Quote:
Originally Posted by William Campbell
Right on. But the real question is, is it really garbage? That's the thing I'm learning -- these 'weird' ways of writing things, that happen to feel "right" as we record them, are not garbage. And they're not incorrect once one delves deeper into the subject of grammar.
Fascinating stuff, and I suspect like me, your "garbage" is actually effective prose. I'm proud of my crap, too.
(SMILE)
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Totally love your examples and will check out the link.
As for the garbage reference, it's tongue in cheek, but makes the point. I think it's good to claim the word back from other's tossing it around. It's all good.
The thing is that using language in a unique way confuses people. They're like, "Well, I know she's not smart, so this must be wrong." Consequently, the entire book went down the old toilet. I think the other confusing thing is people thinking that what you write, is what you agree with. They attach the character's mores or morality to the writer, which ain't true! It's like you have to stop the action and include an aside that you do not approve of the behavior your characters are exhibiting and would have stopped it with a call to 911 if you were there.
I remember a friend reading a Dean Koontz book about a serial killer. She said she stopped reading it because he did such an effective job getting into this killer's head that she couldn't tell if Koontz himself were like that. We both quickly agreed that if he were, that we would have heard about it by now. Therefore, he was doing a remarkable job of writing, but it's just an example of what I'm talking about. Again, it wasn't the subject matter that was disturbing to her - it was the possibility that he thought what this psycho character was doing was alright. Giving it a stamp of approval.
To get back to the subject, language to me is like clay. I get to mush it up, put it in any position I want, poke it, prod it and shape it to my will. Language does not control me - I control it - at least in the realm of writing. I respect it because t's a tool, like a computer. A very useful tool since it gives me the means to communicate, but I'll do what I need to do to it to tell the story.