I have learned how to (mostly) turn off my inner editor and just read. I also find a great joy in discovering amazing writing. It thrills me in a way it never did before.
This site has ruined reading for me!!
- Thread starter BarbaraKE
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For me the worst part is reading the classics and having the inner editor go "Cliche! Cliche!" Despite the fact that they're (or more correctly the people who copied them) the reason the cliche even exists.
I'm also reading a book in omniscient that does it pretty well, but I just can't get it out of my head that headhopping is bad.
I'm also reading a book in omniscient that does it pretty well, but I just can't get it out of my head that headhopping is bad.
The one's I can't ignore are the 'He was walking towards...,' or 'She was looking at...' In my head, I'm like - 'He WALKED towards....' 'She LOOKED at.' So passive. I can't believe how many get through the writing process to publication.
But -I also think that unpublished writers (like me) often set themselves massively high standards (unnecessarily high, perhaps) for fear of offering any excuses for rejection. When we see little things in published novels, which we've desperately tried to obliterate in our own work, it jumps out.
But -I also think that unpublished writers (like me) often set themselves massively high standards (unnecessarily high, perhaps) for fear of offering any excuses for rejection. When we see little things in published novels, which we've desperately tried to obliterate in our own work, it jumps out.
Not really. I've read some modern novels since joining, but not many, since I am now trying to read all Hemingway novels till I run out. I certainly have learned which books might not be worth my time, since my time is finite, and I shouldn't waste it reading junk. I think the next thing I will do is to find all Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize winning books and read them. Oh, and Hemingway has AW style mistakes too, therefore I wonder if they are as bad as all that. I question how doing something grammatically correct like: "He was walking..." is wrong. As long as it is not overdone, you can do anything. If an editor objects, then you fix them, but only because of that editor's prejudice, not because it is ungrammatical.
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It's not grammatically incorrect, it's inefficient. Don't use two words when you can use one, right?
I was thinking these two things (almost exactly) just the other day... I'm reading several classic authors in my book club (short stories this week), and I was noticing that most (if not all) are guilty of many of the "mistakes" that we often correct each other for here on AW. Even a Pulitzer Prize winner.
Maybe standards are changing, and maybe that's a necessity. After all, we are in a new period, and writing changes, as it should, to reflect our new understanding of the world as well as our new understanding of - and use of - language. But maybe our standards are a little high. But maybe that's okay. I'd rather my standards be too high than too low.
I’m sure it is. What I meant was – to me, ‘He was walking...’ sounds less dynamic (or, more passive) then ‘He walked...’, which I feel puts the reader closer to the action , even if they are both active forms of tense. I meant no slight on the difference between active and passive tenses. I’ve repeatedly read on AW the need to make every word count in today’s market and these beauties are examples of chopping board fodder that often come up. That’s why I say, ‘Hey!’ when I read novels crammed with, ‘He was hitting,’ ‘He was shouting,’ ‘He was pouncing.’ Not a grammatical quibble – just a critical choice.
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Yep. You've left behind the innocent, naive world of pure "reading for enjoyment" forever, I'm afraid. You'll never be able to turn off your "inner editor" when faced with a book that is less than stellar. It's one of the (many) curses of the writerly life.
That "making every word count" thing... You have to be careful how you interpret it. It doesn't just mean use the fewest words possible. It also means that how you say something needs to have a reason, a purpose.
While I agree that you would not want a novel crammed full of passivity, choosing to say "he was walking" may have a purpose within the context of the story or passage. Perhaps the 'he' who was walking is a less dynamic, more passive individual. Perhaps he is just walking toward an individual by happenstance. A chance encounter. Word choice can make these things apparent to the reader on a subconscious level. Make every word count. Have a reason or a purpose for every word choice, every turn of phrase.
It hasn't ruined it for me. I still love books, I love all kinds, and my inner-editor rambling on doesn't bother me. I always have more than one voice going on, I just make note of the error or whatever it is and keep going. Sure there are books that bug me, but they would have bugged me before, now I just know WHY they bug me.
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