLE - Dean went to the Impala's trunk and pulled out his shotgun and Sam's knife and the bag full of flares and the extra rock salt rounds.

Sounds awkward, right?

Now, with commas:

GOOD EXAMPLE - Dean went to the Impala's trunk and pulled out his shotgun, Sam's knife, the bag full of flares and the extra rock salt rounds.

Commas used in lists - serial commas

Our standard for lists is either the Oxford comma style, which requires a comma be used immediately before a grammatical conjunction, or the Chicago style from the Chicago Manual of Style. The choice will depend upon which provides the most clarity.

EXAMPLE - OXFORD STYLE

Dean grabbed the holy water, rosary, and his favorite gun. - This way is often best if the example might be confusing.
Dean's bag had shirts that were green, black, white and blue. - Is that white and blue, or white, and blue? See why you might want to use a comma there?

EXAMPLE - CHICAGO and BRITISH STYLE

Dean grabbed the holy water, rosary and his favorite gun.

Commas used with conjunctions for joining

These are commas used to hook together two complete sentences into one thought, with the help of conjunctions like: and, but, or, yet and while.

CORRECT USAGE - Sam and Dean tried to kill them, but the possessed ants scattered in all directions.

or

Sam drank the whole bottle of Jack, while Dean fooled around with the three waitresses.

INCORRECT USAGE 1 - Comma splice (using a comma instead of a semi-colon) Unless you are John Updike or E.M. Forster and making a stylistic prose choice, you don't get to do this.

Dean woke up with his head pounding, the bed was covered in blood.

The road was clear of all traffic, Sam drove as far as he could.

INCORRECT USAGE 2 - Using something not a conjunction with a comma. (however and nevertheless)

Dean woke up with his head pounding, however, the bed was covered in blood.

CORRECT - Dean woke up with his head pounding; however, the bed was covered in blood. (This isn't a good sentence, but it's correctly punctuated.)

Commas before direct speech.

CORRECT - Dean said, "What the hell are you talking about?"

INCORRECT - Dean said "What the hell are you talking about?"

Commas setting off interjections.

CORRECT - Stop, or I'll shoot!

Hell, I'm cool, man.

INCORRECT - Dipshit you are being a jerk!

Commas in pairs - bracketing phrases of extra information

If you can remove the section between the commas and still have a working sentence, then you need commas to set off the phrase.

CORRECT - Dean, who had never had a proper upbringing, ate like a pig at a particularly stinky trough.

or

Sam, of course, was becoming more and more evil on a daily basis.

INCORRECT - Dean who had the table manners of a pig was doing his best to be neat.

or

Sam the smarty-pants of the family was hitting the books again.

As an added bonus on this rule, you sometimes only see one of the paired commas.

CORRECT - Of course, Sam was becoming more evil on a daily basis.

or

Dean ate like a pig, of course.

POV

POV should be consistent within the story. Changes in perspective should be clearly identifiable when they occur. You readers should understand how a story is being narrated, and who the narrator is of each scene or section of a scene. Random head-switching throws a reader out of the story you're trying to tell, unless you're telling a story about people being thrown back and forth from one head to another.

Tenses

Understand tenses and know if the story's action is happening in past or present, and be consistent. If you feel the story requires a tense shift, make sure you have a demonstrable and recognizable reason for it. (i.e., a story could be told in present tense, but flashbacks could be in past tense.)

Homophones

Homophones are words that sound alike but are really different. Some of the most common homophones are improperly used possessives.

Common homophone errors:

Red/read
Wear/where/ware
For/four
Hear/here
Accept/except
Affect/effect
Reign/rein

...you get the idea.

Spellchecking

Most word processing programs come with a spell checker -- please use it. But even with one, it won't catch words that are valid, but incorrectly used, such as with the above mentioned homophones. It also won't catch or be able to offer suggestions for words not in its dictionary, like proper names or distinguish typos, like from and form.

British spelling (i.e. honour, colour, philosophise) is considered correct by this publication as long as it is internally consistent.

Malapropisms - or "that word does not mean what you think it means."

Nothing makes a reader go, "What?" like a word that just doesn't make sense. Please have a beta read your story. If you're using words in this way, you won't be able to detect them yourself.

Examples from Sheridan's play, "The Rivals" 1775.

