Are you a Spartan writer?

arkanis50 · May 5, 2013

Do you consider yourself a Spartan writer? Not Spartan in the sense of kicking Persian messengers down wells whilst loudly declaring your city of origin, rather a person who possesses a fairly simple/frugal writing style... especially when it comes to action.

I tend to dislike flowery, flowing descriptions with regard to settings or character appearances, or two hundred words on what run-of-the-mill task a character is currently performing – such as walking across a room. That’s just my personal preference. I guess there are exceptions, mainly when it comes to the fantasy or sci-fi genre, although as far as your average piece of fiction goes, I don’t want (or need) a lot of description to get my mind going.

So given my preference for keeping things Spartan, I find that my writing reflects that preference. To be honest, I’m not even sure I could write flowery descriptive prose if I tried – props to people who can do that and do it well. It’s just not for me.

So my questions:

Can Spartan writers succeed in the modern fiction world?
Will they have trouble securing an agent?
Will they have trouble getting published?

I’m sure the answer to all three questions is ‘no!’. I would like to believe that a good story will almost always get published, however occasionally it plays on your mind as your pour hours and hours in to writing and rewriting your first manuscript. Maybe it's a lack of confidence or feeling of inadequacy... like using a public urinal.

Kerosene · May 5, 2013

Everyone has their own writing style. It's your job to make it work.

You're really not defining this well, so I can't tell what you mean.

gothicangel · May 6, 2013

Hemingway.

I would actually argue that the pared down style is more the 'status quo.' Personally, I like my writing textured. :tongue

Clubmonstar · May 6, 2013

I'm on the fence. I'm probably semi-Spartan - but would like to be more flouncy like some of the modern greats eg. Louis de Bernieres, Ondaatje etc.

You see they do it with style and they transport me to that room, that place and to their characters' worlds. On the other hand, when I read a writer that is more economical with their language, I am sometimes glad and will remark on how easy they are to read, yet still unputdownable.

So the answer is it depends. Every reader is different, every writer is different and it depends on my mood too. I haven't read much sci-fi, but I'm sure there must be a mixed-bag with those authors too.

crunchyblanket · May 6, 2013

It depends - what you call 'Spartan writing' can quite easily slip into bland, beige prose (in the same way 'descriptive writing' can easily turn purple.)

If it suits what you're writing, stick with it.

pezerp59 · May 6, 2013

Spartan could also mean efficient use of prose to define a situation.

Chris P · May 6, 2013

I used to write all sorts of (what I thought) were intricate, playful sentences that were as much fun to read as to write. Then my novel came in at 230K words. I stripped it down and learned how to make my point and move on. Now I'm learning when each style works and when it doesn't.

jaksen · May 6, 2013

To the op:

You may prefer Spartan writing, but look at your own post.

Spartan-like? With those loooong sentences that sort of ramble on and on?

Methinks not.

arkanis50 · May 6, 2013

I guess ‘Spartan’ will mean something different to each person, positive or negative, depending on their personal preference.

Just about any time I attend a writing workshop I hear people reading out these long-winded passages that go on and on for minutes to describe scenes or actions that could have been summed-up in a single sentence. Sometimes in a few short words. Sure it can be a lot of fun to craft intricate passages and create metal images for the reader but I tend to get the impression that a lot of people do it to try and be clever when it's not really necessary.

arkanis50 · May 6, 2013

jaksen said:
To the op:

You may prefer Spartan writing, but look at your own post.

Spartan-like? With those loooong sentences that sort of ramble on and on?

Methinks not.

I actually made fun of it in my initial post but edited it out.

My 'formal' writing style and my 'informal' writing style are polar opposite.

crunchyblanket · May 6, 2013

arkanis50 said:
Just about any time I attend a writing workshop I hear people reading out these long-winded passages that go on and on for minutes to describe scenes or actions that could have been summed-up in a single sentence. Sometimes in a few short words. Sure it can be a lot of fun to craft intricate passages and create metal images for the reader but I tend to get the impression that a lot of people do it to try and be clever when it's not really necessary.

I get hit with the naughty stick a lot in SYW for doing just this. (In my defence, I'm not trying to be clever or writerly - it's just my natural writing style.) In fact, most writers acknowledge that purple prose is something to avoid, so I'm not sure what the point being made here is? Prose that's either really flowery or really sparse is usually picked out as problematic in your average critique. Otherwise, it's a matter of individual taste.

arkanis50 · May 6, 2013

Everything in moderation, totally agree.

I guess the point of my post - in a very non-Spartan fashion - was to see how people with Spartan writing styles have gone with trying to get published. Do they ever think it's a factor holding them back from being published or getting agents/editors to take them seriously. Or have they already been published and it cropped-up in suggestions from editors to make their writing more flowery.

