Posted on 01/24/2017 7:38:38 PM PST by Dan Baker
In the case of many of these prescriptions, my answer is
“Never, never, unless it’s pertinent”.
Useful advice I’ve heard and followed is simpler: Describe rather than tell, such as, “I couldn’t see the houses unless lightning struck near them, and I was in continual danger of getting wetter than was prudent.” rather than, “It was a dark and stormy night.” Usually.
Then I’ve also been told to say one and only one thing at a time. A second message cuts reader acceptance in half, so if you’ve additional messages, keep them subtle or save them for another time.
Oh, and of course pay attention in Comp class.
‘.
That’s all well and good, but what if I want to write like Jack Vance?
Two quick replies:
1. Underlining online often looks like hyperlinking, I follow others’ advice to avoid underlining online when italics are available.
2. Many people online like to abbreviate to the point of obscurity.
On another forum, I recently found an acronym that maybe a specialized community understands but isn’t clear to the general population. The context was unclear, and the two-letter acronym is used for different things online. I had a guess; if it’s correct, these words weren’t long, hard to spell, or otherwise hard to type. The writer could’ve been friendlier to the readers by writing out the words.
That’s a keeper.
Thank you.
Absolutely. This is art, and you can't play unless you understand the rules, and you can't win unless you disobey them. But if you disobey them poorly, you lose.
"It was a dark and stormy night" was a perfectly workmanlike opening, IMHO. Bulwer-Lytton's problem was that he didn't put a period after it.
Ping
Trump’s an exclamation point guy. He uses a lot of them in his tweets, which I find kind of endearing.
Jay Nordlinger would disagree about the use of parenthetical asides. He uses them more than any other writer I can think of, to the point where he’ll have a half dozen or more in a shortish post at NRO, but somehow it really works for his style.
Mistakes were made ... but you are not focus on the subject, the mistaker.
Attributed to Alice Roosevelt Longworth (Teddy's daughter) is the quote, "If you can't say something good about someone, sit right here by me."
Now that’s just plain funny
bkmk
The unique selling proposition. When advertising developed this concept, they struck gold.
Someone else said—someone in the garment business—you can only put one new idea in a dress at a time.
Same concept, different industry.
Old joke:
What’s the rule of silence in a Unitarian monastery?
No talking, unless it’s really, really important.
They are definitely useful and have their place.
I imagine on Twitter they come in very handy.
Because 140 characters.
BMFL
Ping for later.
Bookmarked as well.
You put a lot of effort into this. Thanks.
Lots of good stuff here.
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