"He's as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile." (i.e., alligator)
"He is the very pineapple of politeness." (i.e., pinnacle)

Dean pumped his hand vicariously in the air when Sammy got laid. (i.e. victoriously)

Glaring Anachronisms

Information like this is readily available through Google and/or Wikipedia; it is easy to prevent incorrect information from creeping into your writing.

Dialogue and Dialect

Dialogue and regional slang and terminology should be consistent with the present day United States or an AU that explains or supports differing usage. (The Sam and Dean we see on the screen would still speak like Sam and Dean if they were in London or Timbuktu, unless they were born there.)

Dialect note: On the show, the boys display a Midwestern or Western dialect, with common usages derived from those regions of the United States. They wouldn't use common usages from Boston, Massachusetts or Atlanta, Georgia. They mostly talk like American newscasters, with a few more casual dropping off of -ings on the ends of words than is usually common on the TV news.

Other note about Americans: Americans very seldom use all the words when a contraction will do.

Dean would not say "I am going to the store." He'd say, "I'm going to the store."

Most Americans would not say, "He'd not thought about it before." They'd say: "He hadn't thought about it before."

Nearly the only times Americans don't use contractions is for emphasis, when they're angry, annoyed or making a point.

They never, ever display British usages.

Dead giveaways of British usage often seen in Supernatural fic are:

British Spelling - this is not standard for this publication, but is an easy search and replace fix.

Tyre for tire.
Kerb for curb.

British words for American words:

  • Tarmac for asphalt (or blacktop) - in the U.S. tarmacs are only for airplanes.
  • Sidewalks, not pavement. Though pavement is sometimes used when talking about a cement road. (i.e. Dean fell and his ass hit pavement.)
  • Boot for trunk
  • Windscreen for windshield
  • Other American car parts include: glove compartment, dashboard, rear view mirror.
  • Reckon - this is not Midwestern U.S. usage. Some people in the south and west use it, but Sam and Dean mostly have a Midwestern dialect on the show and even Bobby doesn't say this. A character from the South or West could use it.
  • Rubbish for trash. In the U.S. trash is also garbage.
  • Trash goes in the trash can, garbage in the garbage can or the dumpster - never the bin.
  • Mum (for mother, not for keeping mum) - American moms are moms, or sometimes Momma or Mommy.
  • Binkie = pacifier, though little kids now might call them this. It is a BRAND of pacifier. When Sam and Dean were little this was not common usage in the United States.
  • Nappies are diapers in the U.S. Brand names are also sometimes used, as in "Going out to get some Pampers or Huggies."
  • Jumper = sweater (U.S. jumpers are dresses with straps over the shoulder.)
  • Vest for undershirt. (Often called a 'wifebeater' in American slang.)
  • Flannel shirts are NOT flannels. They're shirts.
  • A coffee = a cup of coffee (Americans don't "go for a coffee" they "get some coffee" or "get coffee")
  • Biscuit in the US is a non-sweet food often made with buttermilk and served with sausage gravy, or fried chicken.
  • Torch for flashlight
  • Ring for call (on the phone)
  • Flannel = towel
  • Lounge is the living room or parlour in the deep South.
  • Biro is pen.
  • In US English, you are in the hospital, not in hospital. You are admitted to THE hospital.
  • You never "go to university". You "go to college" or "went to NAME of school".
  • Unamerican swearwords include: shite, bugger, bollocks, wank(er), toss(er), stones, and any use of cunt that isn't insulting a woman or referencing her vagina. Never use arse instead of ass.
  • Rarely, if ever, use really formal language. Even Sam at his most scholarly doesn't use these constructions.
  • Americans don't use "as well," they use "too."

    • AMERICAN

    "Sam, when you go to the store, get some rock salt, too."

    BRITISH

    "Sam, when you go to the store, get some rock salt, as well."

  • No "-t" endings rather than "-ed"--i.e., learnt for learned.
  • Never use "whilst" for "while."
  • The drinking age in the US is 21. Driving age is 16. Voting age is 18. The age of sexual consent in the US varies from state to state, ranging between 16 and 18. The common socially accepted age of consent is 18.
  • No metric measurements! Miles, feet, inches, yards, make them your friends in all their random non base 10 glory.

Check out this great site for more British to American info.

RPF note for Canadian characters:

These usages are unique and often more influenced by British English. If in doubt, look it up.

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