(Plot+Characters)*Voice^2=Literature?

[Lindolirian]

Originally Posted by The Saucepan Man

Just to be clear, I am most certainly not saying that these rules should not be taught (double negative, anyone). But it should also be acknowledged in doing so that there is scope for flexibility in their application.

Yes, I probably should have said something to this effect at the close of my post because I heartily agree.

Lush, I don't know... even our potential valedictorian is asking that.

But love the subject you write about with passion, believe it to be 'the Truth', write to communicate the subject, not for writing's sake, but for the sake of the subject and for the sake of 'the Truth', and - lo and behold! - if you are even moderately good with language, the piece of work produced will be praised and loved.

Heren, I think I'll show that to my teacher, that's awesome!
Lalwendë, thank-you, it's nice to have another teacher's input!

[Feanor of the Peredhil]

Another thing that gets me in trouble is spelling. I'm always writing "grey" instead of "gray", "colour"- "color", "armour"- "armor", "theatre"- "theater", "defence"- "defense", etc....

My goodness! And here I thought it was just me doing that. My teacher handed me back a paper a few weeks back coated with red pen-marks, with comments such as "These archaic spellings give the impression that you are a haughty snob. Fix your spell-checker to change those automatically before I start taking points off." Grouchy old man... I say that in the most affectionate sense of the words.

I must say though, I heartily agree with Rimbaud about rule-breaking. It applies to every aspect of life. Learn the rules before you break them.

Fea

[tar-ancalime]

Encaitare,

Ah, I see what you're after now, and I think we've been in agreement all along. As it so often is, it was a matter of defining our terms. Sorry if I offended with my swashbuckling contradiction.

[Encaitare]

Oh, fear not, I took no offense. It seems that we have been in agreement after all.

[Boromir88]

My goodness! And here I thought it was just me doing that. My teacher handed me back a paper a few weeks back coated with red pen-marks, with comments such as "These archaic spellings give the impression that you are a haughty snob.

I sit here, rub my chin, and think interesting....reminds me of my math teachers "there's always one way of doing this! No shortcuts! Let me see your work! You didn't do every step!....etc" But somehow I would get the right answers, and I think that is the key also in writing.

Also...what's that famous saying in Pirates of the Carribean:

What about the code?
Geoffrey Rush (one of my favorite actors): They are more like Guidelines.

[Lachwen]

Ah, I see someone else has brought up one of my favorite high school rants!

I, too, have found it most annoying to be told "This is how you write a story," then have points taken off if I diverge from the pet formula. I even had a story handed back once with a large "C-" in red ink on the top, below which was written, "I want you to know that I really enjoyed this story - some of your descriptions were absolutely magical, and you tied all the events together beautifully! But I'm afraid I had to mark you down for leaving out most of the rising action and dumping the reader in at the climax. It was effective, but not what I wanted." That was the very first time I ever blew up at a teacher. She had said herself that the way I wrote the story was effective. I kept asking why she had marked me down if she had liked the story so much, and she kept saying "Because you left out the rising action." I finally asked her if she would rather I had made the story boring by leaving the rising action in, and she said no. "Then why the bloody hell did you mark it down?" "Because you left out the rising action." That's when I stormed out and demanded a new writing teacher.

Fortunately, my creative writing teacher senior year actually encouraged experimenting with our writing styles, though he did question me as to why I insisted on spelling it "grey." (I've spelled it "grey" my whole life...what's wrong with everyone else? ) My reason is that I pronounce it "grey." "Gray," to me, implies a harsher vowel sound than I prefer...but then I'm a dork.

His use of "archaic" language too has, I believe, been criticised as inappropriate in a "modern" novel.

This particular argument has always bothered me. What, exactly, is wrong with writing in an archaic or anachronistic form? I find archaic prose to be much more pleasing to read than "modern" writing - it has a different flow, with a hint of rhythm passed down from epic poetry that grabs the pleasure center of my brain and won't let go. In fact, on late nights when I know I don't have to get up early the next day, I can sometimes be found hiding under my down comforter with a Tolkien book or Norse saga and a flashlight, reading aloud to myself for the pure joy of listening to the flow of the writing.

One "bad habit" that The Lord of the Rings taught me, and that my English teacher pounces on me for, is beginning a sentence with the word 'and'.

You, too? I've been taught my whole life that you never begin a sentence with "and." Sometimes, however, I find that a sentence flows better if it begins with "and." I'll probably get a lovely red mark on my paper for it, but I found myself in that situation with the research paper I should be working on right now. The "and" stands, and I'll not remove it.

Another "bad habit" (according to my teachers) that I picked up from Tolkien is a love of the semi-colon. I don't feel that I over-use the friendly hybrid of the period and the comma - I always try to avoid using it two sentences in a row - but it certainly can be found more often in my papers than in those of my classmates. I don't know why, but they seem to feel that the semi-colon is like cayenne pepper, to be used very sparingly; I think of it more like tarragon, to be used liberally to bring out the flavor of the piece.

Now, before I forget, I'd like to compliment The Saucepan Man for his incredibly clever post on sentence length. Well done, sir, well done indeed! *applauds*

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by Lachwen

I, too, have found it most annoying to be told "This is how you write a story," then have points taken off if I diverge from the pet formula.

I suppose that, if the exercise was to demonstrate knowledge and application of the formula, then she was probably right to mark you down. Harsh though it may seem. It is fair to say, and I have found this throughout my academic and professional life, that work which may be of the highest quality is nevertheless inappropriate if it does not meet the purpose for which it was created.

Originally Posted by Feanor of the Peredhil

These archaic spellings give the impression that you are a haughty snob. Fix your spell-checker to change those automatically before I start taking points off.

Um, those aren't archaic spellings. They are in current and consistent use this side of the Atlantic. In other words, they are 'proper' English.