Re: [WR] My big little book

gekko <Miz.Gekko@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

A request to improve one's writing through mechanics is somehow
"being writerly"?


Explain, please.

I don't think you can improve your writing through mechanics, that's
like making your car go faster by having it painted or putting on a
really good coat of wax, it may look better but it doesn't go faster.

To make your car go faster you have to change the engine or gearing,
to make your writing better you have to change your mode of
expression, not the spelling or pagination or adverb/adjective count.

You have to come from a different place inside if the old place isn't
working. How to find a different place inside? Hunt around some.
Writers we like to read, they see things from their own unique
perspective. Find one. Once you find it the rest will work itself
out naturally.

Some writers tell a story (and it's always telling a
story even if it's a tech-manual) that contains meat and garlic,
while others spout tofu and tell you it tastes like steak even
though you know it has no taste at all.

Okay, but let's return to the original question for a moment.

Okay.

PJ indicated that she found a style book to be a good resource.

I don't think I've argued that style books are totally useless, just
that they are not the answer to all the writer's questions.

She
indicated that the admonition to be sparing in the use of adverbs was
especially meaningful to her. She mentioned why -- adverb overuse is
usually used to support a weak or inaccurate noun. It adds little to
the color or quality of the work. Rather than rely on adverbs to do
the work, use them sparingly and find the right nouns and verbs. PJ
continued by reiterating the general rule of "showing" rather than
"telling." She spoke of the impact on the reader, and of
effectiveness. Cleanliness. Clarity.

All of that spoke of a desire to write better. None of it had to do
with becoming a literary snoot.

Literary snootiness is beside the point. A lot of people seem to
waste a lot of effort on looking good instead of being good, I contend
that if you really are good you just naturally look good. Thackeray
was probably really good but the difference between his times and our
time makes him look goofy to my eye. Steinbeck was just that good,
nothing contrived about any of his books that I've read.

I contend that the writer's primary strength is the place from which
he sees the world, the lens through which his world is viewed. Given
a viewpoint that works, extra adverbs are unnecessary and writing them
doesn't enter your mind. When you are telling a story from a point of
view that itself interests the reader, a great deal of mechanics will
be overlooked by the reader if that is necessary, because the reader
is hungry to see the world from your particular perspective, it gives
him some new set of clues about the way things are.

All this is thoroughly substantiated by my impressive credentials so
if you choose to differ well you'll be wrong since you're the reader
and as I've been informed it is not always the writer's fault, a Real
Writer should be allowed to dribble out any form of slime and be
worshipped as a god.

It isn't necessary to ramble on for twelve pages about how the night
was dark when you can say something like "He knew from the stink of
geraniums that the window was directly overhead".

--
sig text to prevent insertion of advertising
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Bafflingly unable to read
    ... who doesn't care for her/his writing, that means there are no good authors. ... not every reader is going to be part of the audience for every piece of fiction. ... Saying the author is at fault and no good at writing because a portion of the audience is baffled or indifferent, is as silly as saying the audience is to blame. ... Financially successful writers find the people who are in harmony with him/her while he/she is alive. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.written)
  • Re: Writers quit whining
    ... Writers, quit whining ... "The truth, young people, is that writing is no more difficult than ... heads are full of pain and adverbs. ... Putting excerpts in a post is supposed to make the reader want to ...
    (misc.writing)
  • Re: [WR] My big little book
    ... writing, my favorite reference is still a 1979 copy of "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White, which I believe was originally published in 1935. ... This is not to disparage adjectives and adverbs; they are indispensable parts of speech ... ... I thought that was a brilliant way of conveying to readers how much that headache hurt. ... All good writers do that. ...
    (misc.writing)
  • Re: [WR] My big little book
    ... and verbs, not their assistants, that give to good writing its toughness ... relying on adverbs is a lazy way of writing. ... of conveying to readers how much that headache hurt. ... Maybe other writers don't have this problem, but I'm extremely, ...
    (misc.writing)
  • Re: [WR] My big little book
    ... writing, my favorite reference is still a 1979 copy of "Elements of Style" by Strunk and White, which I believe was originally published in 1935. ... This is not to disparage adjectives and adverbs; they are indispensable parts of speech ... ... I thought that was a brilliant way of conveying to readers how much that headache hurt. ... All good writers do that. ...
    (misc.writing)