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Apart from being a functional mechanism for communicating ideas, writing can also be artistic and stylistic. Writing can be a form of self expression. Like draw
by ninjakeyboard 8y ago
Apart from being a functional mechanism for communicating ideas, writing can also be artistic and stylistic. Writing can be a form of self expression. Like drawing, writing can express itself in both imitative and impressionistic forms. Or anywhere in between.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoSure. But when the stylistic goes overboard, it can get in the way of actually communicating ideas. If the author wants to express their style more than they want to communicate, that's their choice, but it is at the price of communication. In particular, I'm not going to bother to read very much of it...
- greglindahl 8y agoIt's as if different people have different preferences. I've observed that many people don't like Faulkner, and others don't like Hemingway. I aim for Hemingway with my technical writing, but I love reading Faulkner for pleasure.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoSure, that's true. This article wasn't fiction, though. And I know that non-fiction can still have style (in fact, the best does), and people can still have different preferences for that style. And fiction can still communicate ideas. But for me, personally, if you're trying to communicate an idea, tell me the idea. Stop trying to dress it up in fancy writing, and making me guess whether there's something profound there, or whether it's just fancy. Have style if you want, but don't let the style get in the way of actually communicating the idea.
- c22 8y agoSome modern artists sacrifice communication when they produce works that I don't understand and don't find aesthetically pleasing enough to study. I guess taste is just one of the pitfalls of style.