The Ugliest Truth - Bad Writing - Page 10

rhadin · 03-13-2013, 05:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yolina

Saw this the other day (not an indie book) "he shuffled laterally to his right"

surely shuffling to your right already implies lateral movement...

One could shuffle to one's right but do so diagonally rather than laterally. I see the terms as meaning diagonally = at an angle; laterally = a straight horizontal line.

Yolina · 03-13-2013, 05:28 AM

Well maybe I'm just fussy

but I though it was superfluous and made the sentence clumsy. Somehow it just broke the flow and irritated me

Geralt · 03-14-2013, 06:44 AM

With all due respect I think you're nitpicking. One badly constructed sentence regarding climbing or the sound of gunfire (page 8 of this thread) doesn't make bad writing.

If anything, bad writing is consistent through the book. On the other hand even great writers have bad sentence now and then.

HarryT · 03-14-2013, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geralt

If anything, bad writing is consistent through the book. On the other hand even great writers have bad sentence now and then.

Or even more. I, like many Dickens fans, cringe when I read the American portions of his novel "Martin Chuzzlewit". It's just appalling. Even great writers can write bad books.

Yolina · 03-14-2013, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geralt

With all due respect I think you're nitpicking. One badly constructed sentence regarding climbing or the sound of gunfire (page 8 of this thread) doesn't make bad writing.

If anything, bad writing is consistent through the book. On the other hand even great writers have bad sentence now and then.

Well that's how I am

The sound of gunfire wasn't mine btw, and I would say that the book where I came across the wall climbing thing was acceptable overall in terms of writing, but had enough clumsy sentences to be irritating at times. I prefer not to be irritated by my reading material

Geralt · 03-14-2013, 07:14 AM

Lol, I know it wasn't yours. But it was the same thing as the example you gave.
Sometimes its not the reading material fault. Sometimes you sit down to read already irritated and no matter what you read amplifies that irritation

But that's only sometimes.

What I mean is our state of mind determines our tolerance for "bad writing" more often then we'd like to confess. We are not exactly objective computer like being are we.

Yolina · 03-14-2013, 07:25 AM

Well, the gunfire thing would have annoyed me too

I just don't like it when the flow of a story is disrupted by something silly like sentences that aren't quite right and that could easily have been amended if only someone had paid a little bit more attention to details.

Geralt · 03-14-2013, 07:31 AM

Guess we are different type of people. It takes a hell of a lot more then a sentence to annoy me. I'm pretty laid back and chill. I have never cared much for details if the characters are great and the story is an awesome one.

I get too caught up in playing the book in my head as a movie, imagining the characters, places, and events to care for nitpicking.
When I read, its like I flow through the book. I don't stop to inspect single droplet of water. My mind is too busy getting carried away by the current of storytelling.

Yolina · 03-14-2013, 07:40 AM

I am rather laid back and chilled too most of the time, but I am picky about some things. I don't stop and inspect every drop, it's more like a drop jumps out and screams "I'm spoiling the flow"

HarryT · 03-14-2013, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yolina

I am rather laid back and chilled too most of the time, but I am picky about some things. I don't stop and inspect every drop, it's more like a drop jumps out and screams "I'm spoiling the flow"

Yes. Grammatical errors and spelling mistakes do that for me.

03-14-2013, 07:25 AM	#142
Yolina Wizard Posts: 1,179 Karma: 11573197 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Voyage	Well, the gunfire thing would have annoyed me too I just don't like it when the flow of a story is disrupted by something silly like sentences that aren't quite right and that could easily have been amended if only someone had paid a little bit more attention to details. Last edited by Yolina; 03-14-2013 at 07:27 AM.

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03-13-2013, 05:28 AM	#137
Yolina Wizard Posts: 1,179 Karma: 11573197 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Voyage	Well maybe I'm just fussy but I though it was superfluous and made the sentence clumsy. Somehow it just broke the flow and irritated me

03-14-2013, 06:44 AM	#138
Geralt Witcher Posts: 933 Karma: 7321117 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Swamp. Slaying Drowners. Device: Kindle PW2	With all due respect I think you're nitpicking. One badly constructed sentence regarding climbing or the sound of gunfire (page 8 of this thread) doesn't make bad writing. If anything, bad writing is consistent through the book. On the other hand even great writers have bad sentence now and then.

03-14-2013, 07:14 AM	#141
Geralt Witcher Posts: 933 Karma: 7321117 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Swamp. Slaying Drowners. Device: Kindle PW2	Lol, I know it wasn't yours. But it was the same thing as the example you gave. Sometimes its not the reading material fault. Sometimes you sit down to read already irritated and no matter what you read amplifies that irritation But that's only sometimes. What I mean is our state of mind determines our tolerance for "bad writing" more often then we'd like to confess. We are not exactly objective computer like being are we.

03-14-2013, 07:31 AM	#143
Geralt Witcher Posts: 933 Karma: 7321117 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Swamp. Slaying Drowners. Device: Kindle PW2	Guess we are different type of people. It takes a hell of a lot more then a sentence to annoy me. I'm pretty laid back and chill. I have never cared much for details if the characters are great and the story is an awesome one. I get too caught up in playing the book in my head as a movie, imagining the characters, places, and events to care for nitpicking. When I read, its like I flow through the book. I don't stop to inspect single droplet of water. My mind is too busy getting carried away by the current of storytelling.

03-14-2013, 07:40 AM	#144
Yolina Wizard Posts: 1,179 Karma: 11573197 Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: London, UK Device: Voyage	I am rather laid back and chilled too most of the time, but I am picky about some things. I don't stop and inspect every drop, it's more like a drop jumps out and screams "I'm spoiling the flow"

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