tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250078125607062288.post331981805479447598..comments2023-09-22T18:24:22.356+01:00Comments on Lexi Revellian: No! No! It is NOT weird and wonderful!Lexihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14404818053292364819noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250078125607062288.post-46668571454787780312008-05-05T11:12:00.000+01:002008-05-05T11:12:00.000+01:00Yes; trying to write a publishable book certainly ...Yes; trying to write a publishable book certainly makes one aware of flaws in one's writing.<BR/><BR/>With me, it's word echoes, and clichés that may be peculiar to me, but that I over-use.<BR/><BR/>My writing has sharpened up over the past two years, which has to be good.Lexihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14404818053292364819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250078125607062288.post-26100158704784593942008-05-03T20:47:00.000+01:002008-05-03T20:47:00.000+01:00Good post, Lexi. Cliches can just make writing sou...Good post, Lexi. Cliches can just make writing sound sloppy at times, can't they? And there's usually a better way to say what is meant.<BR/><BR/>NikNik Perringhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07426321804560400335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250078125607062288.post-83739182680265801442008-05-01T17:27:00.000+01:002008-05-01T17:27:00.000+01:00Hi Iain (Manson? If so, how are you doing? I saw...Hi Iain (Manson? If so, how are you doing? I saw you did well on Frontlist); to type an é, <B>Ctr Alt e</B> (though it's true this sometimes produces a Euro).<BR/><BR/>My <I>'in terms of'</I> is <I>'if you like'</I>, a verbal tic that users mistakenly believe lends their words a professorial weight.<BR/><BR/>I can't agree about <I>'sea change'</I>. Its original use was precise; these days the <I>'sea'</I> is pure padding.<BR/><BR/>How right you are about <I>Rising Fire</I> not being a great title. I'm currently trying to think of another. Any ideas? I'm getting to the stage where I'd <I>pay</I> for a good title. I'm trawling poetry, and brainstorming, and each idea is more dire than the last...Lexihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14404818053292364819noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6250078125607062288.post-33535996556188076452008-05-01T16:34:00.000+01:002008-05-01T16:34:00.000+01:00You're probably familiar with Orwell's essay Poli...You're probably familiar with Orwell's essay <A HREF="http://www.orwell.ru/library/essays/politics/english/e_polit" REL="nofollow"> Politics and the English Language</A>, a must for anyone who cares about decent writing. The section on dying metaphors is most relevant here.<BR/><BR/>Let me throw one or two more godawful cliches (how the hell do you do the acute accent?) into the mix.<BR/><BR/>What most irritates me today, as it has done for years, is <I>'in terms of'</I>. I'm a liberal -- even a libertarian -- in most matters, but this is a case in which I would favour legislation, and the return of the death penalty.<BR/><BR/>And do you remember the days when commentators on any election of any kind were legally obliged to inform us that the voters were saying <I>'a plague on both your houses'</I>?<BR/><BR/>Then there was the 1970s -- and I'm old enough to remember them like they were only thirty years ago. There was a law at that time obliging trade union spokesmen to describe any pay offer as <I>'derisory'</I>. My God, it nearly had me voting for Maggie Thatcher!<BR/><BR/>Apart from obvious illiteracy, I'd say that the two clearest markers of bad writing are fondness for cliche, and wasting of words -- <I>'this is a no-no to be avoided'</I>, <I>'Autumn is my favourite season. I prefer it to all the others'</I>. Someone -- possibly Orwell -- said that Dickens was a writer who never used one word where ten would do. But he said it approvingly, and he was right: Dickens was certainly prolix, but he never <I>wasted</I> words.<BR/><BR/>Finally, a rap over the knuckles. I avoid <I>'sea change'</I> simply because it's a cliche. You're wrong to reject it on the grounds that it's being used in a context which has nothing to do with the sea. It never has anything to do with the sea any more. Look up a dictionary. It's a metaphor -- like <I>'she melted into his arms'</I>. Any fool can see that she didn't literally melt.<BR/><BR/>That apart, I think you're doing well -- though I still say that <I>Rising Fire</I> isn't a great title.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com