Comments on: Quick tip: Fresh writing vs. over-writing http://www.threepennyeditor.com/2012/01/quick-tip-fresh-writing-vs-over-writing/ Good ideas in great hands Sat, 12 Jan 2013 01:01:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sarah Cypher http://www.threepennyeditor.com/2012/01/quick-tip-fresh-writing-vs-over-writing/#comment-413 Sarah Cypher Sat, 10 Mar 2012 18:03:37 +0000 http://www.threepennyeditor.com/?p=373#comment-413 Graham, so glad you found this helpful. Prose has been getting shorter since Hemingway, it seems--but we still have gems like Cormac McCarthy, who finds a way to walk a line between baroque beauty and a lean plot. The language may change with the times, but it is still our raw material to use however suits our vision. Aside from basic guidelines that I offer here, writing is still an art--thank goodness--that allows a little more room for beauty than newspaper writing. If we follow the guidelines most of the time, we get to break them beautifully once in a while. Graham, so glad you found this helpful. Prose has been getting shorter since Hemingway, it seems–but we still have gems like Cormac McCarthy, who finds a way to walk a line between baroque beauty and a lean plot. The language may change with the times, but it is still our raw material to use however suits our vision. Aside from basic guidelines that I offer here, writing is still an art–thank goodness–that allows a little more room for beauty than newspaper writing. If we follow the guidelines most of the time, we get to break them beautifully once in a while.

]]> By: Graham Strong http://www.threepennyeditor.com/2012/01/quick-tip-fresh-writing-vs-over-writing/#comment-412 Graham Strong Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:37:05 +0000 http://www.threepennyeditor.com/?p=373#comment-412 Nice. And so true. It's interesting that novels are going to a more "just the facts" newspaper style. It's not really surprising though -- shorter attention spans and a general move towards "fast" reads means that you have to lose word count somewhere. This is nothing new. Even in the 80s, Charles Dickens was already seen as wordy by many. The changes today are only a matter of degree. I like though how you've given a good rule of thumb about when to "pull out the big guns" and when to let the story just tell itself. ~Graham Nice. And so true.

It’s interesting that novels are going to a more “just the facts” newspaper style. It’s not really surprising though — shorter attention spans and a general move towards “fast” reads means that you have to lose word count somewhere.

This is nothing new. Even in the 80s, Charles Dickens was already seen as wordy by many. The changes today are only a matter of degree.

I like though how you’ve given a good rule of thumb about when to “pull out the big guns” and when to let the story just tell itself.

~Graham

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