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Reading slush has done it. I'm convinced that about forty five percent of the people who submit stuff to me have taken what they consider the best linguistic affections of Dickens, mixed in double handful of the Prose Edda, and thickened with equal parts Tolkien and Homer to arrive at 'their own' literary style. I suspect it has something to do with the way writing and literature are taught, not just here in the USA, but around the world, at least in part. The other part is the lack of value seen in reading, even by some people who write.
The unfortunate problem with writing in those styles, or a combination of them is that language isn't used in the way it was when those were written. Hell, Locke, Bronte, the writings of many of the founding fathers and even The Immortal Bard are difficult to read because just in the last two hundred or so years the English language has shifted enough that it takes even people who read frequently a good deal of effort to wade through the styles of those of the past. And when you get to things like Kant, Homer, or the Edda which have been translated from another language you've added an additional dimension to the problem.
I seriously wonder if any of these folks have read any science fiction, fantasy or other fiction written in the past decade.
The unfortunate problem with writing in those styles, or a combination of them is that language isn't used in the way it was when those were written. Hell, Locke, Bronte, the writings of many of the founding fathers and even The Immortal Bard are difficult to read because just in the last two hundred or so years the English language has shifted enough that it takes even people who read frequently a good deal of effort to wade through the styles of those of the past. And when you get to things like Kant, Homer, or the Edda which have been translated from another language you've added an additional dimension to the problem.
I seriously wonder if any of these folks have read any science fiction, fantasy or other fiction written in the past decade.
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Mind, I wouldn't dream of attempting his style -- I simply content myself to drool (but not on the books) from afar.
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I think part of the problem is that beginning writers spend a lot of time trying to beautify their writing and forget that writing should be clean and easily understood and simply convey a story. Not to take away anything from those writers that can describe the wings of a butterfly fluttering gently in the autumn wind (only with more words), I think there's just a disconnect between some writers' perception of good writing, and the kind of writing that is actually enjoyable to read.
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Truer. Words.
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Here's the quote:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.
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The paragraph is purposely overwritten because he was satirising bombastic style of political commentators of his day.
Ironic that we should point to Dickens as verbose using the passage in which he's making fun of verbose writers......
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Redacted: Lengthy rant regarding how compelling stories, eloquently told have been replaced in sci fi with gimmicky crap like prurient zombie-elves with horns in (un)fortunate places who live in Connecticut and get webfeeds to their stomachs to reduce their craving for human flesh only to find that evil wizard-vampire-aliens disguised as Jehovah's witnesses have jacked the feed -- in the eighteen dimension using zero-point energy -- and only the plucky cowgirl from a small ranch along the Rio Grande can save the day by teaching herself how to surf and knit at the same time.
Sorry. That rant is never far below the surface. Forsooth, but it doth emerge with the merest hint of the slightest provacation.}
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Perhaps that long sentence confused you.
I'll provide the Cliff Notes.
Not posted: long rant about how good stories and good writing in sci fi have replaced by poorly written stories about a bunch of weird-ass shit.
I was mocking 1) sci fi weird-ass shit plots that are favored over good writing and compelling stories, and 2) obtuse writers.
I also structured the sentence purposely to read like a manic rant-- the irony being that I said I redacted the rant only to replace it with another.
There is the Opaque School of Writing, to be sure. But then there's the Obtuse School of Readers as well. Students of both are equally impressive.
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OTOH, I did have one superb university creative writing teacher who knew a lot about SF/F and suggested far more recent books and those appropriate to our writing. Pity she was only an adjunct. The poor kids take what they're told is good, expecially when they're just starting out, and also to make the teacher happy, I think. Also, some of the standard how-to-write texts used in class are older, and mention older books.
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*points*
*wheeee*
I have a copy of "The last picture show" for someone in to literature abuse.
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Prolly why I read fanfic ...
http://community.livejournal.com/greenhouse_au/
*evilll, eeeevil grin*
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Why do you call me cruel?
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My poor brain is still having convulsions.
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:-PPppppp
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I suspect the two are within five years of each other in age, and from what i can tell both grew up in rural areas.