What Should I do If I Disagree on a Grammar Issue?

[Ethan Rogers 1]

Hi, I'm new to OnlineBookClub and just submitted my first review. My situation is, I strongly disagree with 3/4 of the Editors' grammar criticisms. So, 1) are these really errors? and 2) if they are not, what should I do?

Error 1:
In this first story, rather than describing action, Miller resorts to describing intense emotion at every instant, which too easily becomes repetitive.
The editors assert that "action" should be corrected to "the action," but this would carry a different meaning. My point in the review is that the writer is good at describing action but there is not action in this story. So, instead of describing action, she resorts to describing emotion. I think that "the action" would imply that there is action in these scenes, which the author chooses not to describe. But that is not my meaning.

Errors 2 and 3:
For further titillation, Miller assures us that these tales are not simple fictions but, in fact, each conceal a pearl of truth.
The editors say that "fictions" should be singular and therefore "conceal" should be corrected to take a singular subject. I could make this change without really changing the meaning. However, although it may feel old fashioned to some readers, I am fond of the plural "fictions" to refer more clearly to individual works of fiction rather than to the genre in general. If the subject is plural, then "each" is in apposition to a plural subject and the verb should be plural.

The editors did correctly catch one omitted coma.

So, do I make an adequate case for these usages? Is there are way to send these arguments to the editors? Thanks in advance!

[Diana Lowery]

As long as you have a reliable source to support your claim, you can ask for a recheck. You are given a chance to present your arguments on that form. You are only allowed a limited number of rechecks, but if the editor changes your score, your recheck total does not decrease.

[Elavarasi Charles]

Hi! I've encountered a lot of disagreements with editors based on subjective errors too. You are right in your arguments. But from my experience around here, our arguments are to be expressed boldly in our wordings. There should be no room for hidden or understood meanings.

In the first error, your intention is a tad minute in the wording. To emphasize the meaning that the word 'action' is to be treated as an idea and not as an implied action, you could've capitalized it or used its plural form or any other differentiating factors.

For the second and third errors, I think the problem is not with either 'fictions' or 'conceal.' The word 'each' always takes a singular verb, even though it denotes a plural subject. But if the editor has considered it as 2 errors instead of one, you can argue on that. Fiction is an uncountable noun. But in context with the book, which is an anthology even though they are connected, 'fictions' here is a valid subjective usage, which many grammar checkers might disagree. And it should be considered a subjective error, not objective. It might be a valid point if you want to apply for a recheck.