Mario wrote:
>I would say that such putative complaints are 100%
bullshit. Anyone >who
>blames Ray Carver for another author's failings
doesn't know >anything
>about writing, or about Carver, or about "the Carver
school". >In fact, no
>such school ever existed, nor did Ray want to create
one. >He just taught
>writing. Shall we next blame Chandler for the bad,
stale work that his
>clones >have published over the years?
Mario, I'm inclined to agree. There are certainly writing
teachers
(I've encountered them) who cling resolutely and often
wrongly to "less is more" as an unwavering rule, but the
problem is the rigidity, not the philosophy itself.
Ultimately, any real writer is going to find his or her own
voice and not adhere slavishly to what their teacher told
them anyway. Columnists just like to blame somebody for
"what's wrong with the world today" because they get paid
to.
The New Yorker ran a hilarious piece a few months ago in
response to a purported study linking concise writing style
with the early onset of senility - suggesting "the new
elements of style," bad writing in service of mental health,
it included pointers like "Use 'the fact that' as often as
possible."
Carrie
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 19 Nov 2001 EST