We have two reading this week. Both deal with writing. As
you read, consider what you value as a writer. What is most important to you as
you write?
READING 1
THE FOLLOWING IS FROM
Orwell's essay, “Politics and the English Language”
A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:
- What am I trying to say?
- What words will express it?
- What image or idiom will make it clearer?
- Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?
And he will probably ask
himself two more:
- Could I put it more shortly?
- Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?
One can often be in
doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can
rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
READING 2
Twain's Rules of Writing
(from
Mark Twain's scathing essay on the Literary Offenses of James Fenimore Cooper)
1. A tale shall accomplish
something and arrive somewhere.
2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it.
3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.
4. The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.
5. When the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.
6. When the author describes the character of a personage in his tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description.
7. When a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a Negro minstrel at the end of it.
8. Crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader by either the author or the people in the tale.
9. The personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausably set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable.
10. The author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones.
11. The characters in tale be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.
An author should
12. _Say_ what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style.
2. The episodes of a tale shall be necessary parts of the tale, and shall help develop it.
3. The personages in a tale shall be alive, except in the case of corpses, and that always the reader shall be able to tell the corpses from the others.
4. The personages in a tale, both dead and alive, shall exhibit a sufficient excuse for being there.
5. When the personages of a tale deal in conversation, the talk shall sound like human talk, and be talk such as human beings would be likely to talk in the given circumstances, and have a discoverable meaning, also a discoverable purpose, and a show of relevancy, and remain in the neighborhood of the subject in hand, and be interesting to the reader, and help out the tale, and stop when the people cannot think of anything more to say.
6. When the author describes the character of a personage in his tale, the conduct and conversation of that personage shall justify said description.
7. When a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship's Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a Negro minstrel at the end of it.
8. Crass stupidities shall not be played upon the reader by either the author or the people in the tale.
9. The personages of a tale shall confine themselves to possibilities and let miracles alone; or, if they venture a miracle, the author must so plausably set it forth as to make it look possible and reasonable.
10. The author shall make the reader feel a deep interest in the personages of his tale and their fate; and that he shall make the reader love the good people in the tale and hate the bad ones.
11. The characters in tale be so clearly defined that the reader can tell beforehand what each will do in a given emergency.
An author should
12. _Say_ what he is proposing to say, not merely come near it.
13. Use the right word, not its second cousin.
14. Eschew surplusage.
15. Not omit necessary details.
16. Avoid slovenliness of form.
17. Use good grammar.
18. Employ a simple, straightforward style.
My understanding of the first reading is to use words that are clearly understood. Get to the point of the information, grab the interest of the reader and keep the reading interested. The writer should use fresh ideas to convey the meaning. Do not bore the reader with information that has been written before. In this way we can present an idea in a clearly understood way and hopefully intrigue the reader to continue to read and explore our ideas.
ReplyDeleteThe second reading, "Twain's rules," give intellectual credit to the reader. Twain is telling us to be consistent, if the character starts out speaking and thinking in a certain manner, follow through to the end of the tale in the same vain. The tale is to inform the reader and convey a meaning. We, as writers need to be clear in what we want to convey. Don't beat around the bush, get to the point. If we build a character in our tale we can predict or guide the reader to a logical conclusion.
ReplyDeleteAs I read the first reading "Politics and the English Language," I immediately felt convicted because I am guilty of going around my words and adding unnecessary ones. I enjoy creative writing and have to be careful to not get carried away with my word choices when writing papers. Being clear and concise is important. The reader needs to feel that the writer knows what they are talking about and not just putting words on paper. The second essay by author Mark Twain on the rules of writing, is also about being clear and intelligent when writing, but in the case of a tale, the writer must be able to make each character a believable one. The reader needs to somewhat relate to the character. "Loving the good guys" and "hating the bad guys" means the reader and character have some ideals and values in common.
ReplyDeleteAfter doing the reading my understanding was that at times we try to make things more complicated then what they should be. I myself will go off on tangents and will try to make my sentences longer just to make the paragraph longer when in reality you could just get straight to the point. I will at times look up words in the thesaurus and might add a word I never even heard of that does not even fit accurately in the sentence. Sometimes it is best to keep it short and simple instead of using big and complicated words. According to Twain's rules I liked rule number five and thirteen. We have to remember that we are humans and should right what one will understand and to use the right words instead of something that does not fit well.
ReplyDelete