A run of good luck and very little homework has cured me for the most part of my mopes. I know you all are wiping tears of joy from your eyes.
I was discussion pretentious writing with a friend today--he said, quite accurately, that using complex words when there is a perfectly normal synonym to do the job is what makes a sentence pretentious. I wholeheartedly agree--though of course there are a few exceptions. Tempest instead of storm is understandable. Pulchritudinous (WTF) instead of beautiful is just plain stupid.
I am reading a book by a guy named Peter S. Beagle, ten brownie points with awesome sauce on top if you know what he wrote WITHOUT Wiki-ing it. Not that I don't love Wiki. But all the more awesome sauce to you if you DO know it. Anyways, it's a spectacular book despite the title, and I thought of it now because he writes in the most gorgeous language ever. It's a lost art, for the most part--the telling of a good, entertaining fantasy story without having to sacrifice the sentences that make a reader pause and go "Holy damn, that was amazing." I know I am a wordnerd for stuff like this, but honestly there is nothing I love more than a truly well-written book, and I've found one after a very long time. The problem with most books that use elegant language now is that they are also full of symbolism and are interpreted in English classes and are generally ruined by that most sacred of institutions, school. And they have given up plot and originality so they can be "meaningful". I have very strong opinions on books like these, and these opinions often involve lots of swearing and the words "MOST BORING THING EVER". As far as I'm concerned, messages are meant to be stated outright, and there is a very big difference between books that are supposed to make a point and books that fulfill the purpose of being ENTERTAINMENT. Seems like we're losing the latter because now everyone and their tapeworm has a point to make (including me, it seems) and nobody wants to write just to make people happy anymore. This is depressing.
My goodness. Just after I promised no more ranting...there I go again. My apologies.
Anyways, as a solution to this, I've started my own novel! Again! This is probably the seventh or eighth or ten billionth one, but who cares? I'm actually working on this one a little bit each day, so even if I'm not exactly moving at NaNoWriMo pace, I'm not going to abandon it because of stupid writer's block. I give writer's block the finger.
This novel is of the cheese, but it too plays a part in getting rid of the mopes. A lot of things made of cheese will do that. Like Bollywood. Or Kenneth Branagh (who is also made of awesome). And SLEEP. Which I should get.
Ha.
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The cheese is cathartic. And NaNoWriMo pace is craaaaaazy.
My tapeworm has a point to make about many things and one of them is this. I think it's very difficult to find entertainment, any entertainment, without a point to make. I think it's made infinitely more difficult to find non-point-ful entertainment among books. I don't know about Beagle (BEAGLE) or his book, but I'm very doubtful about it not having a point.
But my tapeworm does agree with you about clarity. I learned my clarity skills from something as banal as Tatler, but it's stuck with me. Say what you mean, don't make it difficult to read, and avoid semi-colons. Really. It helps in the long run.
That's pretty much why I hate Jane Austen. And the idiocy. That too.
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