Sonsofthepharaohs · May 6, 2013

arkanis50 said:
Or have they already been published and it cropped-up in suggestions from editors to make their writing more flowery.

I'd really like to see how that conversation went:

'Yes, Mr Hemingway, your novel is a triumph, a truly gripping tale displaying masterful control of narrative, worthy of the highest literary honours. Now, about the style... I get what you're trying to do, but could you add a bit more... flamboyance? Would some florid similes kill ya?'

Russell Secord · May 6, 2013

shadowwalker · May 6, 2013

I don't know if I'd call my style 'spartan' - I just try to choose the right words and enough words to get across what I'm trying to get across. I may have more length and words when I'm setting a mood - I may have less length and fewer words when I'm writing an action scene. You do whatever needs to be done to make the storytelling better.

VoireyLinger · May 6, 2013

My writing is sparse. It hasn't been an issue.

It's not the number of words you use. It's the impact of the words you choose.

Rhoda Nightingale · May 6, 2013

I'm very Spartan in my first drafts, to the point of leaving people as talking heads sometimes. I try to fix it in the next go-round. The thing is I get impatient when I write descriptions--I tend to skip them when I'm reading, too. I want to get to the next action scene or the next piece of dialogue. I've been trying to slow down since realizing I do that.

ETA: Ironically, I can't stand Hemingway.

JustSarah · May 6, 2013

I'm happily in between spartan and flowery. I like to use a sort of minimalist but somewhat poetic style. A poetic style, hated by some for its flowery use of words and phrases while smiling in free verse.

u.v.ray · May 6, 2013

Can Spartan writers succeed in the modern fiction world?

They can and do.

Will they have trouble securing an agent?

Not simply because their prose is spartan, no.

Will they have trouble getting published?

That's pretty much the same question as your first. The answer is no. And in literary fiction it's possibly a boon. Simple is currently en vogue. But "no" does not mean they won't find it difficult to get published either.

Simplicity of prose is deceptive and in no way easy to pull off. The words on the page may well be primitive -- but successful stylists of this form usually load their prose with pathos. A recent example of such a style is Willy Vlautin's The Motel Life which has become a modern cult classic.

.

LJD · May 6, 2013

arkanis50 said:
I guess the point of my post - in a very non-Spartan fashion - was to see how people with Spartan writing styles have gone with trying to get published. Do they ever think it's a factor holding them back from being published or getting agents/editors to take them seriously. Or have they already been published and it cropped-up in suggestions from editors to make their writing more flowery.

I write rather sparse prose, though it does depend on what I'm writing. It has never occurred to me that this would be a barrier in getting published as long as I can write well.

I am wondering why you think it might be, other than your experience at workshops? Do you never encounter this sort of style in the books you read?

I just see this as a rather odd assumption to make, unless perhaps what you think of as Spartan prose is much more extreme than what I think of...

DeleyanLee · May 6, 2013

arkanis50 said:
Do you consider yourself a Spartan writer? Not Spartan in the sense of kicking Persian messengers down wells whilst loudly declaring your city of origin

Blast--that's what I was hoping for! Darn it all.

The thing with Spartans is that they used what they needed to do the job and they used the best possible tools in the best possible way.

And that's the trick that a lot of writers who want to write simply miss. Hemingway is brilliant because his vocabulary allowed him to say as much in one word as another author could say in twenty. He can be that Spartan because he understood how to use the language in the best possible way.

Most people think by keeping things simple and plain, that they can copy Hemingway. Only they don't have the grasp of language he does. They don't construct sentences as well as he did, use the vocabulary as well, etc.

But not everyone can write the heavily descriptive prose, such as Anne Rice is a master of (or was, as of the last book I read of hers in the 1980's), as that is just as hard and requires just as much mastery of the language.

The vast majority of us fall somewhere in between, to whatever degree. We have to find how much descriptive material is right for our style and master the language required to make it so. The descriptive style isn't going to be a make or break decision for publication--it's just part of the entire storytelling whole. The entire experience you give as an author will decide whether or not you sell/get an agent.

As for myself, I love reading the prose-laden descriptive book. I can't write it to save my life.

TheDancingWriter · May 6, 2013

I am not a Spartan writer but I am also not overly. Hemingway's short style is the reason I'm not too fond of him. I love writing with spice and flavor, and his lacks that.

Phaeal · May 6, 2013

I prefer to think of myself as Athenian.

WeaselFire · May 6, 2013

arkanis50 said:
Do you consider yourself a Spartan writer?

Molon Labe!

Jeff

CrastersBabies · May 6, 2013

I tend to overwrite in the drafting process then whittle down on revision.

Are you a Spartan writer?

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