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Thread: What do you desire?

  1. #1
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    What do you desire?

    Reading a post here made me think of how we are all different. I abhor books/articles that go into EXORBITANT detail... such as the house was shuttered in tan shutters with peeling paint and bird droppings. Was this important to the story? If so, ok. Otherwise, I prefer more succinct sentences etc. Others find this detail lovely. I usually find it unnecessary drivel and have trouble reading such a book to the end.

  2. #2
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    My staff person and i talked a bit about this. I sent her an encouraging email, and she thought it was informational. I don't gush, or as i consider it as wasted words. I told her a couple positives, and some advice about the problem areas. She thinks i just need to work on it, i don't see that more words are necessary

  3. #3
    Williamsmith
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    My youngest child hated reading. In school he was assigned Charles Dickens’, “Great Expectations”. He has always been a very resourceful young man. I knew he wouldn’t read the book, I knew he’d find a way to pass the quizzes, and I knew if I left him to his own...he wouldn’t get anything out of the class. So......I read the book out loud to him at night. And I created practice quizzes for him.

    I admit this wasn’t the textbook way of teaching a child to be responsible. I also admit, I didn’t know what I was getting into. Imagine a guy whose interest I. Reading was mostly fishing and hunting books. I hated Dickens. I couldn’t believe the detail, the shear length of the sentences.

    To this day, I favor short concise writing. But not Superman comic books.

    A sample:

    Or,” said Estella, “—which is a nearer case—if you had taught her, from the dawn of her intelligence, with your utmost energy and might, that there was such a thing as daylight, but that it was made to be her enemy and destroyer, and she must always turn against it, for it had blighted you and would else blight her—if you had done this, and then, for a purpose, had wanted her to take naturally to the daylight and she could not do it, you would have been disappointed and angry? . . .”


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    Senior Member Rogar's Avatar
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    I have written my share of technical reports and can appreciate being to the point and avoiding excess verbiage. I find a place for it in literature, it's just that some people can use descriptors well and others get caught up and go overboard. Jean Shepard of The Christmas Story was a whimsical master. For example, "I had woven a tapestry of obscenity that as far as I know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan" beats something like, "I cursed viciously".

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    Quote Originally Posted by Rogar View Post
    I have written my share of technical reports and can appreciate being to the point and avoiding excess verbiage. I find a place for it in literature, it's just that some people can use descriptors well and others get caught up and go overboard. Jean Shepard of The Christmas Story was a whimsical master. For example, "I had woven a tapestry of obscenity that as far as I know is still hanging in space over Lake Michigan" beats something like, "I cursed viciously".
    I don't agree. I would look at the first sentence and wonder wth she was talking about or put the book down. Too verbose for me. If that was the way the whole thing was written, it would take forever to get through. As I said, we sure are all different.

  6. #6
    Senior Member JaneV2.0's Avatar
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    Maybe that's why I prefer non-fiction. Meaty, descriptive fiction done well is one thing, but most isn't. I find myself thinking "Get to the point!"

    I like Shepard's quote.

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    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    I just love reading, from the frothy Victorian writings of the Bronte sisters, to the simple prose of Raymond Carver to the beautifully poetic lines of Shakespeare. As long as it's good writing, I love it.

    But I admit that I am not as crazy about mysteries, ever since Nancy Drew raised the bar pretty high for me in 8th grade.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
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    Senior Member Ultralight's Avatar
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    A professor once told me that great writers are like a saucier. They boil it down to the most flavorful sauce with the most delightful texture and aroma.

  9. #9
    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    Depends on which form of society one lives in. Before TV etc., reading a book was heavenly with complete descriptions giving one's imagination a place to explore. TV has reduced our attention span dramatically according to reports.

    When reading out loud, a good orator could make the long descriptions come alive, decorating the story.

    EG -Gone with the Wind was verbose in many ways but it was wonderful. I came downstairs after reading chapters in it and felt strange in my home which was so different from Tara and its time.

    That said, I loved the clear succinctness of The Old Man and the Sea, nothing extra there.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

  10. #10
    Senior Member catherine's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by razz View Post

    EG -Gone with the Wind was verbose in many ways but it was wonderful. I came downstairs after reading chapters in it and felt strange in my home which was so different from Tara and its time.
    My family was embarking on a vacation at a lake family camp in 1965. I was about 12-13, and for the ride I picked up Gone with the Wind at the local bookstore. Well, I read it on the way up, I read it on the porch all week while others were canoeing, hiking, playing ping-pong. The camp owner told me, jokingly, on Thursday, when I was on about page 650, "I want you to write me an essay on 'what I did on my summer vacation' when you get home."

    I read it on the way back from the Berkshires, and I was two chapters from finishing by the time I got home, and I just ran upstairs to my room and read the rest.

    That book was so alive to me.
    "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it--every, every minute?" Emily Webb, Our Town
    www.silententry.wordpress.com

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