from a master writer, William Zinsser (On Writing Well):
"There's no sentence that's too short in the eyes of God.”
"Four basic premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity."
"Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.”
Nice.
Yes, so nice
Mm.
Love that! thanks for posting!
The four premises - perfect antidote to over-writing. Thanks. Peace...
dunno. sounds like a recipe.
I like it!
I'll go with Eamon on this. Soumds too much like a mandate. Rules and art should never be mixed. Do you really want rules?
The best steaks are not the lean ones.
'Sounds' not 'Soumds.' Spelling, of course, should follow mandates ... with exception, but even grammar should be subject to the demands of context. Do you think grammatically? Off subject, I know.
Ah loves me a LOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNG
Nabokovian single-sentence
paragraph (Nabokovian as in *by* Nabokov)
now 'n then.
And a Joycean "She was tired," as well.
I like Zinsser’s premises, though I usually fall on the side of, don’t give me rules.
Personally, I have fun playing in the areas of unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills and meaningless jargon.
Variety is the spliff of life.
Hmmm.... I don't see these as rules at all, merely approaches. As I do with clay and glass, I push the limits of the medium of words, or at least try to -- stretching, shrinking, turning inside-out. But in the end, if no one but me can understand what I've written and (hopefully) be moved, then it stays in my own private folder.
God Bless Bill Zinsser. The man knew his stuff.
met zinsser once in yellow springs--a good guy
native nyer--of many generations