Comments on: Stray Thoughts on Long Sentences http://angelaslatter.com/2009/03/30/stray-thoughts-on-long-sentences/ The Bones Remember Everything Wed, 08 Sep 2010 12:09:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: angelaslatter http://angelaslatter.com/2009/03/30/stray-thoughts-on-long-sentences/#comment-138 angelaslatter Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:51:14 +0000 http://angelaslatter.wordpress.com/?p=253#comment-138 Frustrating, isn't it? :-) Frustrating, isn’t it? :-)

]]> By: Marty Halpern http://angelaslatter.com/2009/03/30/stray-thoughts-on-long-sentences/#comment-137 Marty Halpern Sat, 04 Apr 2009 00:40:35 +0000 http://angelaslatter.wordpress.com/?p=253#comment-137 Ah, but it is the beginning of your last paragraph that pulls it all together -- "...it’s fine to break the rules, to do something new, but man, shouldn’t you know what the rules are first?" I can't believe how many times I have said pretty much those exact same words. Cheers, - marty Ah, but it is the beginning of your last paragraph that pulls it all together –

“…it’s fine to break the rules, to do something new, but man, shouldn’t you know what the rules are first?”

I can’t believe how many times I have said pretty much those exact same words.

Cheers,
- marty

]]> By: angelaslatter http://angelaslatter.com/2009/03/30/stray-thoughts-on-long-sentences/#comment-134 angelaslatter Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:49:38 +0000 http://angelaslatter.wordpress.com/?p=253#comment-134 Yep, you're right - it's the getting the right combination. I guess the point I failed to make was that mixing is best - just as too many short-sharps will give you a headache, too many long-and-windings will make you nod off. Yep, you’re right – it’s the getting the right combination. I guess the point I failed to make was that mixing is best – just as too many short-sharps will give you a headache, too many long-and-windings will make you nod off.

]]> By: Flinthart http://angelaslatter.com/2009/03/30/stray-thoughts-on-long-sentences/#comment-131 Flinthart Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:16:57 +0000 http://angelaslatter.wordpress.com/?p=253#comment-131 "I am reviewing a book at the moment and the text is littered with these kinds of literary slowdowns – and the disturbing thing is that they got past an editor at a reputable publishing house." Sadly, I stopped being surprised by things like that a couple of years ago at least. And it's not just one publishing house. As for the short vs long sentence thing -- I've never been good at the long, languid, Vandermeerian sentence myself, and I've envied those who are. But I note that there is an opposite condition, in which short, declarative sentences fill the page, and I find that reading such works gives me a feeling not unlike being repeatedly hit over the head with a nerf-bat. Thud! Thud! Thud! An excellent example -- if you can bear to subject yourself to the pain -- lies in Elron Hubbard's "Battlefield Earth Crap*" You can pick pretty much any page at random out of the five or six hundred in that pile of tree-murderings, and be assured of the Cranial Nerf-Bat Experience. The middle ground, I think, lies in that key-word you mentioned near the beginning of your post: rhythm. Short sentences for certain effects, long sentences for others, and combinations of both to provide a subtle 'weighting' of ideas and images. I can see your point about the criticism process, though. Given how difficult it is just to get to the point where your everyday prose doesn't make noises like a giant tin bathtub full of stinky water with the plug summarily yanked out -- well, being able to recognize and appreciate language-rhythms in your own work has got to be tricky, at best. And listening to somebody else tell you that you messed up the rhythmic structure... heh. You know, I don't think I've ever tried to tell anybody that. * "Battlefield Earth Crap" was not Hubbard's chosen title. But it is the only title by which I will ever willingly refer to that material. “I am reviewing a book at the moment and the text is littered with these kinds of literary slowdowns – and the disturbing thing is that they got past an editor at a reputable publishing house.”

Sadly, I stopped being surprised by things like that a couple of years ago at least. And it’s not just one publishing house.

As for the short vs long sentence thing — I’ve never been good at the long, languid, Vandermeerian sentence myself, and I’ve envied those who are. But I note that there is an opposite condition, in which short, declarative sentences fill the page, and I find that reading such works gives me a feeling not unlike being repeatedly hit over the head with a nerf-bat. Thud! Thud! Thud!

An excellent example — if you can bear to subject yourself to the pain — lies in Elron Hubbard’s “Battlefield Earth Crap*” You can pick pretty much any page at random out of the five or six hundred in that pile of tree-murderings, and be assured of the Cranial Nerf-Bat Experience.

The middle ground, I think, lies in that key-word you mentioned near the beginning of your post: rhythm. Short sentences for certain effects, long sentences for others, and combinations of both to provide a subtle ‘weighting’ of ideas and images.

I can see your point about the criticism process, though. Given how difficult it is just to get to the point where your everyday prose doesn’t make noises like a giant tin bathtub full of stinky water with the plug summarily yanked out — well, being able to recognize and appreciate language-rhythms in your own work has got to be tricky, at best. And listening to somebody else tell you that you messed up the rhythmic structure… heh. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever tried to tell anybody that.

* “Battlefield Earth Crap” was not Hubbard’s chosen title. But it is the only title by which I will ever willingly refer to that material.

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