Musings
Had a minor twitter-spat recently with an American fantasy writer whose tweets comprise uninvited tips for would-be novelists.
The particular, monotonously repeated tweet that annoyed me poured scorn on writers who use the adjective 'nice.' I told him he didn't need to tell us this quite so often and that 'nice' happened to be a favourite adjective of a pretty good writer named Ernest Hemingway.
He called me an asshole and blocked me. So highly do I value this man's opinion that I took this as a compliment.
The fact is that the only rule in fiction writing worth observing is that there are no rules. I don't personally care for magical realism and think steampunk a bit silly, but plenty of intelligent and dedicated readers love both those genres. So, just as pertinently, do plenty of gifted writers possessed of both imagination and integrity.
Hemingway used 'nice' a lot in the 1920s, writing about complex characters who craved simplicity, hoping most for what he termed, 'a clean, well-lighted place' in which to take refuge and escape the darkly contingent trauma of the Great War. In so doing, he created great stories in which to this reader (and I'm hardly alone), the vocabulary seems not just right, but perfect.
To suggest a fiction writer shouldn't use certain adjectives isn't just limiting and patronising, it's wrong. The fact that there are no rules is what liberates and inspires us when the page is blank, awaiting the adventure promised by that about to be born opening sentence.
The particular, monotonously repeated tweet that annoyed me poured scorn on writers who use the adjective 'nice.' I told him he didn't need to tell us this quite so often and that 'nice' happened to be a favourite adjective of a pretty good writer named Ernest Hemingway.
He called me an asshole and blocked me. So highly do I value this man's opinion that I took this as a compliment.
The fact is that the only rule in fiction writing worth observing is that there are no rules. I don't personally care for magical realism and think steampunk a bit silly, but plenty of intelligent and dedicated readers love both those genres. So, just as pertinently, do plenty of gifted writers possessed of both imagination and integrity.
Hemingway used 'nice' a lot in the 1920s, writing about complex characters who craved simplicity, hoping most for what he termed, 'a clean, well-lighted place' in which to take refuge and escape the darkly contingent trauma of the Great War. In so doing, he created great stories in which to this reader (and I'm hardly alone), the vocabulary seems not just right, but perfect.
To suggest a fiction writer shouldn't use certain adjectives isn't just limiting and patronising, it's wrong. The fact that there are no rules is what liberates and inspires us when the page is blank, awaiting the adventure promised by that about to be born opening sentence.
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S.R.
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Oct 28, 2014 05:42AM
Well said, sir!
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Thanks, Sarah. He did explain that his tweets were on something called shuffle. He said the average tweet has a lifespan of 10 minutes to two hours. Obviously he's expert at the medium and wants to self-promote. But there's no justification for endlessly repeating what is essentially alien to fictive creativity (said Cottam, mounting his incredibly high horse...)
I totally agree! If you start applying "rules" you are turning works of creativity and imagination into high school term papers. I'm all for authors sharing their knowledge and experience, but when they start handing down edicts and belittling others' works, it shows me how insecure they are in their own capabilities. Thus, I think you may have touched a nerve when he called you a name. My only rule for fiction is even if I don't like it, I will give the author the courtesy of trying to finish it, learn from the experience, and refine my list of what I love and what I don't care for. Many times when I've been on the verge of dropping a book, I've soldiered through and been pleasantly surprised at the end. Now I will step off my soap box and go find some coffee.
Music to my ears, Brian, if only all readers were as fair-minded and philosophical. I think he's a software engineer and it might be tempting to apply a formula to fiction if you're of a scientific bent, though actually I think that would only shackle the imagination (as well as the language) of a truly creative storyteller.
Bravo F.G. I have a particular dislike for people who say you should say certain words. I remember once being told not to say "bear with me" on telephone calls, honestly bloody patronising and ridiculous. Just keep writing great stuff and use the vocabulary you deem appropriate.
Well said, F.G. Where the creative arts are concerned, surely the imposing of any rules can only stifle creativity?I personally don't 'get' the whole Bizarro thing, but as you said, if people choose to write in a certain way - or a certain style - and there is an appreciative audience, then surely this is all that counts.
F.G., thank you for friending me and I'm looking forward to reading your books.This is an interesting post - It reminds me of critical reviews by people who have not written books but attempt to try to tell the author "how he/she should have written the book". As a very avid and rabid reader for over 50 years, I do not, will not compare authors who write books of similar genres. Each writer is their own talent, not to be held up against another and their books should not be compared either. Readers should remember - when a writer pens his story, it's exactly that - HIS story. Not to be rewritten by the reader but to be enjoyed for what it is - a story. If you don't like the story, don't read it but don't say mean things about the person....
Now that I got that off my chest, I shall go take a few of your books out of the library (there are, sady, only four). Then I will have to buy the rest to read them LOL
I really, sincerely hope you enjoy them. It's a compliment when someone invests the time and thought required to read one of my novels from the first page to the last and I'm always mindful of that.
F.G. wrote: "I really, sincerely hope you enjoy them. It's a compliment when someone invests the time and thought required to read one of my novels from the first page to the last and I'm always mindful of that."I've been able to read three of your books and have really enjoyed them. Glad to have found you and am looking for copies of the others through my library.
Minor twitter spat? I was the victim of a twitter 'shit storm' I think they call it. The perp and her minions objected to a Rack interview she gave on the now defunct 'On Fiction Writing'. Admittedly the format had changed since you appeared on it, conducted by two 'noir' characters, Clay Cross and Sheri Lamour - the one a misogynist, the other a beautiful psychopath. The problem was she couldn't distinguish between 'play' and reality. I was subject to threats of castration. Just wondering whether I should send her the book. The publicity would be useful. :)Just pondering which of your books I should request for Father's Day. There's only a few I've yet to read.
