"Be" is active?
Yeah not so much.
Unsurprisingly, I don't agree with this.
Tell it to Strunk and White, missy.
I am not...I am not the damsel in distress. I am not some case. I have to work this. I've lived in a cave for 5 years in a world where they killed my kind like cattle. I am not going to be cut down by some monster flu. I am better than that. What a wonder...how very scared I am.
Fred ,'A Hole in the World'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 3:55:39 pm PST #18017 of 28267
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Atropa - Feb 28, 2012 3:56:59 pm PST #18018 of 28267
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.
Tell it to Strunk and White, missy.
Strangely, I don't feel Strunk and White are the final arbitrators of literary style, especially not for fiction. I'll be over here with my Ray Bradbury collection, thanks.
Steph L. - Feb 28, 2012 3:59:11 pm PST #18019 of 28267
I look more rad than Lutheranism
Unsurprisingly, I don't agree with this. I feel it's more of a guideline than a rule.
Nor do I. Stark spare minimalistic prose construction has its place, of course, but it's generally not on my shelf.
Amy - Feb 28, 2012 4:01:11 pm PST #18020 of 28267
Because books.
Strangely, I don't feel Strunk and White are the final arbitrators of literary style, especially not for fiction.
That's putting it mildly. I agree, of course.
It's helpful to keep in mind that a lot of writing advice is designed with the lowest common denominator in mind. Like, "CAUTION: Coffee will be very hot." If you have a decent command of the language, and a unique and confident voice, you can break most rules and make it work.
But that's not true for a hell of a lot of writers out there, who could definitely benefit from a few less adverbs (and adjectives, and instances of passive construction, and tense shifts ...).
Kat - Feb 28, 2012 4:21:36 pm PST #18021 of 28267
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
But that's not true for a hell of a lot of writers out there, who could definitely benefit from a few less adverbs (and adjectives, and instances of passive construction, and tense shifts ...).
t cough J.K. Rowling
Amy - Feb 28, 2012 4:25:15 pm PST #18022 of 28267
Because books.
She does love her adverbs and adjectives, I know. I found it to be part of her style, though, because she was fairly consistent with, um, overuse, so the rhythm of the narrative was pretty steady.
That might make sense only in my head, though.
It does give her books (or the Harry Potter series anyway) a certain flavor and color, too.
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 4:29:20 pm PST #18023 of 28267
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
Stephen King - who is a fan of JKR - specifically called her out on her adverb abuse, especially things like: "Ha, Ha!" she cried triumphantly.
Amy - Feb 28, 2012 4:43:00 pm PST #18024 of 28267
Because books.
Like I said, she does probably use too many. I just don't care, because the books were incredibly readable to me.
DavidS - Feb 28, 2012 4:44:28 pm PST #18025 of 28267
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I think she listened to him, though, as it was noticeably less in the last book.
Kat - Feb 28, 2012 5:04:56 pm PST #18026 of 28267
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Part of my course has been helping kids identify "works of literary merit" and defining what that means. One of our ongoing discussions is around the idea that one trait of literary merit is playing with language (which Rowling does, but it's mostly in the naming of things, like Spell-o-tape etc).
I think they have decided that, generally speaking, books that are primarily plot-driven are wonderful but mostly don't qualify as having "literary merit." It's been interesting to see them reach that conclusion because most of them found it when trying to identify the differences between Jane Eyre, Picture of Dorian Gray and The Strange Tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Rowling is plot so her adverbial tendencies don't really slow that down.