The word "it"

I'm sure somebody will give you a technical answer, but it won't be me. I would say just don't refer to something as it/he/she unless it is absolutely obvious what you are talking about.

"The suitcase sat on the ground in front of him, the cornfield in the near distance a wall of yellow on an otherwise grey day. He walked to it with a hesitation in his step."

Is this case, is IT referring to the suitcase, the corn, the ground, the sky? I'd replace IT here with either suitcase, or another reference towards it (ie, the container, luggage, box, etc.).

If you have a scene where the is one woman and one man, you can probably use the words he/she without worrying about the association, since it can only BE Bob or Suzy that you are referring to.

I'd also be aware of pace, flow and general writing style. If you are poetic in nature, and have a lot of rich descriptions, you're probably going to say "the rugged brown shape that squatted with aplomb" instead of "the suitcase," or "it."

Hope that helps.

[QUOTE=labelleza;1112332]What do you mean? Like I'm thinking you could used what [U][B]it[/B][/U] really stands for, but you're not looking for that answer are you?

EDIT: Listen to Wickerkat...... I was thinking it though......[/QUOTE]

HA - simultaneous posting how cool is IT when that happens?

I mean if you replace the word "it" in every instance, things get a little repetitive and boring.

For instance: "Sally was really depressed when her grandmother died the same day that her boyfriend dumped her. She didn't know how to handle it, but she figured she would get over it eventually."

as apposed to: "Sally was really depressed when her grandmother died the same day that her boyfriend dumped her. She didn't know how to handle her boyfriend dumping her on the same day her grandma died, but she figured she would get over her boyfriend dumping her on the same day that her grandmother died eventually"

One more thing I was gonna say. When I use "it" refering to a situation rather than a single word, I'm having trouble explaining exactly what "it" stands for when I'm trying to replace "it". ha. Basically I'm just having trouble with wording I guess, but I'm slowly learning how to correct all of this.

I suspect you're making a mountain out of a molehill. I sometimes wonder whether basic grammar is taught in schools today? I certainly can't remember being taught it.

Try different things out and see what works.

As for Monkeywright's post:
Bruce Cambell is THE MAN!

[QUOTE=nathaniel parker;1112955]Basically just try not to ever use it unless it's in dialogue.[/QUOTE]

Bollocks. Use the word "it" all you want. You used the word "it" twice. The two subjects thing is fairly accurate.

[QUOTE]The alien grabbed at the cow but it slipped away.[/QUOTE]

Could be misinterpreted in many ways, I think after the use of the pronoun it depends on whether you're using a transitive verb or not that'd denote which noun you're reffering to. Here even I'm unsure if the Alien or pen slipped away. I think it's just a matter of rewording. Except, you know, in not such an awful way.

[QUOTE]The alien's suction cup hit nothing as the cow slipped away.[/QUOTE]

I'm sure it could be better than this as well, but I'm making a quick point.

[QUOTE]The cow had escaped. We went after the cow.[/QUOTE] Is fucking stupid.

Mostly it comes down to a personal judgement call, but don't be afraid of using the word "it", or if we're being posh, the third person neuter pronoun. However, if you're using it as a dummy pronoun, and don't wish to us it, maybe to spice up your narrative or something. Then, you know, do something about it.

[QUOTE]It was raining on the aliens.[/QUOTE] Can become. [QUOTE]The rain fell in waves on the aliens.[/QUOTE]

I looked up Strunk and White on this but found nothing also, so I'd reckon you're safe. But if you do have regular worries about tight writing, grammar and all then do pick up The Elements of Style by Strunk and White.

I made a similar mistake during a paragraph in the Craig intensive about correct noun before verb placement. Thinking back on it all. Actually, I'm not even sure I've answered anything here, I think I've just mumbled ten-pence rules about grammar.

But I mean, you're using [B]it[/B] there as the pronoun - [B]it[/B] is one of the building blocks of grammar today, without [B]it[/B] we'd be fucked, and the beauty of [B]it[/B] is that [B]it[/B]'s a pronoun and despite what we're all doing now - checking our posts for over use of [B]it[/B] - [B]it[/B]'s an insignificant little fruit like "says" - or "said" - more so than says, or said, in fact, and [B]it[/B]'s irreplacable.

[url]http://www.google.com/trends?q=it%2C+not+%22it%22[/url]
It wins you have to use it