The joy of reading and writing is that there are so many different styles to enjoy. I remember once hearing Martin Amis interviewed and he talked about the difference between his own style and that of his father. Both were acclaimed writers but Martin thought the reader should be challenged whereas Kingsley liked to also provide a degree of amusement, something lighter. There's room for everything and it's so interesting to see you discuss the nuts and bolts of it all. I'm a bit scared to look too hard at my own work and notice that I'm doing it all wrong!
Great post, with some good advice and links. I've always taken the view that I shouldn't shy away from using difficult words or concepts where appropriate, and that the reader may have to work a bit themselves. However, I don't like writers and writing where long words seem to be used just to convey how clever the writer is. I enjoyed the DFW article.
"As an English literature teacher for twenty years, I found that what motivated kids to read more and be ready for an engaging class was challenging reading. If it’s too easy, they’re bored" - I feel precisely the same with regard to music. I've taught in music to 11-18 year olds in the UK classroom for over 15 years, and whether it's looking at a piece of music for analysis, performing it in a choir or composing from a stimulus my pupils are always most excited when the music itself is challenging. And perhaps just as importantly, so few students I teach label work as "hard" or "easy" when they find out about it - they think it's "interesting" or "boring" - so why do we need to label the work as such? I could go on... x
Loved this article. I like to write and read across a wide range when things pop into my head. There is so much out there to broaden our minds. Thank you for another great post.
Superb piece, Kathleen. Bit slow to get to this one, sorry. Had good intentions to read it over the weekend.
I LOVE having to work whilst reading, especially in fiction. Ambiguities, unreliable narrators, things that are very much not spelled out to the reader -- all these things are what I generally look for in fiction and am inherently drawn to. Though as Terry says, it's not about the use of big words, long sentences etc, it's about the composition of those words and what they *might* be alluding to.
Big respect for the linking to Murakami 😄 One of my all-time favourite authors.
This is a stellar point to make: "The paradox, however, is that the riddle itself, the tensions and questions posed, should all be exceptionally clear in delivery, even if that clarity includes nuance and double meanings."
The joy of reading and writing is that there are so many different styles to enjoy. I remember once hearing Martin Amis interviewed and he talked about the difference between his own style and that of his father. Both were acclaimed writers but Martin thought the reader should be challenged whereas Kingsley liked to also provide a degree of amusement, something lighter. There's room for everything and it's so interesting to see you discuss the nuts and bolts of it all. I'm a bit scared to look too hard at my own work and notice that I'm doing it all wrong!
Great post, with some good advice and links. I've always taken the view that I shouldn't shy away from using difficult words or concepts where appropriate, and that the reader may have to work a bit themselves. However, I don't like writers and writing where long words seem to be used just to convey how clever the writer is. I enjoyed the DFW article.
"As an English literature teacher for twenty years, I found that what motivated kids to read more and be ready for an engaging class was challenging reading. If it’s too easy, they’re bored" - I feel precisely the same with regard to music. I've taught in music to 11-18 year olds in the UK classroom for over 15 years, and whether it's looking at a piece of music for analysis, performing it in a choir or composing from a stimulus my pupils are always most excited when the music itself is challenging. And perhaps just as importantly, so few students I teach label work as "hard" or "easy" when they find out about it - they think it's "interesting" or "boring" - so why do we need to label the work as such? I could go on... x
Loved this article. I like to write and read across a wide range when things pop into my head. There is so much out there to broaden our minds. Thank you for another great post.
Superb piece, Kathleen. Bit slow to get to this one, sorry. Had good intentions to read it over the weekend.
I LOVE having to work whilst reading, especially in fiction. Ambiguities, unreliable narrators, things that are very much not spelled out to the reader -- all these things are what I generally look for in fiction and am inherently drawn to. Though as Terry says, it's not about the use of big words, long sentences etc, it's about the composition of those words and what they *might* be alluding to.
Big respect for the linking to Murakami 😄 One of my all-time favourite authors.
This is a stellar point to make: "The paradox, however, is that the riddle itself, the tensions and questions posed, should all be exceptionally clear in delivery, even if that clarity includes nuance and double meanings."
Thanks as ever for the insightful reads!