Here are some examples from the May/June 2020 issue of Writer’s Digest:
“…every author has to come up with their individual voice.”
WD interview with Jenny Lawson p.44
“…everybody when they start out tries to be the authors they loved.”
WD interview with Jenny Lawson p.44
“The villain is the hero in their own stories.”
WD interview with Rachel Menard p. 51
“It, in fact, behooves you to get an agent at this point as long as they are connecting with your material.”
WD “Funny You Should Ask” by Barbara Poelle (which is very funny).
And from www.applevideoguides.com:
“Or maybe someone you know has just gotten a new [computer] and they need help learning how to use it.”
I hate these sentences. They are convoluted, unclear, and a mess. Granted, a lot are from Writer’s Digest, too many are from interviews, and the “he or she, him or her, his or hers” options were clumsy, and no longer an option. Good riddance. But, surely, we have the option of making the whole thing plural. Or occasionally using “he, she, or they.” Let’s try some stuff.
“Authors have to come up with their individual voices.” “Individual voices” seems like an oxymoron, but not if you’re writing in multiple points-of-view. Just saying.
“Each author has to come up with an individual voice.” I like this a lot better.
Let’s see. What else do we have?
“Villains are the heroes of their own stories.” Not great, but better, in my opinion.
We should not be stuck with the singular they. I get the reasoning, but I hate the results. Can’t we have some options, get as close as possible to a pretty sentence? Please? What do you think?
