I have tried writing for the sheer love and joy of words many times. I rarely get good results, but I have certainly enjoyed trying. I work hard to avoid fanc

I have tried writing for the sheer love and joy of words many times. I rarely get good results, but I have certainly enjoyed trying. I work hard to avoid fancy words in my writing these years. I value clarity over ornament in most of what I write at present. For dexterous use of language my favorites are probably J. R. R. Tolkien (the only fantasy author who can really write Old High Forsooth reliably well, IMO), P. G. Wodehouse (a true master of comedy, at whose feet Douglas Adams studied), and probably Robin McKinley (see especially her book Beauty). The shallow, negative dismissal was poor behavior on my part. I was applying a standard to the original comment I should probably reserve for published novels, and I was doing it without providing any useful critical feedback, in a cantankerous way. I'm sorry for doing that.