“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.”
Stephen King
Jack Benny (Google him) was famous for two things: being 39
for decades and being a notorious cheapskate. I tend to be rather
manic-depressive when it comes to money. In my writing style, I tend to emulate
the late Mr. Benny. I try never to use a $100 word when a ten-cent one will do.
Neither do I like using five words where one good one will do the job.
There are as many writing styles as there are voices in the
world. Some sound alike but unless there is a conscious effort to emulate someone
else, writers who are serious about their craft work to develop a unique voice.
I am of the opinion that the voice they finally decide on reflects their core personality.
As long as it is your own voice, there is no right and wrong
to finding it or what it sounds like. This is something that, when working as
an editor, I try to constantly keep in mind.
Some writers tend to be rather wordy. Alexander Dumas’ The
Count of Monte Cristo runs over 444,000 words and is replete with extensive,
flowery descriptions of people and places. Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote is
900 pages and over 344,000 words. Both are classics and personal favorites.
On the other hand, Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
is a classic that I have read and reread a dozen times. It might be 30,000
words but that’s stretching it a bit. Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea
falls just short of 23,000 words.
I have read each of these books and like them all. A quick
read of my books is evidence of the direction in which I lean while
writing. I once had an editor who often objected to my having a character walk
across the room without first detailing that he got up out of his chair.
It is true that I use obscure references without bothering
to explain them. In my defense, many writers do. If you’re a Stephen King fan
check out how many books have a character named Dwight Frye. It’s fun when you
get it and goes unnoticed if you don’t, so why not have fun?
In the name of economy, I also refuse to write a sentence, add
a comma and then explain or add a description of what I just wrote. In today’s market
that may or may not be a good thing. However, it is my thing, my voice, and, so
far, it has worked.
Talk is cheap, so I try to be thrifty with my words. If a
word ends in “ly”, I have to ask myself twice if I need it. The exception may
be blog posts in which I ramble.
Maranatha
No comments:
Post a Comment