leethet: (Default)
leethet ([personal profile] leethet) wrote2008-05-15 09:11 pm

A rant

Writers? Please - fewer words!


/rant.

[identity profile] veronicaluv.livejournal.com 2008-05-16 04:17 am (UTC)(link)
*peeks around monitor*

Was that meant as a general rant or a specific one?

*ducks back behind monitor and checks word count*

(what's up?)

[identity profile] leethet.livejournal.com 2008-05-16 09:28 pm (UTC)(link)
It's a general one! I keep starting to sample stories and wanting to cut out about every third word. I know we have a batch of new people in MFU (and it's not just new people), and I know I'm generally cranky about flabby writing anyway. I just happened to sample several in a row like that and felt like venting. :-) Honestly:

"The reason why he thought he had to change his life was because he felt that he was in a rut. He felt that he was bored with everything - his wife, his job, his hobbies, his family, his friends. He felt that he needed a change - he needed something new, something stimulating. He needed a new hobby, a new job, a new wife - something, anything to get him out of this dull depression."

Or

"Everything was boring. Every. Thing. He had to change his life or die."

You know? Get to the meat of it, people! Make every word count!

/rant number two. :-)

[identity profile] leethet.livejournal.com 2008-05-16 09:31 pm (UTC)(link)
And I should add, it's not bad writing, it's just freighted with lifeless words, deadwood that needs to be cut away. Every word should be a weight-bearing word. (Of course, this is a goal I fall short of too, but I strive for it)

[identity profile] franciskerst.livejournal.com 2008-05-16 06:44 am (UTC)(link)
Are you bidding for Hai Ku?

[identity profile] leethet.livejournal.com 2008-05-16 09:29 pm (UTC)(link)
*G* I felt that it would be inappropriate to be wordy when asking other authors not to be. :-)

[identity profile] cousinnat.livejournal.com 2008-05-29 06:17 pm (UTC)(link)
That was short and sweet. To your point, I suppose!

Hey, someone recced your Mary Sue story on crackvan, but the link is bad. I'll search File Forty.

[identity profile] auctasinistra.livejournal.com 2008-05-30 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
Hey, someone recced your Mary Sue story on crackvan

The nerve! I mean, ooh. Awesome. :-) Perhaps I should try to supply a good link.

[identity profile] leethet.livejournal.com 2008-05-30 11:39 pm (UTC)(link)
Er. And maybe I should reply with the right danged LJ monicker, eh? God. Senility would probably suck if I could remember I had it.

[identity profile] cousinnat.livejournal.com 2008-05-31 03:05 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, who was that masked poster? :)

[identity profile] leethet.livejournal.com 2008-06-02 01:12 am (UTC)(link)
I have no idea. My LJ's been hijacked! Oh no!