tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post8382549997568022731..comments2023-09-05T12:51:25.656-05:00Comments on edittorrent: More about long sentencesEdittorrenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-63591507164228618412012-10-02T00:16:42.246-05:002012-10-02T00:16:42.246-05:00Fantastic post - thank you. I intuitively follow t...Fantastic post - thank you. I intuitively follow these rules from picking up patterns from reading novels, so it's great to actually put a name on them (I know, I know, I'll have to revisit my grammar :)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15566785418768233747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-48082196979772529302012-09-30T03:38:11.329-05:002012-09-30T03:38:11.329-05:00All yours - but I suspect I read it somewhere; or ...All yours - but I suspect I read it somewhere; or maybe it's like a portmanteau word: packed with meaning; or a computer zip file that needs unzipping.<br /><br />The purpose is compactness - but sometimes the writer gets too clever, and compactness becomes a needless complexity. Too much of that and you lose ordinary readers.<br /><br />Sol Stein in one of his books on writing talks of the writer creating the experience for the reader. Those long sentences can be a good part of the experience - or can give a reader tummyaches. Worse, not all readers find the same spaghetti sentences indigestible.<br /><br />So you have to add in 'know your audience' - or hope for omnivorous readers with cast-iron stomachs.<br /><br />Stein also said that you should share with the reader the job of creating the story, 50/50, providing an envelope full of enough bits to give the reader the raw material needed to construct the story. I guess packing meaning in is on my mind. <br /><br />As long as you do your job and the meaning is clear.<br />ABE<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-10018664807006027402012-09-29T18:22:18.921-05:002012-09-29T18:22:18.921-05:00"Unpack" sentences -- that's a great..."Unpack" sentences -- that's a great way to describe the subtle problem. I may have to borrow that!<br /><br />TheresaEdittorrenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14295505709568570553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6824896765631412903.post-59247760904651440462012-09-29T17:03:08.135-05:002012-09-29T17:03:08.135-05:00Your color coding makes it so clear - thanks for t...Your color coding makes it so clear - thanks for that.<br /><br />It gives a system for understanding where things have gone wrong.<br /><br />A parallel system comes from reading - a lot - of good writing: becvause good writers don't separate parts that shouldn't be separated, and make things flow naturally, if you read good writing, a subtle sense of 'wrong' arises in your brain when you've accidentally written something that violates these basic principles.<br /><br />So the brain signals - and now you've provided us with an easy way to analyze WHY the brain is unhappy. <br /><br />Long gorgeous sentences that flow add to the reading experience (where appropriate), and provide a way of adjusting the pace. But the reading experience is ruined when the sentences don't work - readers shouldn't have to unpack meaning. If they do, the writer hasn't done her job.<br />ABEAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com