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It's difficult to make blanket pronouncements like this because there are so many different types of writing. News is different from fiction is different from t
by mpclark 12y ago
It's difficult to make blanket pronouncements like this because there are so many different types of writing. News is different from fiction is different from technical manuals etc.
I'm reasonably with King, and I must say the suggestion that I use a 1913 dictionary to add floweriness to my prose makes me feel slightly queasy because I mostly write news and marketing material and I'm usually striving for clarity.
I prefer the notion that if you write a line, then look at it and think "that's the most beautiful, perfect, artful thing I've ever written," then it's probably overworked and you should cross it out and try again.
- meowface 12y agoI think you just have to find a balance (depending on the audience you're writing for). There are times I write something that's clearly too flowery, and then I modify or remove a few of the words to make it sound a bit plainer, but while still retaining some of the original flair. And there are occasional times where I make something sound slightly more flowery.